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Deck cleaners come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and there is enough literature out there to fill your house. Most major stain manufacturers put out their own line of deck cleaners and brighteners. The important element to check for is the chemical composition of the cleaners. We have found that the most effective and environmentally friendly cleaners contain oxalic acid. Oxalic acid removes stains and lightens darkened gray weathered wood. Once applied, stains will fade and disappear in twenty minutes or less.
For new pressure treated lumber, a treatment of Oxalic acid will open up the mill glaze and allow you to seal or stain the wood. CKJ Pressure Washing and Deck Restoration is NOT an advocate of the advice that "you should let your new wood dry out for six months to a year". Leaving any wood unprotected for a year only leads to a dirty gray look, splitting and cracking.
The most common mistake made when cleaning a deck is the use of chlorine bleach. Chlorine bleach-based cleaning products contain sodium hypochlorite or calcium hypochlorite. These chemicals are effective against mildew but do little to remove dirt or other surface deposits. After all, if bleach were effective in removing dirt you wouldn’t have to add detergent to it when washing clothes.
Basically, there are three reasons why a wood deck or siding turns gray and ugly.
1 - Dirt – Ground in dirt build-up discolors the wood.
2 - Mildew (biological activity) causes unsightly stains.
3 - UV Degradation from the sun causes wood to gray.
When you spray bleach (sodium hypochlorite) on the wood surface, all you are doing is removing the mildew stains. Bleach is bleach. If it comes in a bleach type bottle, chances are it is a solution of sodium hypochlorite. Sodium hypochlorite will not remove ground in dirt and will not remove the surface fibers of wood that have been degraded by the sun. In fact, chlorine bleach further breaks down the wood fibers, causing poor adhesion of future coatings or water repellent.
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