Once the wood is scraped and stripped if necessary, the next step is to apply the deck cleaner. There are a few types of deck cleaners or deck restorers on the market. They typically fall into three main types of cleaning base categories:
- Chlorine Bleach cleaners are to be avoided as they will harm the wood and leave an unnatural whitewash appearance. They are also known to cause fuzzing of the wood fibers.
- Oxygen Bleach cleaners, when mixed with water, create a hydrogen peroxide and soda ash cleaning base. This is effective in removing mildew stains and graying caused by ultra-violet sun exposure on the wood and also effective in cleaning the wood of dirt and deposits. The wood returns to its original color after cleaning with this type of cleaner.
- Oxalic Acid Based cleaners do nothing for removing mildew stains but are effective for removing tannin stains. Tannins are natural occurring water soluble resins of a reddish brown color found in wood such as redwood, cedar and oak. Usually this type of cleaner is used as a supplement to Oxygen Bleach cleaners if tannin staining is a problem.
