How To Clean and Stain Your Deck. (Make your own cleaner)!

As summer sets in, I look at my old deck and realize it's time to re-stain! With a little help from Bob Vila you can make a deck cleaner that works better than anything you can buy.

2 gallons warm water.
Below is a list of materials used in this video:

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[levikim]

You make things really simple.
Even no pressure washer needed!!
Thank you!!

[KimmoJaskari]

Oxiclean has as its important ingredient for this use hydrogen percarbonate. That's a bleach, but an oxygen based one, and it doesn't tear the fibers in the wood apart the way normal bleach does. It's a great first step cleaner. After you've done the scrubbing and bleaching, you can then do a second stage and brighten the wood considerably with oxalic acid; apply it on an overcast day on wet wood and give it a little time to work, making sure the wood stays soaked. That's sometimes also called wood bleach. Often used to brighten teak decks on boats even. So first clean, then brighten and after that stain and you get a fantastic end result. The oxalic acid isn't a must, but it lightens the wood noticeably and makes it look great. The final step in my case is wood oil to seal the wood - so not a paint that covers, but an oil that penetrates and rejuvenates the wood. This is why oxalic acid as a second step helps, especially; you bring back the original wood grain, and the oil then gives it a depth and rejuvenates it. If you're going to paint the deck with opaque paint, there's no need for the hydrogen percarbonate, even; just clean the deck with an appropriate detergent and paint it. I for one vastly prefer to see the wood grain and having some depth to the whole thing rather than just paint.

[russklatt]

Followed your directions and my deck looks great. cleaned it yesterday and stained it today.

[Bill-YellowDogWelding]

Looks really nice! I will warn those that have a lot of sun on their decks to think twice about a dark color. Did that years ago and it would get so hot you couldn't walk on it in bare feet! Thanks for the video!

[bserway]

Thanks so much for the help Gene! I was pressure washing too close and stripping the wood. That scrub brush is just what I needed!

[ravenmarie]

Thanks for the tips! When the weather gets better I wanna clean up mom's deck. Make it a nice surprise for her

[nejdro]

Two additional hints: Never stain when the sun in on the deck if at all possible! Secondly, only do a couple boards at a time and do the entire length of those boards. Your goal in any painting or staining is to maintain a wet edge to lessen lap marks.The Behrsolid hide paint is a pretty good stain. All the major stain manufacturers go to an acrylic base in the solid stains. For transparent or semi-transparent stains, the oil based stains are far superior to the water based stains.

[NCE]

Like how you painted some black in there - looks good!

[glowlight]

Looks great. Thanks for sharing this. I’m ready to do my deck!

[psychodad]

I would like to add that after trying your DIY recipe, the deck floor has brightened after drying. I can't wait to stain it! Thank you again!

[pi]

Love, Love, Love. I watch this a couple of times a year! Here I am again. Time flies!

[psychodad]

Thank you for the DIY recipe. I will be sure to use this video as I prepare to clean and stain my dirty, worn out deck.

[clownman]

Good video, , always prep n paint the handrails firstly.. cut in all sides firstly, then fill in.. much easier process ✨️

[hghurst]

I Liked as soon as I saw Dylan (sp?) picking up the slack and making the project happen! As soon as my boys have another year on them I'll be doing the same thing! Great tips, great vid!

[IndieGuvenc]

I'm using this all the time now, thanks

[daves]

A 'Solid Stain' is a marketing term for 'Paint'. Short and simple: when painting wood for exterior use it is essential to coat all surfaces: top, bottom, sides and ends for cycles of water absorption, penetration and drying out. It might seem to be 'dead wood' to you but indeed it is still breathing. Painting only one surface of the wood disrupts the breathing of the wood such that it considerably reduces the life span of the wood (premature splitting, cracking and rot). Instead, appreciate the natural beauty of woodgrains and the graying of the wood over the long term. Yes, you can wash it with a brush to remove dirt and moss but never use a pressure washer or sander.

[cleatusbarncoat]

Glad the Behr products worked for you, hope it holds up. Didn’t hold up for me with an eastward facing, full-sun til noon, Wisconsin deck. Would not reuse or recommend, cheap Home Depot stuff.
But do like your homemade cleaning solution. Thanks.

[NHPaddy]

Thinking of uses a Dark black color on our deck wood spindles. Did You Black Paint or a Solid Black Stain? Thanks, your Deck looks great!

[gregspencer]

Great job..the deck looks fantastic. Thanx for sharing. How big is your deck and how much Oxi-clean did you need to complete the job?

[brucemontgomery]

Didn’t find the link for the stain application tool