We have an ipe deck that needs cleaning. The offending surface contaminant is a powdery green material that I assume to be tree pollen. There are two enormous black locust trees near the deck, a few more in the yard, and lots of fir, cedar, and others in the general area. When there’s rain the deck gets slippery. I don’t mean sorta slippery, I mean fall-on-your-
-and-go-to-the-doctor slippery.
I have cleaned this once, with some success. I bought a stiff plastic-bristle brush on a long handle and scrubbed the livin’ snit out of it, with copious spray from the hose. It sorta does the trick, but not entirely.
Wondering here if there’s a detergent or other cleaning agent I should be using? Also, the local rental yard has a small electric pressure washer that would apply more oomph than a brush and hose. I could try that, carefully.
Any thoughts?
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armoural deckwash
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powdery green material
Got that stuff all over in the fall, even on concrete. Usually pressure wash every thing at least every other year think the green slick slime (when wet) is a combo of decayed fir needles, alder pollen, with thin moss growing on the decomposed aftermath.
Dont just rent a pressure washer, by as big as you can afford and store. I use a 4000 psi, 4 GPM, even with that takes a couple of hours to get the cr2p off abourt 1000 sq ft of concrete. DW does the edges with a 2.2 GPM 1200 psi elec. washer, takes about 5 times as long for the same area.
The deck areas that have the older CuAs preservative does not grow the moss, about everything else does, even the older painted penta treated areas.
personally, i dont care for pressure washers, they can be very helpfull if used properly, but can be very destuctive if misused.
I have had good luck removing this green slimey residue with a mixture of water, chlorine bleasch and TSP (trisodium phosphate) applied with a stiff bristle nylon brush on a pole. rinse with plenty of water. I would start with 2 gal water, 1 qt. bleach and one cup TSP (You can find TSP in the paint dept.) Mix stronger if you dont get good results.
I'm w/ sawdust on pressure washers - keep um away from woodI've been around Northwest deck bldg / cleaning for a long time and just cleaned our ipe deck for first time in its six year existencehoping you have not bordered this deck w/ many exotic plantings cuz tough to beat bleach in this instance - and don't get the eunuch ed version that says you can use it around plants cuz it only runs on about 1 1/2 cylinders - for your muck broom in mixture about 1 to 1 or 1 gallon bleach to 2 gal water - that is really what those 5 gal buckets are for
let is sit / soak and after a restful lunch go at it with the left over dirty mixture & follow with water
that should do you pretty well & you'll be amazed at how even the silvered ipe goes back to its deep rain forest brown - only to go back to silver when it dries completelyours is on a southern exposure so one thing going for itif things are really desperate I've used ( client supplied ) some of these special deck cleaners that talk of bringing your deck back to new - ya sure _ but one did amaze me & I think it contained oxalic acid in the mix
others ( maybe tried two others ) did not work as well as clothes brightener store bought bleach
Use an oxygenated bleach, not chlorine. Many deck washes are available with oxygen bleach. These are less destructive for your fasteners and greenery. Stay with the brush, not a pressure washer. The deck wash will loosen the crud. If you want, you can use a deck brightener after washing. This will help bring the color back to almost new.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Cabot's Problem Solver Wood Cleaner #8002 ......... good stuff. I think it's more effective than the usual bleach/tsp mix. Concentrated .......usually mix 1 pt cleaner to 4 pts water- stronger for really bad areas. I cover plants/vegetation before starting. As always try a test spot first then scrub the heck out of it. Rinse. imho no harm using a pressure washer provided you're careful.
http://www.cabotstain.com/products/product/Problem-Solver-Wood-Cleaner.html?productTypeName=Exterior%20Surface%20Prep
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Bleach and water.
it is probably not pollen but a moss.
the bleach will kill it dead.
although, it may lighten the wood depending on how much you use.
on PT decks I have to use a lot of bleach to clean the wood.... actually, I spray it on straight then scrub and then pressure wash it off for stubborn ugliness.
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