If you’ve let that deck get all filthy and now you’re desperately searching around the internet trying to find out how to clean a deck…
Then this simple, step by step guide will show you the easiest, most effective way to clean your deck…
It’s so easy that you can even get your kids to do it…
You just need some cheap equipment and you’re good to start cleaning…
How about we just get into it then?
What Equipment do you need to clean a deck?
- Broom
- Deck scrub brush
- Strong bucket
- Pressure washer
- Garden hose
- Safety goggles
- Gloves
That’s pretty much all the equipment you’ll need…
A pressure washer is optional…
You can still clean your deck if you don’t have a pressure washer…
However, you’ll still need to get yourself a good quality deck cleaner but that comes under the next section…
What material do you need when cleaning a deck?
- Deck cleaner
- Deck Brightener
Now the reason I’ve listed a cleaner and a brightener is because they’re both cleaning products for your deck but they both have very different uses…
And you always use them together…
A deck cleaner is used to remove mould, mildew, algae and any other types of contaminants that may be sitting on the surface of your deck or deeper in the grain of the timber…
A deck brightener is and oxalic acid which will neutralise the chemicals from your deck cleaning product and it also brings back the natural colour of your decking timber…
So cleaning a deck is always a 2 step process…
Deck cleaner to deep clean your wood and then brightener to neutralise the deck cleaner and bring back the natural colour…
Make sense?
Ok cool…
It doesn’t matter if you’re cleaning your deck ready to stain or if you simply want to clean your deck so it looks nice…
The cleaning process is exactly the same…
Perfect, so we can keep this ball rolling…
How to Clean a Deck Step by Step…
This is the part where I want you to pay close attention…
What I reveal next will be all of the “industry secrets” on how to clean a deck properly…
And once these steps get out into the wider public, the deck restoration community will lose it and most likely try to cancel me…
So I don’t know how long I’ll keep this up for…
But right now, these secrets are up so take full advantage of it while you can…
Ok, here it is…
1. Remove all furniture from your deck…
Don’t be lazy with this one…
I’ve seen so many people clean their decks and they move the furniture around and try to clean around it…
I’ve had homeowners who have told me to stain around the pot plants because they don’t want to move them…
What the??
Just take the furniture off and do it properly…
It’ll make the job so much easier…
Ok now that we’ve got that out of the way,
Let’s move onto the deck cleaning secret number 2…
2. Sweep the deck off with a broom…
Ok, so the way to use a broom is…
Take the broom by the handle and…
No, I’m just kidding…
I’m not seriously going to break down how you need to sweep off your deck…
I’m pretty sure you can work that one out for yourself…
Anyway…
The idea isn’t to get your deck spotless…
It’s simply to remove any dust, stones and such…
This is especially important if you just sanded your deck and know you want to clean it ready for stain…
If you just try to clean your deck without sweeping or vacuuming the dust first, that dust can clump up and sit in between the decking boards…
Do you know what happens next?
When you try to stain your deck with the deck brush applicator that I suggest…
That horrible, clumpy dust will be picked up by your applicator and then coat your deck in clumpy dust balls…
And we don’t want that now do we??
Good, we’re on the same page…
Ok, let’s move onto the next step…
3. Mix the deck cleaner with water…
The mixing instructions will depend on the product that you purchase so make sure you read the instructions on the container…
With that said, it usually looks something like this…
Tip 1 litre of cleaning product into a bucket…
Mix 4 parts water to 1 part cleaner…
Which means…
Add 4 litres of water to your 1 litre of cleaning product…
Then thoroughly mix through…
I like to mix it up with a deck scrubber…
And that’s all there is to it…
Things are really starting to heat up, let’s keep it moving…
4. Wet your deck before you clean and scrub…
Most deck cleaning products will require you to hose down your deck first before you start to scrub it with the product…
It makes it easier to work the cleaner into the deck and helps to keep it wet…
Because you may not know this but…
You never want to let the cleaner dry on the surface of the deck…
Just make sure you wet your deck with a hose before you start…
I don’t want to spoil the surprise so let’s go to the next step…
5. Scrub the deck with a deck brush…
This is the fun part…
Take your deck brush and give it a little dip in the cleaning product…
It doesn’t matter if it’s dripping all over your decking…
That’s where the product is going anyway…
Now start scrubbing with that brush…
You want to be pretty firm with the brush to remove those stubborn dirts and stains…
Every so often, dip your scrub brush again and apply some more cleaning product to the deck…
Just keep scrubbing until you’ve scrubbed the whole deck…
6. Allow the cleaning product to sit on the surface…
Most products have to be left on the surface of your deck for about 20 minutes…
This gives the “enzymes” and all that special “sciency stuff” time to work its magic…
But, the moment the cleaner dries out, the magic stops…
So with all of the advances in science the one thing that can ruin this whole deck cleaning experience for you is water…
No water and the whole thing stops working…
So remember before how you scrubbed the deck?
Yeah well as you scrub, you want to make sure you keep the section you just scrubbed wet…
The easiest way to do this is to have a hose right next to you as you scrub so you can just give it a light spray as soon as you notice it starting to dry on the surface…
Then once the deck is all scrubbed, wait 20 minutes for all the high tech chemical reactions to occur all over the surface of your deck, whilst applying a light mist to the deck to keep it wet…
That’s all there is to it…
7. Give your deck a light pressure clean…
I lied before because this is the fun part here…
This is where you take a pressure washer and blast off all of that gunk…
But you want to be really light with the pressure cleaner…
At this point of the process, you don’t want to damage the surface of your deck…
Especially if you have bare timber that you’re about to stain for the first time…
If you go too heavy with the pressure, you’ll make the surface of your deck all fuzzy and you’ll need to sand it again…
So here’s what I suggest…
If you have a cheap electric pressure washer, make sure you use the fan head and not a turbo head…
If you have a petrol pressure washer, make sure you use the 40 degree nozzle…
Now the key here is to clean the deck and not strip it so make sure you don’t point the tip of the pressure washer too close to the surface of your deck…
Then all you need to do is fire up your “Beast of a Machine
and rinse your deck off…
Honestly, as long as you use a lower pressure nozzle and keep the tip 30 cm away from the deck, all you need to do is move that pressure wand up and down the boards to remove all of the soap and grime…
You pretty much just flood the surface with water and chase it all off the edge of your deck…
8. Follow up with a deck brightener…
You know the steps I just showed you from 3 to step 7?
Yeah well, you need to apply the deck brightener in the exact same way…
Mix it up with water, scrub it into your deck and then pressure wash it off…
Once you’ve done that, the deck cleaning process is complete…
And that my fine friend is How to Clean a Deck Like the Pros…
There’s no more to it…
No wait…
There is one more thing…
There’s only one thing that can ruin this for you now…
Your whole journey into cleaning your deck can be soured in one foul swoop…
All of the hard work that you’ve done up till this point can be ruined quicker that you can say “No! GET OFF THERE!!”
You’ve come so far and learnt so much here today…
This one last piece of golden knowledge will serve you well and save you from heartache if you listen and follow what I’m about to tell you…
Once you do everything that I tell you above, and your deck is still wet, make sure you do this one thing…
Keep those snotty nose kids off the deck!!
Do whatever you need to do…
Lock Em up…
Send them away to boarding school…
Do whatever it takes!!
Because if you let those “little darlings” walk all over your clean deck while it’s wet…
Once it’s dry, all you’ll see are these grubby little pixie footprints all over your deck…
Don’t fall victim to this…
I’m also going to put dogs in the same category…
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve cleaned a deck, come back the next day to find a dry deck with dirty dog paws and kiddie footprints all over the newly cleaned deck…
You’ve been warned…
That’s all I’m gonna say on the matter…
Now go forth and prosper with your newly acquired deck cleaning knowledge…
If you have any questions about how to clean your deck, feel free to leave me a comment below and I’ll do my best to answer your questions…
Peace,
Jason…
Need some Expert Advice?
If you’ve been searching the internet trying to find an answer to a specific deck problem and you’ve found it impossible to get a straight answer…
Why not just reach out and ask me directly for an answer?
I’ve got 10 years of deck knowledge crammed into my noggin. I can pretty much guarantee I’ve got an answer to your problem just rattling around in there…
Come on, don’t be shy…
FAQ’s
The best way to clean a wooden deck is to scrub it with a deck cleaner, allow it to sit for 20 minutes. Make sure you keep the deck wet for the full 20 minutes and then pressure clean off…
The best thing to clean a deck with would be a deck cleaner followed up by a deck brightener together with a scrub brush and a pressure washer…
The best mixture to clean a wood deck is to mix 1 part deck cleaner with 4 parts water. The cleaner contains a diluted sodium percarbonate that is perfect for cleaning a deck…
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