[Kenny83]

Thanks Roger,
will always wash off in future, i have always told the customer to stay off for 24 hours anyway.. but I don't wanna damage it,
No I don't use a foam / suffactant additive, is it recomended? aprt from being able to see where you've put the hypo are there any other benefits in using a foam agent?
Thanks

[evil genius]

This has turned into a very informative thread, thanks for everyone's input.

Roger,
I have read a few topics regard decking that you have commented on and you always mention a 'brightener/brightening' stage.
What is this and what's the process?
Thanks.
Ian

[Roger Oakley]

No I don't use a foam / suffactant additive, is it recomended? aprt from being able to see where you've put the hypo are there any other benefits in using a foam agent?
Thanks

What it will do is give the hypo some "cling" as in stay on the surface, so it acts as a thickening agent of sorts, hypo mix's on a dry deck will just get sucked into the wood esp. on a warm day, pre-wetting the wood is also important before applying a hypo mix or any other cleaner, as this will also give the cleaning agent time to work on the surface.

[Roger Oakley]

This has turned into a very informative thread, thanks for everyone's input.

Roger,
I have read a few topics regard decking that you have commented on and you always mention a 'brightener/brightening' stage.
What is this and what's the process?
Thanks.
Ian

Citric or Oxalic acid to brighten, straight after washing/stripping while the wood is still damp/wet, does 2 things, neutralises your cleaning/stripping chemicals & brightens the wood.
After stripping a deck you have to brighten the wood.

[Kenny83]

No I don't use a foam / suffactant additive, is it recomended? aprt from being able to see where you've put the hypo are there any other benefits in using a foam agent?
Thanks

What it will do is give the hypo some "cling" as in stay on the surface, so it acts as a thickening agent of sorts, hypo mix's on a dry deck will just get sucked into the wood esp. on a warm day, pre-wetting the wood is also important before applying a hypo mix or any other cleaner, as this will also give the cleaning agent time to work on the surface.

Thanks Roger, I don't do many decks but I realy enjoy the few I do as the results that can be achieved are brilliant.
Thanks for the help mate, I look into the things mentioned, I know Lee Blast already does some of these things and has great results too

[Neil Jones]

Roger, what dilution Oxalic acid do you use? I have some for carpet cleaning so would be good to know. For example on the OP pictures how much would you use? 5 litres?
Cheers

[Roger Oakley]

Roger, what dilution Oxalic acid do you use? I have some for carpet cleaning so would be good to know. For example on the OP pictures how much would you use? 5 litres?
Cheers

Depending on the wood, but let's say a softwood, (Pine, Cedar etc) 6-8oz per 5 litters dwell time 20-30 mins.

[evil genius]

well i returned to the job today to resand a whacker the front drive we cleaned.
thought i would have a little peek to check on the decking that gave me so much trouble and to my supprise it was spotless 
seems the hypo had soaked into the timber and carried on doing its thing for a few days after i left.
happy days