[Phil J]

Hi,
Was wondering what the best product is to clean decking that has turned green. Would you use Hypo or something else?
Thanks in advance, Phil.

[Smudger]

depends on the wood -

if your talking your common pine/cedar soft wood effort - pressure wash and hypo will do it - but hypo can cause long term damage to the wood structure - there is also oxalic acid which brightens the wood - Net-rol is a great product as well

Darran

[Phil J]

Thanks for the advice Darran!

[SPCB Mosskillers]

Hypo may lighten and damage the wood as said previously - I would recommend something specifically for it such as Prodeck - https://www.mosskillers.co.uk/product/decking-cleaner

[simon w]

Hypo may lighten and damage the wood as said previously - I would recommend something specifically for it such as Prodeck - https://www.mosskillers.co.uk/product/decking-cleaner

How can/does hypo damage wood??

[Smudger]

Chlorine bleach destroys lignin, a component of wood that hardens and strengthens the cell walls.

it all comes down to use - strength, dwell times and what you want to remove fro. the wood

Darran

[simon w]

Chlorine bleach destroys lignin, a component of wood that hardens and strengthens the cell walls.

it all comes down to use - strength, dwell times and what you want to remove fro. the wood

Darran

Thanks Smudger so in practical terms what kind of damage could be expected if the mix was to strong and left on too long?

[simon w]

Did my first soft wash on wood today. Decking and wooden access ladder along with K Rend on whole house. Managed to experiment a bit and get the strength of the hypo and dwelling time just about right enough to get the wood clean then get it off and fully rinsed away.

[Smudger]

that looks good.

TBH - its just something I came across when I started soft washing and getting decks - it is very divided amongst the sites ive looked at - basically hypo has been used in lightening and brightening wood for 100's of years in the furniture industry

I have yet to see any short term or long term damage to the wood ive cleaned - I have some decks that ive now cleaned annually for 5 years (I recommend they oil the deck as this is better protection but they don't and it goes green every year as its in a wood)

the above was posted as info and just something to be aware of if brought up by a customer

Darran