Tips How to Clean a Composite or Wood Deck

Most people get very excited about designing, decorating, and organizing a deck. But when it comes to cleaning and maintenance, the excitement slowly begins to wane. No matter if your deck is wood or composite, it requires regular cleaning, as well as some annual maintenance tasks. Composite decks are generally less demanding than wood decks, which you have to take much more care of and protect from negative environmental factors. You need to stain them, paint them, and seal them from time to time. Here is some more information about how to clean a composite or wood deck.

Cleaning your deck requires a cleaning product, a brush to that product into a deck, and a water hose. We recommend choosing a long-handled brush, so you don’t need to kneel or inhale the cleanser directly. You need water to dissolve the cleaning product as well as to flush the deck after scrubbing it. There are plenty of cleaning agents for the deck available on the market, but if you want to take care of the environment, you’ll want to skip harsh chemicals. You can choose to use homemade cleaning products instead. They are as effective but less aggressive, so they won’t harm your plants, either jeopardize your health.

1. Depending on your decking material, you can make different cleaning products. For example, you can even use warm water by itself. In case your composite or wood deck is almost completely clean and you just want to freshen them up a bit, water will do the work, even without adding other cleaning agents.
2. Another great environmentally friendly cleansing product is an ammonia-free dishwashing liquid. Use one gallon of water and two tbs of dishwashing liquid. Add a half-liter of alcohol and one liter of oxygen bleach. You want to make sure you’re using dishwashing detergent that is ammonia-free since ammonia can form toxic products with oxygen bleach.
3. Oxygen bleach products in powdered form are commonly used for cleaning a deck. You can use them for cleaning after mixing the powder with some water. However, if you don’t have this kind of product at your home, you can make one. Just check if your laundry detergent contains sodium perborate or percarbonate. If so, you can just mix it with some warm water, apply with a brush on your deck and rinse it using a water hose. The great thing about oxygen bleach products is that they do not have a negative impact on nature, and they also do not white the deck or leave stains on it.
4. Apple cider or white vinegar is something most of us already have at our homes. As you probably may know, vinegar is another great product for cleaning and maintaining various surfaces, including the decking. You can mix it with warm water and baking soda to make a cleansing product that destroys bacteria and leaves the decking surface clean and refreshed.
5. Another thing that can help you with cleaning and maintaining your decking is to initially purchase the low-maintenance decking that generally doesn’t require too much work. You should check out the offer of low-maintenance composite decking at thecompositedecking.co.uk. Thinking about this in the beginning and getting a high-quality decking that doesn’t need constant attention will help you a lot in the long run.

Composite decking

Composite decking consists of wood and plastic mixed together. In general, this type of decking doesn’t require too much effort to keep it clean and good looking. However, it is not resistant to the grease which usually leaves stains from the dropped food. Make sure to react right away since if you don’t move those greasy stains immediately, then can stay on your composite decking forever.

1. As a first step, use paper towels to remove the food you dropped and wipe that surface until you notice you removed all the greasiness you could.
2. Then use the water hose with very high pressure to wash away the stain as much as you can. Water can’t remove it completely since it doesn’t dissolve oils. However, it can be a good way to start the stain removing process.
3. Continue with rubbing the cleaning product with a brush.
4. You can use dishwashing liquid mixed with some warm water. Make sure to rub it on the decking surface thoroughly.
5. Collect the greasy foam with a paper towel and then rinse the rest of the foam using the water hose again.
6. If you notice the stain is still there, redo the process with dish soap until everything is sparkling clean.

Wood decking

Wood decks require much more maintenance per year, so you should try to keep track of all the maintenance tasks to ensure your wood decking is clean and does not deteriorate.

1. Start with removing the furniture and decoration on your decking, and continue with sweeping to remove the dust and dirt from it.
2. Then use a knife to remove the debris stuck between the boards.
3. Rinse the dirt using a water hose. Use medium water pressure to prevent damaging the wood.
4. Apply the cleaning product with a brush, and rub it into the decking thoroughly.
5. Finally, rinse the product off with water.
6. The last step with wood decking is sealing since it prevents the negative impact of sunlight, bacteria, and mold. Without sealing, the wood deck starts to deteriorate, so you should do it every year to keep your decking safe and clean.
7. Always wear gloves and a safety mask when doing the sealing.

Conclusion:

Designing and purchasing a new composite or wood decking can be very exciting. However, after some time, you need to start thinking about cleaning and doing maintenance work. Composite decks are made of wood and plastic, and they usually do not require too much maintenance. On the other hand, wood decks need to be sealed every year and generally require much more attention during the year. It is essential to use a good cleaning product for your decking. Instead of buying aggressive chemicals, you can use homemade cleansers that are as effective but much gentler and don’t impact nature negatively. The right maintenance will ensure you can enjoy sparkling clean, good locking decking for many years.