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That tip about using bleach on deck stains wrecked my boards
My neighbor said a 50/50 bleach and water mix would clean my cedar deck, so I tried it last summer. It lightened the wood unevenly and left a patchy mess that wouldn't stain evenly. Anyone else gotten bad advice from a so-called expert around here?
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the_joel1mo ago
Funny how that works with experts. Seems like every piece of advice online comes with a guarantee that it worked for someone, but they never mention the fine print about what wood you're using or the weather conditions. That's just how it goes with home improvement stuff and pretty much everything else these days, people share what worked once and call it a universal fix.
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jesse7731mo ago
Mixing bleach with water at that ratio is way too strong for cedar. Cedar is a soft wood, so the bleach soaks in fast and burns it unevenly. A better approach would be an oxygen bleach like OxiClean mixed with warm water - it's gentler and won't wreck the wood fibers. You might be able to sand down the worst parts and try a wood brightener before restaining, but the bleached spots will probably stay lighter. Sorry you had to learn this the hard way.
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