How to Clean a Wooden Deck or Decking

During this lovely time of year and after the harsh winter weather, people often ask themselves ’How should I clean my garden decking? It’s a mess!’. It seems that the first few days of a British summer always brings people out in numbers to the garden and the condition of their decking after the winter months is often quite poor.

There is also an important safety aspect for keeping your garden decking surface clean, as it will prevent the surface from becoming slippery.

Cleaning and maintaining hardwood decking isn’t hard and will ensure that the structure will remain in great condition for years to come despite the elements. In fact, provided care and maintenance is preserved, hardwood decking could easily last for more than 30 years.

How To clean Hardwood Decking

Cleaning your deck isn’t very complicated and does not have to cost much as most of the tools you’ll need are probably scattered around the house. The four cleaning steps below are meant to ensure that the decking comes out clean and that you do not damage the wood in the cleaning process. You should also ensure that the cleaning is done in the dry so that the wood has time to dry naturally.1. Start by making sure that the decking surface is free of any clutter and garden furniture. place these far away from the deck so that the spray from the cleaning solutions or chemicals used (optional) will not penetrate them. Pay close attention to ensuring that you do not drag any piece of furniture on the deck as you might damage the wood or it’s oiled coating. Therefore you should consider getting a helping hand for this step, especially if you have to move tables and chairs.2. Perform a basic cleaning of the deck by using a stiff broom and a pressure washer if you have one. give the deck a thorough brush followed by jet wash using a pressure washer’s wash brush, which nowadays comes as an extension with most pressure washers. This step will help get rid of dirt and debris which has accumulated over the winter months. Do not use an industrial grade pressure washer (above 1500 psi/100 bar) as it might damage the wood. Pressure washers which are used as multi-purpose home and car cleaners will work just fine. if you don’t have one, use a normal water jet from your garden hose.3. Now that the deck is free from any clutter and dirt you can focus on cleaning the wood using a dedicated cleaning product or soda crystals. To use the cleaning product, follow the instructions and be sure to pick one which works with your species of wood (teak, ipe, iroko etc). if you are unsure, then purchase a chemical agent which is multipurpose for any decking wood species, these are widely available from B&Q and Homebase for around