Homemade Deck Cleaner For Power Washer

Homemade Deck Cleaner For Power Washer. Summer breezy winds are about to come, and you must be planning for friends and family hangovers in your outdoor deck area. The only issue with this setup is your wooden deck hasn’t gone through extensive cleaning and is showing grime or dirt patches here and there. The wooden deck requires your attention to be cleaned before inviting someone over it to spend their valuable time with you. 

Power washing your deck is the best way to start your cleaning task along with a powerful deck cleaner to loosen up the grime.  There is a wide range of deck solutions available in the market but they have pretty hard side effects on nearby plants and especially on pets. If you’re a pet lover you would know how badly toxic solutions leave after effects. 

So you may be wanting to make your own homemade deck cleaner for a pressure washer that has zero side effects and works well to clean the surface.

In this article, we’ll share how you can safely make your own homemade deck cleaning solution. What should you consider while making and applying it to the wooden deck?  Keep on reading to have detailed insight on this particular topic. 

Why Homemade Deck Cleaner for Power Washer?

Although making homemade deck cleaner is not an easy task, when there are multiple ready solutions available on the market. But homemade solutions are more budget-friendly and best for the surrounding environment keeping your pets and animals safe. 

Power washing a deck is inevitable. No matter how much you take care of the wooden surface, it is prone to accumulate debris, grime, or oil stains on it. You have to scrub them down and reapply the sealer to protect the wood for upcoming years.

If you go through this process not only your deck will look good and inviting, but it will also lengthen your wooden deck life. 

How to decide which homemade cleaner to prepare for the deck?

Below here, we’ve shared multiple homemade deck cleaners. To decide which one will suit you the best depends on the condition of your deck. 

  • Solution with a plenty amount of bleach will suit the wood surface having a lot of rot and fungus on it.
  • Mild homemade cleaners will be more suitable to get rid of greasy dirty wood. 
  • If you’re using a power washer, then it will have a separate homemade mixture (method given below). 

How to prepare a homemade cleaning solution?

As discussed earlier, homemade solutions are less toxic than the ones available in stores. And you have to be less cautious with plants, children, and pets. 

Homemade deck cleaner compatible with power washers:

If you are using the high-power tool, you must know the process of power washing so that you do not face any problems while power washing. 

Ensure that dishwasher is ammonia free. As ammonia and bleach should not be combined because it will make it a toxic solution.

Material required method
  • safety gloves
  • 2-gallon water
  • 2 ounces of an ammonia-free dishwasher
  • 2 quarts of bleach
Combine them all in a bucket and mix them to form one clean solution.

Once well-combined you can use it freely in a pressure washer as well as can scrub it on the deck surface. It depends on you. 

 

Homemade Powdered bleach Cleaner:

Material required method
  • safety gloves
  • 2-cup of powdered oxygen bleach
  • ¼ cup of ammonia-free dish soap
  • 2 gallons of warm water
This is the most recommended DIY cleaner to use with washers.

Oxygen-powdered bleach is milder than liquid bleach. Therefore, should be used earlier as soon as you mix up all ingredients. 

If you are dealing with strong stains, you can make the solution stronger by increasing the ratio of bleach. You can make it with one cup of bleach and one cup of water.

But we would you to not use with soap dispenser of a power washer. The high amount of bleach can trouble your washer. 

 

Mildew and Algae Cleaner:

Material required method
  • safety gloves
  • 1-cup of trisodium phosphate
  • 1-cup of bleach
  • 2 gallons of warm water
Mix them all till well combined. Apply it on the wooden deck for 10 to 15 minutes to remove dirt and mold.

After said time, rinse the solution with a power washer at low-pressure settings. This can also be used on sidings and bricks.

 

Homemade Soapy Deck Scrub:

Material required method
  • safety gloves
  • ¼ ammonia-free dishwasher
  • 2 quarts of household bleach 
  • 2 gallons of warm water
It won’t be as good as Trisodium Phosphate solution. But extra bleach helps to get rid of stains quicker.

Make sure you have covered nearby plants and that children and pets are kept indoors. As it has bleach as an active ingredient. Rinse it off completely after letting it stay on the surface for 5-10 minutes.

If you want a natural solution, you can simply combine vinegar and water. It would be less toxic but not much effective

 

Safety Tips to follow For Making A Homemade Deck Cleaner For Power Washer:

  • Use diluted or mild bleach in homemade deck cleaner. Powdered bleach is milder than liquid ones. 
  • Make sure you are not adding toxic chemicals, as they would harm the nearby plants or can pollute the environment.
  • When you are using homemade cleaners in power washing, the solution must not be grainy as it will stuck in parts of the washer and may create clog/blockage in between parts.
  • Make use of protective gloves as you are mixing multiple chemicals hence can irritate. It would be ideal to start with using gloves for mixing and spraying solution on the surface.
  • Never ever mix ammonia-based solutions with bleach. They will be highly toxic and can cause respiratory issues. 
  • Once washed with any of these cleaning solutions, let the wooden surface dry completely before applying any stain or sealer. 
  • Keep the solution in the outdoor area, as the chemicals have an unpleasant odor. Dispose of the solution after cleaning if remained any. 
  • Keep it out of reach of the children.

Conclusion:

Homemade deck cleaner for pressure washer is an eco-friendly as well as economical solution. But always remember that before applying it to the whole surface test it in a small testing area. If it causes any harm, do not use it on the surface.

Also, when you are using these cleaners with power washers, make sure the ingredients are compatible with being used within washers.  Still, if you are unsure, it is best to contact any professional expert other than damaging the expensive deck. 

Related Articles:

5 Best Electric Pressure Washers For Deck Cleaning and Washing

How To Wash Patio Furniture With A Pressure Washer

Flinn Milan

Flinn Milan is the content director at Washwith. He is responsible for developing helpful content in collaboration with other hard-working team members. Over several years, his content strategy is mainly focused on describing and highlighting every product with its positive and negative points

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