Home cleaner for fence?

Question

any mix i can use to clean my pine fence?Do I have to purchase store made product to do job correctly? How important is cleaning the fence before I stain.

Answer 1

Oxygen bleach

( sodium percarbonate )

Things like OxiClean or anything with "Oxi....".

Sodium percarbonate is an excellent detergent and bleaching agent based on hydrogen peroxide. It is a good cleaning and bleaching agent at normal temperature, and has strong fungicide effect. Fruits and vegetables treated with sodium percarbonate can be kept fresh, and be stored for a long time. In medicine, it can kill staphy lococcus, and colon bacillus .

This product is a white particle powder, non-toxic no contamination, non-flammable, non-explosive, easy to get damp, and soluble in water.

Oxygen bleach is excellent for cleaning and removing organic stains (such as coffee, tea, wine, fruit juices, foods, sauces, grass and blood) from fabrics, plastics, fiberglass, porcelain, ceramics, wood, carpets, asphalt, concrete, etc. Oxygen bleach can be used in any place in or around the house that need to be destained and deodorized; it is efficient, safe and economical.

It is non-toxic, environmentally safe, biodegradable, and leaves no harmful by-products or residues which can harm the environment

Just add a few scoops to water, mix and scrub the fence....or use a sprayer. The fence will come clean in minutes. Just rinse well when finished, and let dry O/N before staining.

It is important to clean before you stain to remove dirt and grime that may prevent the stain from penetrating the wood.

Note: Do not use Chlorine bleach as this will dissolve the fibers that hold the wood together, and can cause the wood to deteriorate prematurely.

Answer 2

Being the lazy person I am, I have never cleaned my fencing or decking before staining. Seems to work fine for me.

Answer 3

You can buy fence cleaner at Lowes, Home Depot.  They are basically chlorine bleach diluted with water.  

I have used diluted (3 parts water to 1 part bleach) in with a pressure washer on my fence many times (about 20 years old) with no damage.

If your fence is not severely weathered or stained, just a good cleaning with a garden hose (maybe a scrub brush for stubborn areas) is all you need to do prior to staining.  Just make sure to let it dry first.