By itself sodium percarbonate makes a poor deck cleaner. The first thing you need to
use something to help raise the alkalinity of the cleaning solution. This is commonly
done by combining the percarbonate with a material like soda ash. Even better is to
use a combination of soda ash and sodium metasilicate. (Commonly called TSP
substitute and can be purchased in any hardware store.) You also need is to add a
little surfactant to the cleaning solution to help it wet out the deck surface being
cleaned. This can easily be accomplished by adding a little dish liquid (like Dawn)
to the cleaning solution before use. If you rinse the surface well after cleaning it is
debatable if you really need
to also rinse with citric acid. I have never really recommended it except on occasion
with new redwood. This can easily be accomplished by adding a little dish liquid (like
Dawn) to the cleaning solution before use. Lastly, do not make any oxygen bleach
blends with less than 75% sodium percarbonate. If you do you may be disappointed.
Natural Choices manufactures an oxygen bleach based product called Exterior ProX
Deck and Patio Cleaner (80% or more sodium percarbonate) that does an excellent job
on exterior surfaces like siding, decks, roofs, fences and masonry. It contains all of
the ingredient cited previously in their proper proportions. We also do proprietary
formulations if a more robust product is needed. As the chemist who has been
formulating oxygen bleach products for over 15 years I can assure Natural Choices has
the best quality and performance available for oxygen bleach
based products.
Dr. Marion Mack Myers
Technical Director
Pacific Sands/Natural Choices
262-898-3117
technical@oxyboost.com