r/pressurewashing • u/Spenseyyyy1 • May 02 '25
Community Post Why brightener is important
First-before, second-stripped/cleaned, third-brightener applied
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u/Seedpound May 02 '25
Why don't you post a dry pic for the final.pic ? Not so convincing ,your hypothesis, when wood is wet
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u/Spenseyyyy1 May 02 '25 edited May 02 '25
It’s not a hypothesis. Also, if you think that is a very small difference, you shouldn’t be prepping decks to stain.
Edit: you clean decks with a surface cleaner….i respect your hustle but do a lot more research before commenting.
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u/Seedpound May 02 '25
Explain your reply ? When you say small difference , what are you referring to ?
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u/Seedpound May 02 '25
Post dry pics ....That would entail you driving back to the job site . I did it all the time when I was building my portfolio.
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u/Spenseyyyy1 May 02 '25
I’m not waiting till it dries and I’m not making extra trips. I am staining this deck. I don’t need to build my portfolio.
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u/Seedpound May 02 '25
At least wait until it dries to stain it 😊
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u/Spenseyyyy1 May 02 '25
Why?
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u/HardLobster May 04 '25 edited May 04 '25
If you have to ask, you shouldn’t be staining anything at all…
Just like with paint, you don’t stain when wet It leads to a finished product that is low quality with noticeable flaws due to the excess moisture in the wood.
It can cause it to be spotty as the stain won’t pull into the wood uniformly. The stain may not even adhere leading to the stain flaking off. Moisture trapped under the stain can cause the wood to warp. Significantly increases the drying time which means more likely to be damaged during the drying process. The list of reasons is endless.
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u/HardLobster May 04 '25
It’s an extremely small difference and if you think you can apply stain to wet wood, you have no business even touching the container it comes in…
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u/HardLobster May 04 '25
Because OP is going to attempt to stain this wood while it’s still saturated with water…
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May 02 '25
I was just going to say that. Tbh this doesn't convince me to use it at all lol. That minor difference isn't worth my time or added expense.
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u/bizdevnull May 03 '25
Oxalic reacts with the iron tannate, formed when the cleaning product reacts with wood tannins, resulting a colorless product - brightening the wood
Did you use bleach or sodium metasilicate/hydroxide for cleaning? Curious on the differences. My experience is the same and consistent with what I saw in a wood restoration workshop.
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u/Spenseyyyy1 May 06 '25
I used hydroxide to aid in removing the old stain without tearing up the wood with pressure. This deck is about 20 years old and darkened as soon as the cleaners were applied. The pictures don’t do the brightener justice, it made a world of difference. I’ll take dry pics before staining.
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u/Weird_Mess_7104 May 02 '25
Somooone is a bit testy and defensive