Clean the Deck Before You Stain It (Or Do It All Again in April)

Every fall somebody stains a dirty deck, and every spring that stain peels off in sheets and takes his weekend with it. Stain doesn't fail because it's bad stain. It fails because it was put on top of gray wood, green film, and last year's pollen. Cleaning is the job. Staining is the reward.

1. Clear it and check it

Furniture off, grill off, planters off. Walk it and drive any proud nails or screws. Note the boards that are soft — no cleaner fixes rot, and you'd rather find it now than through your foot in July.

2. Wet it first

Hose the whole deck down before you apply anything. Cleaner on dry wood soaks in and dries too fast; cleaner on wet wood sits on the surface and works. This one step is the difference between a deck that rinses clean and one that streaks.

3. Apply, wait, scrub

Deck & Fence Wash through a pump sprayer, one section at a time, working from the house outward. Give it ten or fifteen minutes — don't let it dry — then hit it with a stiff deck brush. The gray lifts, the green comes off, and the wood underneath shows its real color again. Railings and steps get the same treatment; they're the parts people actually touch.

4. Rinse like you mean it

Garden hose or a pressure washer on a wide fan tip, held far enough back that you're rinsing, not carving. Stain won't bond over residue, so rinse until the runoff is clear. Then rinse the plants at the edge — they didn't sign up for this.

5. Let it dry longer than you want to

Two dry days minimum before stain, three if it's humid, which in Mississippi is always. Wet wood under stain is the number one way to do this whole job twice.

6. While the deck dries, do the rest

The cushions and the furniture that came off the deck have been through the same pollen season — Patio Furniture & Cushion Cleaner, scrub, rinse, sun. The concrete pad under the grill has a story too: Concrete & Driveway Cleaner. By the time the deck is ready to stain, the whole backyard is ready for company.

Factory-strength chemistry sized for the backyard, blended in Water Valley, Mississippi — the Yard & Patio lineup, by the jug, no minimums.