Clean Cedar Siding Before Staining

Before staining replace rotting or decayed wood and remove loose stain and eroded wood fibers by sanding scraping or power washing the problem surfaces.

Clean cedar siding before staining.

Cedar siding after mold removal cleaning and brightening. Do not attempt to power wash your cedar siding. Power washing can damage the wood and bleach can damage a power washer. Department of agriculture s forest services laboratory recommends cleaning cedar shingles with an oxidizing bleach as opposed to a household bleach to avoid damaging the wood.

Only difference between cleaning new and old wood is new wood does not require much cleaning as old discolored wood sometimes does. While you can use household bleach to kill mold and algae it tends to make the cedar shingle s surface fuzzy because of the excessive pulping reaction when using it. Get rid of that grunge by cleaning your cedar siding with an oxygen bleach and choosing a protectant that doesn t feed future mold growth. Now the cleaned and brightened cedar wood siding is ready to stain.

Prepare your cedar siding by washing it with soapy water to remove any dirt or dust if any has accumulated. One of the most thorough methods when staining is to use a thick natural bristle brush. Though it may be more time consuming always clean your cedar siding by hand. Staining the restored cedar siding.

After you have washed it wait for it to dry before applying any stain to the cedar. If cedar is aged having grey weathered and or ugly black mildew all over the best cedar cleaner by far is oxi clean laundry detergent saving time and money and is also a must before staining. Dealing with surface contaminants once the surface is in good condition re inspect for dirt mildew stains cedar bleed chalkiness and other foreign substances.