Chemical Washes for Cleaning/Rejuvenating Wooden Fences ?

[Magnusfarce]

I've got cedar vertical plank fencing that I installed in the back yard about a year ago, and I've waited too long to seal them so that now they are starting to grey out in the weather here in SoCal. I want to try to strip them using my pressure washer and some sort of wash to revitalize the boards so that I can seal them and get back a reasonably good natural wood color.

On the basis that some of the wash will make it onto my grass lawn and ornamental plants no matter how I try to prevent it, what can I use to wash the fences that won't damage my grass?

I've seen a product by Zep called "Pressure Washer Deck and Fence Cleaner", which obviously is meant for this purpose, but it warns about wetting and then covering plants before using. What's in this stuff? Any luck with this product and did it cause big problems with plants? TIA

- Magnusfarce

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, isn't cedar self protecting if you don't mind grey color? Tony

[Erma1ina]

Checkout Flood's Dekswood. It's contains a brightener (oxalic acid) and is plant-friendly. It worked well on my old pressure-treated wood deck.

[Baron]

Penofin has a wood cleaner / brightener that is based on phosphoric acid. I've used it to clean some teak benches. No harm done to the grass. In fact, it acts as a fertilizer.

Good Luck.