Whether it is cedar deck, siding, railing, fence, or anything else, if that looks weathered and has dirt on that, surely you would want to treat that as soon as possible. And there is a very easy way of doing that in case you don’t know how to clean cedar wood.
You won’t have to spend money on buying cleaning harsh chemicals. A lot of people clean cedar woods without any chemicals and found out better results than chemicals.
This is something you are about to witness if you follow the instructions.
Below I am going to show you how you can clean cedar wood easily with items that are found in every household.
But before you proceed know that of the wood cedar wood is painted, varnished, or stained, then this formula might not work well.
How to Clean Cedar Wood:
And in that case, you can sand off the paint or anything that is covering the wood and then try this formula if you need to.
The reason why you should not use a pressure washer
I know pressure washers come extremely handy when cleaning dirty items but trust me, you wouldn’t want to use a pressure washer on bare wood. Not only cedar wood but any wood.
A pressure washer will easily clean off the dirt from the wood but it will create a longtime issue. When you use a pressure washer on bare wood, that will raise the wood grain outside which damages the wood.
If that happens, wood will rot faster, can get splinters, and you will find it very difficult to stain that.
And in case somehow previously that wood has been pressure washed, there is still a way to make it right. Sand down a thin wood layer off.
Doing that you will get a fresh-looking wood and if it is cedar wood, the smell will be back as well.
Things that you will need
- Scrubbing brush: If you are cleaning a cedar deck then you will want to pick a stiff-bristle brush that comes with the stick so that you won’t have to bend down to scrub the deck. Pick hand brush otherwise.
- Liquid dishwashing soap: Any dishwashing soap would work but make sure that is liquid. It is a better way than chemicals since it is safe around kids, animals, and plants.
- A large bucket or container: You will need a large bucket that can hold around 5 gallons of water.
- Small brush: You can use a used toothbrush as well. It will be for scrubbing the crevices and corners.
Step by Step Process
Step 1:
Pour a little amount of liquid dishwashing soap into the bucket you have picked. The liquid amount should be double the amount you would have used to clean the sink that is filled with all the dishes.
After you have poured the liquid into the bucket, now fill half the bucket with water. And then mix well, you should get a lot of soapsuds.
If you have added the right amount of liquid soap then there would be hard soap suds and half water.
Step 2:
Sink the brush into the soapy water and then start scrubbing the wood with the brush. If you see the brush isn’t holding much soapy water then you can add little by your hand on the wood.
If the wood is super dirty you would want to add soapy water after every while.
Scrubbing with hand could be tiring but if you don’t have a scrubbing machine or the cedar wood piece is small, then you will have to do it manually.
Make sure to scrub the wood thoroughly so that no dirt, mold, or anything remains on the wood.
Step 3:
After you have done the scrubbing, now you would want to apply a little more amount of soapy water on the water. No! The scrubbing work isn’t done yet, that was kind of a warm-up.
Now the goal here is to let the soap soak on the wood. And leave the wood for 10-15 minutes. You wouldn’t want to move your attention anywhere else, keep eye on the wood.
No part of the wood should get dried during the time, if you see any part drying instantly add water to the area.
Step 4:
After 10-15 minutes, now pick the brush again and start scrubbing. Make sure you take all the grime, mold, dirt, debris off the wood. With this much brushing and scrubbing, even the dirtiest wood will start to get cleaned.
Step 5:
If you think there isn’t anything left to scrub off, now it is time to wash the wood. If there is soapy water left on the bucket then empty than on the wood.
And then fill the bucket with the only freshwater. Or you can use a hose pipe as well for washing the wood. If you are using a hose pipe make sure you do not wash the wood with high water pressure.
Wash the wood thoroughly with water and that is the end of cleaning. If you have scrubbed better then you should see a fully cleaned, fresh-smelling cedar wood. Otherwise, you would want to repeat the same process again.
Some Advanced Tips
- Even after washing the wood with water if you see any dirt part on the wood, then scrub that area with soapy water again to get that cleaned.
- If you can use warm water that might work better. But that isn’t mandatory, you can achieve an excellent result with the regular temperature water as well.
- You can apply this process to clean the cedar deck, fences, railings, sidings, doors, windows, etc. But you will have to be very careful when cleaning the cedar wood furniture.
Final Verdict
Following this instruction, you can clean most kinds of wood. And after you clean any wood, make sure to seal that immediately so that the wood will remain protected from dirt, debris, grime, mold, insects, and even from UV-ray and water.
Hope this guide is enough to teach you how to clean cedarwood. If there anything else you need to know, make sure to comment below.
