Deck cleaners and sealers

[Pam]

tortoise wrote:
[quote=Pam]
[quote=tortoise]
We have a deck similar to yours and have maintained it using Penofin products over the past eight years. They have two chemical cleaners that do a nice job preparing and restoring the redwood for refinishing. The #2 cleaner does lightly discolored and tannin coated woods, while the #3 brightener brings back the lightness of the original redwood. They are in powder form then mixed with water and applied with common spray tanks and scrubbed with brushes and rinsed with water. Link to their main page below, scroll down for the cleaners and read more. It is a fair amount of work but the results are always amazing, when our deck once again looks almost as good as when it was brand new.

http://www.penofin.com/wood-stains/index

I've read good things about Penofin. Their #2 is like my oxiclean mix. I think the #3 is an oxalate to restore ph. Although some feel it's not necessary. I assume you used one of their stains post cleaning?
Yes I have been using their Premium Blue Label stain and will likely do it again this year, but I confess I am considering using a deck paint for longer life and reduced expense. The natural Redwood is beautiful but only looks that way for one or two years. It is a lot of work to clear the deck and do all the treatments and stains and frankly I am getting lazy and may consider a less elegant but more practical and longer lasting finish. By the way after the cleaning it is necessary to use some sort of stain as the redwood is almost a bleached appearance and the oils in the stains are necessary to protect the now exposed wood.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qbg24a0ayhntuu...3.jpg?dl=0
It's a terrible shame a look like that cannot be preserved for longer periods of time. Painting just seems sacrilegious.