Hydroxide, hypochlorite, bleach, chlorine

[dperrin]

I have been reading the many posts on these chemicals and am very confused. In particular the use of these on wood. Can someone give me a quick 1 or 2 sentence explaination of what each of these are and what they do for wood cleaning. My understanding (undoubtedly incorrect) so far is....

1. Sodium Hypoclorite - is 12% chlorine (not sure on this). Seems some people use on wood - not sure why this over bleach. Or is Pool shock/clorine/12%/whatever else you call it, something other than Sodium Hypoclorite - Is it just strong bleach (sodium hydroxide)?

2. Sodium Hydroxide - Bleach 6%, like in the store. Good for mold on wood, some use for general cleaning with oxylic after.

Then there is sodium percarbonate. Seems more harsh. Cant remember if this was for stripping - I've read too much tonight.

Thanks for any help in clearing up my mis understandings. Hoping to learn as much on deck cleaning as possible before I venture into that area. In fact I have one next week. Old wood - 10 yrs, rough, PT, reddish brown stain, no seal. Want to make sure I get it right. Just a simple cleaning.

 

[clearview]

1. Sodium Hypochlorite=Bleach=Pool Shock. 12.5% is the strong stuff from places like pool supply, 6% is grocery store strength clorox.

2. Sodium Hydroxide is for use on wood. It is NOT like bleach. It can strip stains, seals, and paint from the wood. It also changes the pH of the wood which should be neutralized back to normal using an acid such as Oxalic Acid.

3. Sodium Percarbonate is oxygenated bleach aka Oxy Clean. Haven't used it myself, so maybe someone else can comment more on this, but it seems to come into play in very few situations. Not quite sure you'll ever need this but have heard of people using it from time to time.

For the deck, get your hands on some Sodium Hydroxide. Depending on how dirty the deck is you may be able to downstream it onto the deck. If it's pretty bad you'll need to mix it in a pump sprayer. Could go anywhere from 5:1 to 1:1. Depends on how bad. However, the important thing to remember here is, the stronger your mix the more likely you are to remove paint from nearby siding. Pre-wet the siding or even cover it. Don't allow any of your stronger mix to get on plants or it'll leave black spots all over it. Make sure to give everything around or adjacent to the deck a good rinse right after applying the chems. Use cold water at about the lowest pressure you can put out and clean with the grain. If you think you let some SH dwell on the siding for any length of time, don't use any pressure on it or you'll be repainting. Hope this helps.