During my years a a painting contractor, I used common household bleach with a good shot of Ivory dish washing liquid to clean both houses pre-painting and decks. I would use a high pressure injection nozzle on my pressure washer. The main purpose of the Ivory was that it would foam up and I knew that every where I saw foam, the bleach had gotten there too! Ivory is also a natural soap and will not damage anything. Detergents such as TSP can actually etch the glass on windows!

@justin113098

10 ай бұрын

Thank you! I will be trying that this week, the ivory soap for foam is a great idea!!

Great Video, I would only caution on the use of a dish soap as a surfactant. Dawn Dish soap states that it does not have any ammonia but not all dish soaps are equal, anything with ammonia when mixed with bleach can give off a toxic gas. A better surfactant would be a laundry detergent like Purex, Laundry detergents are made to be used with bleach. I see a lot of pressuring washing videos by professionals that use Laundry detergent to save money on surfactant.

@garyteague4480

Жыл бұрын

Great advice

@prism8289

Жыл бұрын

Nothing like a little mustard gas to clean a deck. When I was in college, we used to put ammonia, bleach, and simple green in a bucket. Boy, it worked wonders, but I always wondered what that green gas was rising off the bucket! 😱🫣🤢😎 it was good though!

@Mark-fe3oj

Жыл бұрын

@@prism8289 I have worked in many different types of jobs, one was in housekeeping at a local hospital, saw the results of one of the housekeepers mixing the two. unfortunately she did it in the confined space of her housekeeping closet, at least when you mixed them outside you still had fresh air. I still wouldn't mix bleach and ammonia inside or out.

@tommymitchell3055

Ай бұрын

Laundry detergent is a very good surfactant, it makes water "wetter" to get into fabrics better.

@Cthulch

17 күн бұрын

That is such a solid advice! Thanks a lot!

You are a great teacher. Your illustrations were very clear, and your scientific knowledge of ingredients were impressive. Thank you for this comparison. You saved me money.

@tongo117

3 жыл бұрын

Glad to help.. Thanks for reply..

That’s what I love about KZread! This was the question that I had and there is no arguing your results. Thank you 🙏🏾

I really appreciate the work that went into this video and I like how you kept it simple also straight to the point.

Just make sure that your dish wash detergent doesn’t contain ammonia otherwise mixing the bleach w/ ammonia based dish soap will cause fatal gas

Olympic is milder for liability reasons and is gentler on your deck. Bleach is harsher on your deck, but works faster. Cheaper brands of bleach have less bleach in them(5%), Clorox has 7.5%. Pool stuff has 10% bleach. It works great but is hard on the surfaces. You can always let the chemicals work longer on the surfaces or reapply it as needed.

Great video. As a professional painter, we use deck cleaners all the time, and I've often wondered what I'm paying for. Now I know. One tip- if you do use a bristle brush and scrub just a little bit, it will get into the grain more and do a better job with fewer missed spots.

@heatherstrauss4067

2 жыл бұрын

since you have experience with prepping decks, i was hoping uyou could help me with a question. i have a 2 year old deck that they used a stain on. the stain is flaking off in some areas. other areas it looks great and repels water still. i want to apply more stain. do i have to sand the entire deck or is there another trick/product that you could recommend?

@MrTrollbaby

5 ай бұрын

​@@heatherstrauss4067hey did you sort your deck issue out

Much appreciated. Taking my Valspar deck/fence prep back to Lowe's and swapping for regular old bleach.

Finally the video I wanted to see. Best video I have seen in a long time, except for that lizard smoking a cigar one time, LOL. Really , great video......... CLEAR, CONCISE, NO rambling. Thanks for posting that brother. Peace

@tongo117

3 жыл бұрын

Glad to help.. Thanks for reply..

@leongotto3515

3 жыл бұрын

Bleach always best

What a great test! Very useful and just saved me the price between bleach and the deck cleaner. Thanks.

Thank you Sir!!! I was just starting to research for how to clean my concrete deck and I found a product called "30 seconds deck cleaner" ! I think you saved me some 10$ at least since I believe that bleach will do the job too. You just proved it to me!!! Thank you!!!

Excellent!! Exactly the video I was looking for. Thank you! Perfect side by side comparison, explanation and cost breakdown. Also, admitting the sprayers were different and applying a second time left zero doubt. I’m off to Walmart to get bleach instead of Lowes for marketing in a bottle.

Quality comparison done is a very organized manner- much thanks!

Thank you! I love how in depth you went with the info too. Great video.

Yeah, sometimes products make us look really foolish like when they stick a label on a product and charge you 5 x's the price. Great video.

@chrisgraham2904

Жыл бұрын

Typical of the chemical industry. As a teen, I worked one summer for a grease and lubricant manufacturer. From the same "Sunvis 310" 55 gallon barrels of oil ($190.00 /barrel at that time), they produced about 12 different products with very minor additions. They might add an ounce of liquid graphite to a 12 ounce bottle and label it as an "Engine Flush" to sell for $16.99 per bottle. The same product went into a 4 ounce bottle and was labelled as a "Premium Snow Mobile Track Lubricant" and sold for $21.79 per bottle. In this case the 55 gallon barrel (1,7040 ounces produced 1,760 bottles at $21.79/ bottle which sold for $38,350.04 from each drum. All sold as "specialty lubrication/oil products", all the same basic product from the same barrel. Don't even think about the cosmetics industry. LOL

@nevadaboy9769

9 ай бұрын

Yep thats true with alot of stuff like boat accessories, they just add the word marine & charge 10x & just like he said i toured a petroleum plant once & they were bottling engine oil, one conveyor was Napa premium 10w30 the other was Valvoline 10w30 the oil was coming out of the same tank, i assume the next day or week it would be Walmart brand lol

Excellent video, thank you! I ended up using pool chlorine instead of bleach because that's what I had around the house. I used a deck brush to work in the solution. It did a fantastic job.

Getting ready to refinish my decks, And boy am I glad I found this video!!!👍🏻

I wish more people test the fancy claims be manufacturers like you did here to expose the rip-off artists. Good work. Keep it up.

Great video! This works! FWIW: I found out that Amazon sells bleach tablets. I used 6 tablets in water in a 1.5 gallon (previous) bleach bottle.(the label is in Chinese so I have no idea how you're supposed to mix it) Makes a much stronger bleach mixture. Bleach and surfactant seem to be the key. I also added some liquid pool mold/ algae killer to the pump sprayer. Might keep the mold at bay for a while...

Good video! Like so many high priced products on the market today, there's often a low priced solution waiting in the shadows. In this case good old bleach. I also use extra strong vinegar for window cleaning, weed killing, and just as a general cleaner and oh yes, it tastes great on fish and chips;)

@Daddy53751

2 жыл бұрын

Vinegar is awesome! Takes rust off tools, calcium deposits off faucets and such.

The slimy feeling of bleach is where it's starting to *dissolve you.*

I ALWAYS run a scrub brush over the boards to make sure of distribution . . . and I love to make dirty, sudsy messes that leave a clean deck.

Thank you for this. We bought that same exact deck cleaner for our deck this year so I wouldn't have to scrub it -- in the past I had used a bleach / water combo but not sure the ratio, I didn't measure and I would apply the bleach/water and the scrub and rinse. Next year I'll apply the bleach and let it sit and not scrub so I'll save money and effort!

This was very informative. Thank you for taking the time to do this test.

@tongo117

Жыл бұрын

You are welcome.. Thanks for reply..

Thank you for the good comparison. One detail: Plain ordinary bleach does not contain sodium hydroxide like the deck cleaner and your "Cleaning Bleach." I have some "Low Splash Regular" bleach from Publix that has the sodium hydroxide that I will try.

Never add water to a chemical, always add the chemicals to the water

Always wondered this, thanks for the great video

Thanks for doing the legwork of testing the two. This was a very good comparison of he two, comparing "oranges to oranges". Well done!!!

@tongo117

3 жыл бұрын

Glad to help.. Thanks for reply..

I looked up data safety sheets on 2 deck cleaners. They identify sodium hypochlorite 1% to 5% ( exact % proprietary ). Sodium hypochlorite is bleach. ( Above 8% it's called chlorine ). The ingredient writing on the deck cleaner is so small I needed a magnifying glass! I returned $40.00 of deck cleaner to Home Depot (2 containers). Will go to the dollar store and pick up bleach and use a dish soap bleach water mixture. Knowledge is power and money in my pocket. Your vid is so excellent. Thanks.

@tongo117

8 ай бұрын

You're welcome.. thanks for the info..

Solid information and thanks for preparing this good demonstration.

Thanks for your research and sharing this with us.

The current formulation of Olympic Premium Deck Cleaner omits the sodium hydroxide, so I would bet results with household bleach are comparatively even better now.

Great video, great explanation, and no BS! Thanks man!

@tongo117

2 жыл бұрын

You are welcome.. Thanks for reply..

@JosephMcPherson-Author-BigJoe

Жыл бұрын

Much appreciated. Looking for a similar video on deck stripping. Would this formula work for that purpose? Anyway. Well done.

Thanks for doing the comparison! You have saved a lot of people a lot or money and aggravation.

Super helpful!

This is a great comparison. There might not be anyway to know what the mix is in the Olympic cleaner as compared to your thee parts water to one with the Bleach? What would happen is the Bleach was two to one. But even at that three to one mixture with the bleach is less money and just as effective.

This is good info, I'm about to clean my deck

Thank you! I have wasted too much money over the years on expensive products.

Great video! Super helpful comparisons. :)

Never mix with antibacterial detergent outdoors...use “regular” concentrated dawn only...🧐

Good comparative video. I use the swimming Pool bleach from WalMart. Believe it's 10% sodium hypochlorite. The few extra percent concentration compared to normal strength of maybe 5-6% makes a considerable difference!

Thank you, just what I needed. Very helpful.

@tongo117

10 ай бұрын

You're welcome.. Thanks for reply..

I believe a surfactants job is change the surface tension and in this case will make the bleach solution thicker and create a coating action that should stick better and not let the solution run off. I have used this recipe on one of my decks and it’s amazing. I have also once done diluted the solution further down, and late in the day/evening soaked the deck with water and then sprayed it and left overnight and it was amazing. Deck looked brand new in the am

@danmayes4657

3 жыл бұрын

Surfactants make water wetter... Helps the bleach flow out to do it's job better. Bleach alone has no detergency.

@yeltsin6817

3 жыл бұрын

@@danmayes4657 I do t think there is an actual water getting wetter. It changes the surface tension to make the water flow less fluid and stick so it does not run off.

@danmayes4657

3 жыл бұрын

@@yeltsin6817 You are correct. It's just a descriptive term - "Water Wetter" in the cleaning industry.

@yeltsin6817

3 жыл бұрын

@@danmayes4657 ok. Gotcha. Have a good night.

I really appreciate your video. This is what I was looking for

@tongo117

Жыл бұрын

Glad to have helped..

Very awesome demonstration buddy.

Great video! But I have a question: if I'm repainting my deck, not staining, then is this cleaning step even necessary? Can I get away with just pressure-washing the old paint off first?

Use a good hard bristle brush to clean.

Is the bleach going to react with the pressure treating solution in the wood?

So I stained the outside front of my tiny house that had been sitting new for over 3 months with no varnish or paint. Parts of the wood had turned grey and black so the stain looks very uneven. Now I am wondering-although it’s only 3 months old was that infact mold? It did not look like mildew (not spores or spotty) but very dark along the bottom. Should I remove the stain? Then spray bleach and water on it? Thank you-any advice will help! Great video, I have gone through dozens this was the best!!

Thank you...this was a great help.

Yep, well done. Great vid. Thanks.

Good video and I agree with your conclusion. I just want to say that if anyone uses this I would stick with dishwashing liquid and not play around with other types of cleaners unless you really know what you're doing. Many know that mixing bleach with amonia for example can kill you, but some didn't get the memo and they're dead now. I personally had a customer who tried to mix the product called Mean Green with bleach and they wound up in the Emergency room and are lucky to be alive. Btw, they also totally ruined their carpet so not only did they have an ER visit, but needed a new carpet! Most carpets will not survive what he did to his carpet. In general, bleach should not be used on carpets with few exceptions. He learned that the hard way.

Just re watched this again...I'm doing this in the next few days. I cant thank you enough

@tongo117

11 ай бұрын

Glad to have helped.. Thanks for reply..

Can you use SH on stained wood? And also stained and sealed wood?

I'm glad I stumbled upon this video.

Excellent video. Thank you.

@tongo117

2 жыл бұрын

You're welcome.. Thanks for reply..

Great video Great information ! Thanks

Terrific video and info!!! Thank you!!

@tongo117

Жыл бұрын

You're welcome.. Thanks for reply..

I use gooood 'Ole "Clorox" for a lot of things around my house !! Of course now that the PRICE GOUGING is in full effect a gallon cost around $6 or more ...... ugh. I use it to WIPE OUT Fire ants, Carpenter bees, Grass, Weeds ...yada yada yada .... One of the "grass killers" is around $20 a gallon !! (and the grass grows RIGHT BACK !!) I told as guy at a store, "for these prices I can buy GASOLINE cheaper and REALLY KILL IT !! He looked at me STUNNED and said "Hey !! You're right '!!! Thanks for a great video !! keep that thinking cap on and keep the videos coming !!

Same goes for those fancy algaecides for houses covered in masonry paint. Been washing mine with a mild bleach solution for years now. Cheap as chips and same results.

Excellent video, but I noticed one error, that's Dawn Ultra Antibacterial hand soap, not dishwashing liquid, that you show in the video:).

@tongo117

Жыл бұрын

174,178 views to date and you're the first one to notice that!! Including myself!!

I had a feeling it was just overpriced bleach. Thank you sir for confirming it! Great video!

Thank you! I was going to go buy that expensive bleach before I watched this.

Very well done video. Thank you.

@tongo117

2 жыл бұрын

You're welcome.. Thanks for reply..

Thanks for the info. Stripping my deck now so going to get a few gallons of bleach 🙂

Terrific, gonna try this myself. Many thanks for the great info.

@tongo117

10 ай бұрын

You're welcome.. Thanks for reply..

@andyarmstrong1493

10 ай бұрын

@@tongo117 Had a go with this today, I tried thick bleach which is meant to cling. Parts of my deck were really black and other areas green. I'm seeing real improvement, suspect I may need to repeat, but it is looking a lot better. Many thanks for your advice, would never have thought of household bleach as a deck cleaner.

I just learned something new today!!!

the soap helps it coat better, the water/bleach won't puddle or pull apart as easily

wow!!!!!!! yes finally another video of truth thanks for revealing the truth and helping us save save save!

I also saw some using Oxalic acid to « bleach » wood. Not sure what’s the cost comparison.

This was a very well thought out video. Excellent presentation.

@stevemarshall3986

3 жыл бұрын

Bleach and dish soap (which contains ammonia) is dangerous. The combination of bleach and ammonia was used in WW1 as chemical weapon. This is a dangerous video and not researched properly.

Same solution works on shingled roofs also. Removes those black streaks which is mold, removes mildew. Do not rinse, let nature rinse it off for you. Within a few days all streaks will be gone. Thank me later when your roof looks new. I use a foam cannon attachment on pressure washer.Your not applying pressure. The purpose for pressure washer is for spray distance

Great video, and it helped out a lot.

Will Sodium Hypochlorite evaporate from a decking 24 hours after applying so no not affect the colour of a subsequent stain and seal and not burn dogs feet if they walk on it after 24 hours?

How would this work with an electric pressure washer?

Thank you!!

Thank you!

Best results cleaning “old” dirt is to start with a moistening spray, just water, to begin to hydrate the dirt, before solution, then working in, then a pressure rinse.

Great videos thanks for post! What model / brand of sprayer did you use with the bleach? I'm about so salvage repair a 35' old fence and posts..Thanks!

@tongo117

7 ай бұрын

www.homedepot.com/p/Scotts-2-Gal-Multi-Use-Sprayer-190499/300259167?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&pla&mtc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-GGL-D28O-028_001_CHEMICALS-NA-NA-NA-PMAX-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-PMAXONECLICK&cm_mmc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-GGL-D28O-028_001_CHEMICALS-NA-NA-NA-PMAX-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-PMAXONECLICK-71700000112977995--&gclid=Cj0KCQjwy4KqBhD0ARIsAEbCt6iZ_2MCt9aqtj9x4C-718OZb9FAhg1NqmRHu6GBa7pNrhcza-W0PVMaAqFmEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Thank you! I've been looking for a video like this... I wonder if it'll work as a weedspray aswell?

I just ruined my deck after following your instructions, i did rinsed my deck 3 times , and when it dried it turned to a gray color , i had to sand it to strip off the gray layer... i could just sand it without any bleaching method ... now im stuck with gray area's were sanding tool isn't fits , guy from lowes told me that bleach changes ph of the wood and kills cells... it was very bad idea following your method...

Thanks for this video! Even though I am not a fan of bleach I guess I'll use it for once and I'll save some $ by not buying a specific product! I actually tried to mix bleach with soap dish soap and scrub one foot of my deck and rinsed and the result was really interesting! Do you know if the bleach and scrubbing will damaged the top layer of the wood ? I plan to stain properly after but was wondering if you had any advice regarding a natural (or not) way to treat the wood prior to stain it. Thanks!

@tongo117

3 ай бұрын

The bleach I used in this video may be harmful to the wood fibers.. Next time I clean, I'm following this video: kzread.info/dash/bejne/oqGrj9BxZrrVqLA.html

Thanks. That should work easily as well on my fence boards

@tongo117

Жыл бұрын

Yes it should..

Great video and great job

Tried strong bleach on my decking And I was amazed had to use a few times but the difference is great 👍 just finished of putting decking oil. Many thanks from Ireland 🇮🇪

@tongo117

3 ай бұрын

Glad to have helped.. ☘

Ugh, the bleach made the wood white, which I know is obvious, but I love to see the natural appearance of wood.

Bleach is so versatile. But when it oxidizes my sinuses start going wild. Overall though I like using bleach

Thanks for doing this experiment! Did you neutralize the bleach afterwards? I've read that whatever residue is left behind after washing keeps working away.

@tongo117

3 жыл бұрын

I did not neutralize the bleach residue.. Never have.. But it makes sense that the residue would keep working..

@elamson1

3 жыл бұрын

Chlorine bleach evaporates/neutralizes pretty quickly in open air- that’s why bleach solution can be safely used as a rinse-less sanitizer dip for dishes. Certain dish detergents might leave a polish residue though.

@elamson1

3 жыл бұрын

*I’d rinse thoroughly afterwards though as this is more concentrated solution than what’s used for sanitizing dishes and will dry out the wood.

@RyanLovettInSpace

3 жыл бұрын

@@elamson1 Thank you.

@leongotto3515

3 жыл бұрын

Use plenty of water rince it will be deluted

Great video Thanks alot awesome 👍

Excellent video!

great video! thanks

@tongo117

Жыл бұрын

You're welcome..

Why wouldn't it help to scrub in the bleach and soap?

Can this method be used to remove sealant. Please help!!!

Primarily...bleach should NOT need a surfactant to maintain its saturation... bleach is a caustic.. which is great for absorption, also considering bleach has a fairly high flashpoint if any at all.. it will seep into the wood fibers of left long enough, no harm in adding a detergent or surfactants to help aid in the decomposition of grease and oils ect though

@andrewsomers8474

2 жыл бұрын

the soap is mainly use to keep the water wet longer. also so it sticks to a surface better on say siding, roofer railing. also kills the smell of the bleach. also remember most dish soap says not to mix with bleach. use laundry soap gain gives a good smell

Be sure to heavily water any plants / vegetation b4 apply/rinsing off your bleach cleaner. POOL CHLORINE AT WALLY WORLD IS $5 a gal and 10% S/H. This is all your company’s are using for your house , deck, fence , driveway , sidewalk and even roof cleanings .. Depending on how dirty / mold the surfaces are will kinda give ya your mix ratio but you really cant mess it up, use u some surfactant (dawn) not much but be sure to have e some as it just adds in adhesion of your cleaner - S/H solution Remember it’s $5 a gallon for 10% S/H. Apply with soft wash side of pressure washer ( very low hose like pressure) allow solution to sit 10-15 then rinse with water be sure to heavily water any grass and or plants that are in the projects path!!! No need to pay these fellas $500-1000 for such a ez job, well unless u have the $$ line that then sit back and watch em make hella profit off ya then as their also using your water to do the job..

I do high-end decks all the time. I use 12.5 SH (Bleach) with dawn. Make sure you rinse very good and allow to dry.

@davidstevenson3135

2 жыл бұрын

You do high-end decks all the time and use bleach on wood? Wow, that's a bold move Cotton.

@usmcretired2112

2 жыл бұрын

I have used that same solution and it works great.

@Frindleeguy

2 жыл бұрын

@@davidstevenson3135 He's just lucky his customers have never seen one done professionally.

Sodium metasilicate 1 cup per gallon of water, dwell, rinse with pressure washer at 1000 psi, oxalic acid at 1 cup per gallon, dwell rinse. Clean wood and not bleached out.

Dirtex and bleach in water works for me. Applied with a car wash brush. Scrubbed with a hard brush. Power wash rinse. Works on siding and decks.

I would add TSP to the bleach for cleaning siding or sidewalks (and decks I suppose, not sure about wood)

@burtreynolds3143

11 ай бұрын

my thought too