Year: 2018

How to clean a deck without hurting the environment

We’ve finally had several warm days and I am starting to really look forward to summer.  Among many other things, I am looking forward to the warm weather, late sunsets, and relaxing out on my deck enjoying both!  Keeping a deck looking nice is really not too difficult, if you’re willing to put in a little effort each year.  As with a car, regular maintenance will cut down time and expense in the long run.  I am here today to share how easy it is to maintain your deck, and it can be done with environmentally friendly products, too!

how to wash a deck

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Most recipes I have found for washing a deck include harsh detergents and chlorine bleach, which are not good for people or the environment.  Luckily, there are natural alternatives that work great, too!  Oxygen bleach (like oxiclean – remember that awesome stuff from my towel washing post?) and liquid castile soap (like Dr. Bronner’s or my homemade soap) plus water and a brush are all you need!

But first – before washing, and whenever you notice an accumulation, brush leaves and other debris off the deck regularly.  This organic matter makes a great place for mold and bacteria to grow, so keeping the deck clear is step 1 in keeping the deck clean!

Recipe

This is plenty for a small, well maintained (or new) deck (150-200 square feet).  Depending on how large the deck is, and how dried out the decking is, you will need more or less.

Time: I estimate it will take about 10-20 minutes to mix up the recipe then clean off the tools when finished washing, then about 10 minutes per 100 square feet to wash the deck. 

deck wash ingredients

  • 1 gallon water (I used water from my rain barrel!)
  • 1/2 cup sodium percarbonate (active ingredient in OxiClean) or 1 cup OxiClean Baby powder – this is the oxygen bleach
  • 1 tablespoon liquid castile soap
  • bucket – I used a 2 gallon bucket to mix up the 1 gallon of solution
  • brush
  1. Safety first – I recommend putting on gloves and safety glasses to protect eyes and skin from splashes, and wearing long pants/shoes to protect feet and legs from splashes.  
  2. I pour the oxiclean or sodium percarbonate in the bucket, add water, stir, then add castile soap and stir again.  

deck wash - adding ingredients

Instructions

Cleaning composite decks

As of about a year ago, I am the proud owner of a composite surfaced deck.  I am proud because I made it composite – I ripped out old, rotten wood boards and installed the composite deck boards myself.  Doing the job myself was a great way to save money, but I understand it’s certainly not for everyone!  Don’t worry, I won’t judge if you’re thinking “this girl is crazy, I’m hiring a professional to do that job!”  I digress…back to cleaning the deck!

I want to keep my deck looking clean and new for many, many years – most composite deck boards have a 15-30 year warranty, so these decks should last a while!  My deck is small, 100 square feet, so I created this recipe small.  It is and easy to scale up if you have a bigger deck.  

deck - ready to be washed

How to apply
  1. Once I mixed up my solution, I dipped my brush in the bucket of water and liberally applied solution to the deck boards.  I brushed along the length of the boards, and scrubbed anywhere that I saw stains (a.k.a. bird poo).
  2. After the solution had been applied to the entire deck, I let it sit for 1 hour (15 minutes should be enough for the oxygen bleach to do its job).
  3. I rinsed out my bucket and rinsed off the brush.
  4. a. After allowing the oxygen beach time to work, I rinsed off the solution.  The easiest way to do this is with a hose.  Rinse thoroughly, and you’re done! 

b. But I did not have a hose long enough to reach my 2nd floor level deck, so I filled my bucket with clean water and used the brush to slosh water all over the deck boards (applied in the same manner as application of the solution in step 1).  I did this a few times, until there were no more bubbles (from the cleaning solution) when I applied the water with the brush.  And I was done!

deck wash after washing

Hands-on time for washing my 100 square foot composite deck was about 40 minutes, but should be more like 25-30 minutes if you have a hose for rinsing: 5 minutes to gather supplies and mix the solution, 10 minutes to apply, 5 minutes to clean off the tools, and 20 minutes to rinse off the deck (would be more like 5 with a hose).  This was super quick and easy!  I love that it will only take me 30 minutes or so each year to keep my deck in good condition.  I will wipe down railings or hose off the deck periodically before I use it (especially when there’s a lot of pollen around), but this is minimal effort in my opinion. 

Cleaning wood decks

I own a deck that has wood structure and composite deck boards, so my experience using this cleaner is with composite decking only.  However, based on my research of deck cleaning, the solutions are the same for any material, so this should work on wood as well!

Wood decks can be maintained for many years with annual thorough washing, and re-staining every few years.  

Here’s how I would wash my wooden deck, if I had one:

  1. Once I mixed up my solution, I would dip my brush in the bucket of water and liberally apply solution to the deck boards.  I would brush along the length of the boards.  If the solution seemed to soak into the boards, I would liberally apply more cleaning solution so the top of the boards appeared wet.
  2. After the solution had been applied to the entire deck, I would let it sit for 15 minutes to 1 hour – to allow the oxygen bleach (oxiclean) time to do its job.
  3. If stains remained, I would gently scrub the stains with a bit of the cleaning solution.
  4. I’d rinse off my scrub brush and bucket.
  5. Finally, I would hose off the whole deck to remove the cleaning solution.

If I was staining the deck this year, I would allow a couple of dry, sunny days for the deck to dry out, then apply the stain according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  

washed deck ready for use

Cost

Oxygen bleach (sodium percarbonate)- ($13.50/5lb)x(1 lb/16 oz)x(8.4 oz/1 cup)x(1/2 cup)=$0.71

Castile soap – Dr. Bronner’s: ($16/32oz)x(1 oz/2 tbsp)x(1 tbsp)=$0.25

Castile soap – my recipe: ($12/128oz)x(1 oz/2 tbsp)x(1 tbsp)=$0.05

water – Used rain water, so free!

Total: $0.71+$0.25=$0.96 using Dr. Bronner’s, or $0.71+$0.05=$0.76 using my castile soap. 

It cost me $0.76 to clean 100 square feet of deck, this mixture volume would have been enough for a deck twice the size.  So I think I could wash my 100 sq ft deck for more like $0.76/2=$0.38.  And there was no environmental impact!  Within 6 hours, the sodium perchlorate has broken down to oxygen, water, and sodium carbonate (soda ash), and castile soap (especially when diluted) is very safe.  

 

How do you maintain your deck?  Please share your tips and experiences in the comments below!

A natural remedy for contact dermatitis

Contact dermatitis is an annoying, unpleasant thing that some of us have to deal with.  My skin is very sensitive, and I get contact dermatitis from many things, including poison ivy, contact with many animals, some body lotions and soaps, stainless steel and other metals…the list goes on.  Several months ago, I learned that contact dermatitis is a form of eczema, when I got a nasty patch of it on my cheek.  Not sure exactly what came in contact that irritated my skin, but it was likely triggered by the cold weather combined with stress.

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Contact Dermatitis Treatment

Natural Remedy for Contact Dermatitis tea tree oil glycerine

First attempt – natural – coconut oil and tea tree oil

I hoped that it would go away on its own, and I continued to apply coconut oil (antibacterial – so at least I believed I was keeping it germ-free).  It did not get better.  I tried using my tea tree oil stick and it seemed to get worse.  After about a week, a patch of my cheek was red, with a yellowish and weepy tinge (if you’ve ever gotten contact dermatitis like this you know – it looks gross!)

coconut oil - natural moisturizer

tea tree oil

Second attempt – synthetic – steroids

I broke down and went to the doctor.  She was very concerned about me developing an infection (which, I was told, would require antibiotics) and prescribed me a mild topical steroid cream.  This was a double-edge sword.  I am highly allergic to the -cillin family of antibiotics (amoxicillin, penicillin) and am concerned that I may be allergic to others.  I do my best to avoid needing to use antibiotics.  But the steroid cream is filled with synthetic chemicals that I typically avoid.  I really didn’t want to develop an infection, so I used the steroids, applying as light a coat as possible until the weeping stopped and my cheek looked mostly healed.

Side note – if you want to see a picture of the type of allergic amoxicillin rash I get, look at the photos at this link.  Maybe this will help you understand why I elected to use the steroid cream despite it containing mostly ingredients that I normally avoid.  Also, please note that there is also a non-allergic amoxicillin rash which is much more common than the allergy.  If you have a rash I recommend talking to or visiting your doctor to determine if you have an allergy or the non-allergic rash. 

At some point during this process, the contact dermatitis spread to my chin.  I applied the steroids there as well, but the reaction did not clear.  After a few weeks I stopped applying the steroids.  It did not clear up, but did not get worse or spread.  After a month or so, I just forced myself to accept that this was just something I would have to live with.  I had mostly come to accept my contact dermatitis being there for the long haul.

Third attempt – natural – Glycerin and Tea Tree Oil

tea tree oil & glycerine

About 3 months after it first showed up, my coworker was telling me about his son’s bad case of contact dermatitis from poison oak (or some other plant).  They tried every over the counter product they could find for relieving itch and healing contact dermatitis.  Nothing helped.  The poor kid was miserable.  The child’s uncle came by, and said he had seen a natural remedy.  He rushed to the store and came back with glycerine (or glycerin) and tea tree oil.  They mixed a few drops of tea tree oil with a large amount of glycerine and covered the affected areas.  This finally gave the boy relief.

I figured I had nothing to lose giving it a try.  I looked online a bit trying to find the article that my colleague’s brother had seen, or any information about using gylcerine and tea tree oil to treat contact dermatitis.  I came up with nothing.  But I tried it anyway.  I always have tea tree oil in the house (Now Organics Tea Tree Oil is my current favorite), and I had some glycerine from some soap or lotion experiment.

Recipe

I mixed about 1 teaspoon glycerine with 2-3 drops of tea tree oil and stirred well.  I then dabbed the mixture onto the areas affected with contact dermatitis and gently rubbed in.  I did this about 2 times each day, in the morning and before bed.  Within 3-4 applications, the bumps had gone from red to pink, and went from coarse (broken skin on each bump) to smooth bumps.  After 2 days, the bumps no longer itched.  The bumps never completely went away for me, but since I believe this is stress-induced contact dermatitis, stress causes it to flare up and never completely go away.  Next time I get non stress-induced contact dermatitis, I will use this remedy and report back on the cure time for me!

Natural Remedy for Contact Dermatitis tea tree oil & glycerine

My thoughts on the natural attempts

As I have said before, I am not a doctor nor do I have any medical training or education.  This was an experiment conducted on 1 person, me.  The mixture of mostly glycerine with a little tea tree oil cleared my contact dermatitis, but I can’t give you a great reason why nor guarantee that it will work for you.  But, I am quite glad that I gave it a try!

I am still unsure why my tea tree oil stick made the contact dermatitis worse, and the glycerine + tea tree oil healed it.  My first guess is that the contact dermatitis got worse from pesticide residue in the tea tree oil used in my tea tree oil stick.   I buy organic whenever I can, but the last time I bought tea tree oil I received one bottle of conventional mixed with my organic and did not notice until I had mixed it into my stick formulation.  My second guess is that the tea tree oil stick is too highly concentrated tea tree oil (it’s about 34%, many articles I have read say to dilute more, but I had not had issues with the highly concentrated, before).  My third guess is that the combination of beeswax, coconut oil, and tea tree oil just did not work.

Other possible uses for Glycerine + Tea Tree Oil mixture

According to WebMD, glycerin is an emollient – a substance used to moisturize the skin – “is used as a moisturizer to treat or prevent dry, rough, scaly, itchy skin and minor skin irritations.”  I have seen glycerine as an ingredient in many lotions, and I had some on hand myself from a natural lotion recipe.  I could see using pure glycerine, or the glycerine and tea tree oil mixture, as a dry skin moisturize.  I would use the mixture on dry skin that is slightly broken, such as dry hands that crack in the winter, since the antibacterial properties of tea tree oil will help keep the wound clean.  When I got the flu and subsequently had very dry, cracked skin on and around my nose, I applied this mixture and it helped soothe the discomfort and heal my skin.

Where to purchase ingredients

I purchase my glycerine and tea tree oil on Amazon.  My preference is to purchase tea tree oil there because I have had good luck with Now Organic Essential Oils Tea Tree Oil, though I would purchase this exact oil from another store if available.  I choose to use organic oil to reduce the risk of allergens contaminating the oil and causing me a reaction.

Glycerine is available at most pharmacies or stores with a pharmacy (drug store, grocery store).  It is typically behind the counter of the pharmacy, but can be purchased without ID or a prescription.  I am not sure why it is hidden back there,  but that’s where I recommend looking if you don’t want to order online (such as, if you are SO ITCHY and want to try this NOW).  I chose to purchase on Amazon because I wanted to ensure that my glycerine was from vegetable sources.  Not all glycerine is vegetarian.  So if that matters to you, ensure you purchase vegetable glycerine.

Cost

If you don’t already have the ingredients in hand, this will cost you about $16.

1 oz of Now Organic Tea Tree Oil is about $10.50

4 oz of vegetable glycerine is $5.50

The cost to mix up this remedy depends on how much you need, how large an affected area being treated.  My 1 teaspoon mixture lasted me over a month of use on the small area of my chin.  It only cost me about $0.28 to heal my contact dermatitis.

[($5.50/4oz) x(1 oz/6 tsp)=$0.23 for the glycerine, ($10.50/1 oz)x(1 oz/600 drops)x(3 drops)=$0.05 for the tea tree oil]

 

In what ways have you used glycerine?  Please share in the comments below!