I had to firstly gather all my cleaning gear, which were Napisan, a 10litre bucket, a stiff bristled deck scrubbing brush, some chemical resistant gloves and my garden hose. If you were wondering about the Napisan, that is the chemical we use to clean the deck. It gets rid of all the tannin, oil and dirt on the deck and brings the deck surface back to bare. Alternatively, people also can buy Deck prep or deck cleaning solutions that contain oxalic acid which is stronger than Napisan, and can be used to remove more stubborn stains. I have both but i opted for Napisan as our deck isn't really that dirty, plus i wanted to use a more diluted solution as i did not want to risk killing our newly laid lawn. It is important to wear chemical resistant gloves to protect your hands and goggles would be a good idea too if you have them.
After cleaning, we were meant to leave the deck to dry and people say usually 24 hours but i wasn't going to wait that long! If i waited till tomorrow, the weather could change or the birds could be back in the morning as they always do, and they will crap all over my deck meaning i have to start the cleaning process again. So luckily it was a sunny and windy day meaning a dry day, and it took 2 hours for the deck to dry out enough for me to start oiling. I sped up the drying process by using a cloth to soak up puddles of water, otherwise i can see why it would need 24 hours to dry.
For the oiling process, its a little more complicated. I needed my oil of course which was Cabot's Natural decking oil in Merbau tint ($160.00 for 10litres), a paint mixer/stirer thingy, decent size painting tray, lambswool applicator on a pole, clean shoes or bare foot, paint brush for oiling tight corners and edges, rugs to clean up spills, look up videos on oiling technique, and most importantly plan your steps so you don't box yourself in while oiling! I should have paid more attention to the latter.
The result after 2 hours of oiling without planning my steps properly is a sore back, and un-oiled edges along the brick wall as i boxed myself out! How dumb.. They will have to be oiled tomorrow morning when the deck is dry enough to walk on, along with a 2nd coat of oil for the rest of the deck, if the weather is fine. I can't imagine having to do this all over again in 3 months!!
