Care for and clean your decking

Composite decking offers the natural look of real timber without the high maintenance of traditional wood. Best Deck’s high-end, but affordable decking solutions are built to last, with just a little regular care.

The DOs and DON’Ts from Best Deck

DOs

• Use a hard-bristled broom (or scrubbing brush) with water and Cleen Green OR Sunlight© soap (Note- when using Sunlight soap use only 1/4 of a teaspoon per 10 liters of water) to clean your Gold Range composite wood products. Regarding the Diamond Range please use a medium bristle brush. Scrub your decking vigorously at least once a week to keep it looking new.
• For stubborn debris or a very thorough clean, add Cleen Green© to your Sunlight© and water mixture and use this to clean the deck. Cleen Green© is available at most hardware stores and can be used on a regular basis, or when there is a problem area that needs special attention.
• Spar or apply undiluted Cleen Green© to an especially stubborn stain and scrub it with a cloth or fine steel wool. Steel wool should only be used on the Gold Range Grooved Planks and not on the Best Deck Diamond Range Wood Grain Plank.
• Although the Diamond Range planks can be cleaned like the other ranges, scuffs and scratches should be treated differently. If the outer skin of the Best Deck Diamond Range Wood Grain Plank is damaged (within reason), heat the damaged area with a heat gun or hair dryer. The outer skin can shrink in the heat, covering over minor damage.

DON’Ts

• Do not use a mop on the Gold Range Groove Decking, as it just moves the dirt around instead of removing it. Eventually the decking will look worn and filthy. Rather follow the suggestions above for achieving clean decking.
• Never apply methylated spirits (or straight alcohol) to any of Best Deck’s composite wood products. It will damage the material. Follow the suggestions under the “DOs” section above to remove stubborn stains and scuff marks from your composite wood products.
• When using a high-pressure hose to clean decking and other composite wood products, only use soft to medium pressure. The highest pressure will damage the planks. HOWEVER NOT RECOMMENDED
• Even at the right pressure, do not use figure-8 motions when cleaning the decking with a high-pressure hose.
• Do not put heavy items on your composite wood deck planks without some kind of protection. Dragging something heavy across the decking will scratch and damage the planks, possibly even irreparably. For heavy plants or furniture, be sure to have a rubber mat of between four and six millimetres thick between the object and the deck. For heavy umbrellas, consider adding large castor wheels to make moving them around easier and safer for your decking. Small wheels will make grooves in the deck too.

PLEASE NOTE the following with regards to our Gold range decking:

Some of the lighter colours such as the wood or coffee may present efflorescence stains after the first wash. Efflorescence is the white, powdery, salt-like deposit that forms on the surface when water, carrying dissolved salts, moves through the material and then evaporates, leaving the salts behind.

What to do when this happens:

• Please follow the normal cleaning instructions as listed in page 1. Use a hard-bristled broom together with Cleen Green and water to wash the deck paying special attention to the efflorescence stains
• Once washed- spray the deck down with clean water and leave to dry
• After the 1st or 2nd wash the efflorescence would have lifted and washed off

Please note

• We do not recommend dragging any heavy items across the Gold range deck planks (such as ice baths, heavy furniture, umbrella stands etc) as this might scratch your decking.
• Dragging of any concrete objects (umbrella stands, furniture, concrete objects) across any range plank will cause damage as well.

If you have any questions, would like more tips to care for and clean decking, or to order your beautiful composite wood products, contact Best Deck today.