Are you cleaning with the citric or neutralizing like ox?
Neutralizing. If you donât have rusty nail holes will do same as Ox and easier to work with and better for environment.
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I really need to find a new chem supplier for next year. The one I was dealing with was the worst and ordering any chem online costs a ridiculous amount compared to what you guys pay.
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Yeah but yâall got that free healthcare. If I get sick I have to drive to another state just to go to the Indian clinic because Iâm not paying the ridiculous prices for terrible coverage.
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Did you order any citric/have the chance to try it yet?
I did a few weeks back on a 200â privacy fence. I was going to take before and after pictures comparing the citric to oxalic and see if one lightened or brightened better than the other but I didnât notice any difference at all. The fence was only two years old so it wasnât super dark or anything but you could definitely see where the citric lightened it up. I then tried oxalic and it didnât lighten it up anymore at all. I would like to try it on some older, darker wood just to see but I donât see it making a difference.
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I only use citric acid because we have to. If I had my way ,Iâd take it off my rig and chems list to order.
Is this what happens to you if you put your big boy pants on and take the citric acid off your rig? 
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Yes, I did. It works pretty much exactly as @Racer said it would. Great for neutralizing and brightening but not great on rust. It does smell better than OA lol
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Yes, lol. Definitely one of the safest sissy acids in the arsenal. just makes our lives harder when we us it. But it is essential, so its gotta stay on the rig. 
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1 cup to a gallon? I thought I was having better results with oxalic but every deck/fence is different and I havenât washed enough wood this year to see if theyâre truly is a difference. Your testing pretty much sums it up though.
I gotcha. You wanna pull out the HF and get crap done now.
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I was probably more around 10-12 oz a gallon. It was a pretty clean fence though so I wouldnât consider it thorough testing or anything. If you noticed oxalic working better I definitely want to try them both on a older fence thatâs darker from age before I decide which works better.
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Not gonna lie ,HF is a get it done now acid. But my favorite is a Phosphoric, sulfuric blend. Makes for a better shine and rust removal.
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By rust do you mean like rusty metal on the frame?
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Usually on chrome bumpers and smoke stacks, It will keep surface rust under control. but we 2 step with it alot, safe on glass @marinegrunt
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Neutralize what, SH ?
Yes sir. Works great
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I cleaned a deck two days ago. It was a large deck and for the most part followed the guidelines posted. Prewet (had been raining that day too was wet all day and we sprayed water again. Then used the 12v to apply a 2% sh mix with wood wash. The deck was about 3000sf with the last 800sf being newer. My tech applied the solution from one end to the next. I started behind him rinsing on the first part he applied it where it had dwelled for 10-15 minutes. The first 3/4 of the deck was very old and rinsing with the 800 psi 25 tip was painfully slow to remove the layer of grime off the top, and the railings. By the time I got to the newer section it had been dwelling for maybe 1-1.5 hours. My tech kept all of it that had not been rinsed yet wet to make sure the sh didnât dry on it. It was dark outside by the time I got to the newer part and made sure to rinse all of it thoroughly with hot water before leaving. The next day we returned to continue on the property cleaning the barn and other garage. When we got back up to the house to treat the deck with wood restore the customer was concerned because the deck that they said they recently stained (4-6 months, maybe a year though) had turned white. Before cleaning the deck had a darker stain color to it. I told him that frequently over the counter stains (i.e California approved products) only last about a year. I treated the deck with wood restore which is a moisturizer and sh neutralizer but that was about 20 hours after the initial cleaning and thorough rinsing. In my experience I charge more for stripping stain because itâs hard to remove. If the sh dwelled for 2 hours but didnât dry, and was only 2%, could that remove the stain? I am going back today to look again to see how it looks dry (was wet last night with wood restore) and hoping itâs not as white. Did it dwell too long? Should I have applied the neutralizer right away? It looks like ox acid is for stripping stain and honestly have never used it. I donât know if I should go back and apply it now that most of the stain is gone to get that better real wood color back. I did notice that the wood looked way better on the two small areas that had been blocking sun the whole time. I feel like I uncovered UV damage and that the stain may have been older than he thought. Any input is greatly appreciated!
Edit. Will get pics and post later today!
Nobody said in any steps above to let sh dwell for 2 hours or to use hot water when cleaning a deck. Everyone says 10-15 minutes. Two hours is way too long. Spray it on, let dwell 10-15 minutes, low pressure rinse, pressure wash, oxalic acid to neutralize/brighten, and then low pressure rinse. You have to be careful with SH and wood that has already been stained or even painted. I like using something more mild like Sodium Percarbonate for decks that are stained unless theyâre just trashed. Leaving the SH on for 1.5 to 2 hours is more than likely what caused it to turn white. Iâd wait a few days to let everything really dry out and hope the white fades away but you might end up having to strip the deck. Youâre right about charging more to strip a deck because itâs a lot of work. Thatâs a totally different process than cleaning. I donât think you can charge here for stripping though unless they wanted it stripped from the get go.
Also, get a 40 degree tip instead of a 25. Itâll go a little faster. Iâll even pull out a 65 degree every now and then.
Oxalic acid is not a wood stripper and will not strip stain. Oxalic is a wood brightening/neutralizer. If you want to strip a stain you normally use something like sodium hydroxide.
When you say your tech kept the sh from drying out was he just spraying water on the deck to keep wet or did he keep misting SH from the 12 volt? What is Wood Wash and whatâs in it?
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