Sodium Hydroxide as Wood Stripper

@racer really covered this well in his post. It does look like it is a solid stain, so with that in mind I would remove all the loose material and redo it in a solid. Yes, it will look like paint. If it were mine i would use Sherwin Williams Super Deck in a solid. Spray is an back brush it in. I usually use a 515 tip and it works great. I do fences, decks and garage doors with it. Plan on about 200-250 sq ft per gal. If you don’t have a SW acct, set one up, talk to the rep and tell them you want to do a “test drive”, you can buy up to 20 gal at 50% off retail.

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OK, say I paint instead of stain. I’ve always been taught that one should NEVER paint treated lumber. But if it’s OK, and the paint will stick while everything else puddles up, then maybe this would be the best option. I’ve already 15 or 20 gallons of oil stain, so I’m hoping that applying the soda pearls in a 12.5% solution will make the boards receptive. I think to roll it on with an 18" roller might be the best way to apply it, and then rinse after a 3-5 minute dwell, or until the stain comes up out of the wood

@Racer, why would I want the SH, and what amount (1oz or 1 tsp per gal?) for the Elemonator? I buy the pearls tomorrow, and am hell bent to learn how to use it. Will watch a safety video on using NaOH before I crack open the bag. Any safety suggestions?

I used flakes, which may be the same as Pearl’s. . Don’t breath in the dust. I mixed three coffee cups of flakes to a gallon of water and xjetted on to a dry deck. Low pressure rinse one board at a time.

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what the heck are pearls? You been out digging up oysters?

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Soda pearls, another name for potash, NAOH. SILLY!

Soda pearls or beads

@Maelstrom
@MrSparkleVA
@Racer
@Innocentbystander

Caustic Soda pearls = caustic soda flakes = caustic soda beads = sodium hydroxide = NaOH

It’s all in how it is sprayed and therefor dries.

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Yesterday I added 1 cup of NaOH to a gallon of SH and Elemonator. Used my XJet to apply at about 2%. Sprayed that area that had been sprayed with the oil based stain, and the solution just beaded up like the stain and the oxalic did.

I put the solution directly on some boards (12.5% and whatever a cup of NaOH [I didn’t weigh it]) and that solution DID strip the boards.

Question: Is there anything I can add to my solution that will make it “stick?” My next attempt will be a 2% SH/10% NaOH solution from my 12v system, but if it just beads up and rolls off it won’t do much.

ALSOI, @Racer, can I just paint over all of this mess? Will paint cover where all of the solution just beads up?

So what’s the problem? Not sure why you applied with xjet. If 2% didn’t work then bump up to 4%. You have to experiment to see what it’s going to take. Always start low and work up. Just use pump up till you determine and then 12v. Throw xjet in the trash, lol.

Neither SH nor Elemonator strip paint. Why are you wasting chemicals?

NaOH plus water will strip paint.

Adding in some glycerine or propylene glycol will help the NaOH stay a bit longer and not evaporate off. Either is water soluble so AFTER you strip THEN use your SH elemonator mix to clean it off.

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Just use the caustic. Of its really bad the old school guys would add antifreeze to the mix.

Which is propylene glycol (LOL!)

Can add antifreeze to roof mix as well I don’t but some do…

Well there you go:)

When a liquid beads up like that, it’s because the internal surface tension holding it to itself is stronger than the force holding it to the surface. You need something to lower the surface tension to allow it to better wet the surface. That is the definition of a surfactant.

So this might be a goofy question, but if I get some zep professional heavy duty degreaser that’s about 10-30% butyl and I add some pure NaOH flakes, Is it stable and have I made myself a super degreaser?

Indeed you would! I like the way you think there young fella. You might want to do a 50/50 mix (remember that 50/50 NaOH and H2O is actually 2 parts water to 1 part flakes because of the density of the lye. Mix slowly so you don’t melt the container, but NaOH is actually one fine chemical because it does a great job of neutralizing acids without much risk of blow up. The more diluted the lye solution, the safer it is to work with. But if you’re adding it to Zep to strengthen it, you might just want to keep it strong and downstream it to apply.