taizentek 14 Report post Posted April 7, 2010 Two falls ago I completely stripped/brightened my ipe deck and then stained with wood tux. It came out beautiful but still didn't last more than 6-8 mos. I never had a chance to lightly strip/clean it last year where I had plannned on doing that and giving it another coat of stain. Now the stain has pretty much completely failed, even on the vertical surfaces. My question is: Do I start from scratch again? I have plenty of woodtux leftover so I don't think I will be buying anything new. Do I need to completely strip/brighten/sand again. Or will I be able to get away with a lighter cleaning and then apply stain? Also, I've seen in the contractor posts that some use stright Oxalic acid on the IPe and some use a citric blend. And finally, what kind of stripper--sodium percarbonate or sodium hydroxide. I will probably be shopping at the sealer store again so preferably a product they carry. Thanks, Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPetry 564 Report post Posted April 7, 2010 Strip with a light sodium hydroxide based wood stripper, brighten with oxalic acid at 6 - 8 oz. /gal. Rinse very well. Allow the ipe' to dry. Reapply WoodTux without overapplying. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
taizentek 14 Report post Posted April 11, 2010 Thanks Rick. I'm just curious if you think I will definitely need to go with Sodium Hydroxide as opposed to percarbonate. If so, I guess I will go with the defy wood stripper and defy brightener. Thanks again, Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites