How to clean this African hardwood

[Patrick Rhea 15]

The client says that is never supposed to be stained or sealed. It has a deep dark maroon color to it when it is wet. When it is dry it has a grey oxidized color from the sun beating on it all day. What is the best way to clean this hardwood? Do you brighten it after cleaning? I was going to use sodium percarb then Ox after, but I want to make sure. Can you wipe anything on it afterwards that would be good that isn't a stain or sealer?

Will post a picture later when I can get one....

[RPetry 564]

The client says that is never supposed to be stained or sealed. It has a deep dark maroon color to it when it is wet. When it is dry it has a grey oxidized color from the sun beating on it all day. What is the best way to clean this hardwood? Do you brighten it after cleaning? I was going to use sodium percarb then Ox after, but I want to make sure. Can you wipe anything on it afterwards that would be good that isn't a stain or sealer?

Will post a picture later when I can get one....

Patrick,

There are a ton of different, many obscure hardwoods now being used in deck construction. Many here in the Eastern U.S. are from South America, not Africa.

Ipe' is quite well established and popular. It is an extremely hard, dense wood from South America that does not require oil maintenance to keep its integrity or lifetime for exterior use. Whatever your customer's wood is, a simple percarb cleaning followed by a light oxalic or citric acid brightening, might be the best method.

These two pictures are of ipe', greyed out with a bit of dirt and mildew, and after cleaning/brightening with percarb/citric.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

This is worth a bump. Patrick, were you referring to Mahogany?

 

Beth

[AquaTek2013 6]

Sounds like Purple Heart from Brazil I think?

[Jersey Bill 17]

My buddies dad has a mahogany deck that is gray. He wants it cleaned. There is no algea, mold or mildew. I was going to use precarb then oxalic. Do I apply oxalic while deck it still wet from rinsing off precarb?

[RPetry 564]

My buddies dad has a mahogany deck that is gray. He wants it cleaned. There is no algea, mold or mildew. I was going to use precarb then oxalic. Do I apply oxalic while deck it still wet from rinsing off precarb?

 

Yes.

 

There is no one wood marketed as "African mahogany".  This is not a mahogany.  It is a marketing term for various species of African woods, substandard compared to real mahogany.  True mahogany is only found in the Western hemisphere, ie: Central and South America.