I do not have the answers regarding staining. I have a similar question I posted but I can tell you that after a lot of experimenting a product called rip it worked by far the best and easiest. you have to follow with a brightner. spray it on, wait 15 minutes and wash it off. I used a power washer on low setting to get if off. Nasty stuff though - need to wear protective clothes. I just ordered a case to finish the rest of the house this a.m. No affiliation with the company. Steve Here is a link that might be useful: rip it

I am not an expert but based on past posts: You should clean the deck before you seal it. The pros here recommend sodium percarbonate (clean) and then oxalic acid (brightener). I am going to use Wolman DeckBrite (sodium precarb) and then Cabots brightener as I already purchased them from a local H/W store. You can also buy the cleaner/brightener combo from http://www.restore-a-deck.com/ aka pressurepros store. This is a highly praised product line. Yes TWP 500 , not 100, is available in NY. TWP "coated" is recommended for IPE and other hardwoods by John Hyatt (and reaffirmed by others). I am not sure about PT wood. I'm sure YWP would be good but I would probably go with Cabots or something I could buy locally. - Adam

While mildewcides in stains can inhibit the growth of mildew they won't prevent mildew from forming on the pollen and other dirt that lands on the surface of your deck and becomes food for mildew spores. It sounds like your deck is shaded as well. You are right that you need to clean your deck more frequently. Letting your Ipe deck go grey is likely to be the easier path. At this point you can use a percarbonate cleaner, spray it on with a garden sprayer, let dwell 20 minutes, and scrub with a deck brush on a pole. If you know what you are doing you can powerwash instead of scrubbing, but only if you can use very low pressure and a wide fan. The cleaning will remove most of the grey which may be good or bad depending on what you want. After that rinse the deck when it is dirty, e.g. after pollen season etc. and re-clean yearly. Marty

Ken mon man!!! are you a chemist or did you stay at a holiday inn express last night!! LOL...(just some kind ribbin)...being a chemist and having 4+ years of pulp and paper science under my belt just wanted to clarify the acetone will indeed dissolve not emulsify the natural wood resins which are lipophilic (fat loving) extractives composed mainly of fatty acids, resin acids, sterols, steryl esters and triglycerides. So most of the surface resins will be completely removed with your rag,towel, or mop and what remains on the surface (acetone and residual resin) will have the acetone evaporate well before you get back to that area to coat with TWP or the like....thus the resins will return to their initial solid or semi-solid state....I think I know what you were trying to say but a little off in the actual chemistry...The other thing that will happen is that if a copious amount of acetone is used the resins will be solublized and penetrate further into the wood....effectively allowing more exposed "raw" wood for the coating to bind to. Acetone WILL dry out the wood as it is miscible(mixes) with water and will allow water to evaporate (azeotrope) at a lower temperature...it is often used in wood preservation where the wood is soaked 3+ times in acetone to remove ALL water and then dipped in a acetone/rosin mix.....then the acetone evaporates and leaves a rosin caoting protecting the wood.... Acetone is also frequently used in the pulp and paper mills to extract these types of wood resins to improve the strength of the paper products we use... so I don't think it matters about sealing immediately after acetone wash....but it may help to do the acetone rinse last to help with the drying process you require after the RAD treatment (1-2 day of warm/hot weather to get back to 12%?? moisture)...the acetones removal of water will be immediate and may speed the drying process as well as removing any residual oxalic acid