I'm going to tout a product here. I need to re-stain our cedar picket fence. (It's covered in a white solid stain.) I wanted to use Cabot cleaner since I'm putting on Cabot stain, but dealer was closed. So I went to local PPG store and bought a gallon of PPG Deck Cleaner S-74. I wasn't too fired up, because any time I've used that kind of product it just doesn't do well for me. This stuff is WOW! Although it says not to mix with other cleaners, I did add a bit of bleach. No explosions occurred ;) Put it in a garden sprayer, let sit 5 minutes or so, rinse off (per instructions). I typically do this kind of project early summer, but am behind. So mold, mildew, gray had developed on north side of white fence. It all just washed away. Clingy muddy paw prints on south side all washed away. I did not have to pick up a scrub brush once. (I usually have to scrub that fence with bleach water at least twice a summer.) DH even noticed, and he never notices anything ;) The fence looks like it doesn't even need to be re-stained now. I had to do some deck cleaning at rental, but PPG store was closed. Went to Menards, they carry PPG so grabbed a couple jugs of the cleaner. It is not the same strength as that sold in PPG store (it doesn't say "S-74" on label either and ingredients are in different order). So PPG Deck Cleaner from big box stores does not clean as effectively as the product sold by a PPG store. NOTE: read the caution on the bottle if you try it. Wood that has been previously excessively pressure washed will 'raise' with this product. That did occur on a railing at rental deck, but it didn't help that I let it sit too long on that railing. (Nearly 25 minutes, a neighbor came by to chat right after I sprayed it on.) To the original OP: we have cedar picket and cedar privacy fences and pressure treated (old) deck. On our cedar privacy fence I used Behr semi-transparent stain initially, in cedar tone. I had to re-stain every other year because of fade and loss of ability to repel water. Two years ago I re-stained the privacy fence with Cabot's after a lot of research. Very impressed, still looks good, no mold growing below horizontal boards on north facing side, still repels water. The cedar picket fence was done with Olympic (held up very well but mildewed easily). I'm switching to Cabot's because it's done so well on the privacy fence. The deck has been a small nightmare. We moved in 12 years ago, it had a transparent stain. I wanted to stain it solid to match the house. I used Maxum to start. Good stuff on vertical surfaces and railings, horrible on walk path. I had to re-do horizontal areas each summer. Switched to Rez at suggestion of paint store. Held a bit better, I could get by with just a touch up on traffic paths each summer and a complete redo every other year. (I primed with Rez primer first.) We hope to have a new deck before winter. I truly don't know what I will put on it when it's time. During the course of my product shopping over the years, one paint store owner told me he wished he could have caught me before I ever put a 'solid' product on the deck. He only recommends transparent for surfaces that get walked on for the very reasons I was running into. Constant recoat. Whatever I use it will be Cabot's. I'm very impressed with their products. Here is a link that might be useful: PPG S-74 Deck Cleaner

Been doing a little research and I guess there are no shortcuts if I want to do this right. Think I may try General Finishes water-based stain and Polyacrylic top coat. Last time I finished the swing was with the Polyacrylic and it seems like that went on fairly easily. Also may order some sanding sticks to try and get into those crevices I couldn't completely sand before I start staining.

I am building a Villa in Jamaica and am trying to figure out what stain to bring harmony to the cedar shakes (interior/underside), pressure treated pine lathe and rafters and v-joint cedar boards as well as mahogany doors. I will need both interior and exterior (resistant to the strong Caribbean sun). On the mahogany side, I like the general tones of the pictures in this Houzz folder: houzz ideabook - wood-colors I also show some photos of the real construction along with some 3D renders of how the space might look with similar wood color palette: houzz ideabook - dragonfly In these photos, you can see examples of the exposed cedar shingles as well as the v-joint cedar boards. I am not forced to use the same same stain on everything - except for the pine lathe boards and cedar shingles which overlap so much. On this area (cedar shingles + pine lathe boards, I will also need to use a semi-solid/semi-transparent stain to even up the color variations and attenuate the inevitable water stains that will chow on the underside of the shingles. Anyway - I have two questions to bother you all with: I don't need the different woods to end up identical in color, but do want them to feel like they are in the same zipcode/family. I notice on some tests I did that the pine doesn't take the stain very well and looks lighter and more yellow than the cedar shingle or the mahogany. I'd love advice/recommendations on stains that when applied to these different woods, would feel coordinated. In addition to the above, is there a brand of stains that you would recommend (interior and exterior)? Thanks

I set aside a board, I think, if I can find it I'll take it with me to hardware stores. I do have the photos on my cell. I thought I was so lucky my dad had marked the can, and assumed I was getting basically the same stain he used years ago. It was the same color anyway: Mahogany. But his was oil-based and what I used was water-based. I'm not even sure Olympic still makes the stain in oil-based, but would an oil-base stain have made a difference in finish appearance?