It all depends on what finish is on.If its behr,cwf,things like that from the box store your going to have to use md 80 /oxalic base brightner. In other words strip the whole thing and refinish. You could try the rad stripper in a small area along with the second stage and just see if it all comes off. J.

Karen, You will not harm ipe by not staining it. You may get a bit more checking of the wood, but it won't be significant. The Atlantic City boardwalk and many park benches in NYC are unstained ipe and they have been holding up in some cases for decades. If you want to get rid of the grey color then a percarbonate cleaner sold by Woodrich, EFC-38 would work well as it has some additional ingredients in it that act as a mild stripper. It is the exact same product as RAD, which is no longer for sale as far as I know. You would have to apply it, let it dwell 20 minutes, and brush it with a deck brush, and then rinse. Depending on how it looks you may not need to use the brightener, whose primary purpose is to neutralize the high ph of the percarbonate cleaner prior to staining. If you want to maintain the grey color of unstained ipe they you mostly want to get rid of any mold, mildew, and dirt. For this you could either use a straight percarbonate cleaner, which you can buy directly for very little from the Chemistry Store (chemistrystore.com) or use a mild bleach and water solution ( 1 part bleach 8 parts water) with a bit of dish detergent mixed in. Same method as percarbonate cleaner, let it dwell, brush it lightly, and rinse. By the way, the first time a stain is used on Ipe it typically only lasts a few months. After that you can usually get close to a year before you need re-staining. I use Cabot's ATO and now after re-staining yearly for 3 years have enough residual stain left on the deck that I don't need to re-stain it this year. The color has faded only a little and looks quite uniform in tone. The stain is duller in appearance though from when it was stained last May but looks presentable. All I did this season was to mop on the mild bleach/soap treatment. Hope this helps, Marty

Pressurepro, Thx for the info!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is the CabotÂs solid stain the one I keep reading about on the board that's having all the issues? The new product that was introduced in 2005? Most people reference it as a Deck Stain product. I see there are three different Cabot solid stain choices. OVT (oil & acrylic) and Pro VT. What are the differences? Which one do you recommend? Which has the best history? I pretty sure I'm going solid. The only question left, in addition to the ones above is why not paint the pergola with regular exterior latex like Benjamin Moore. Does Cabot's stain/latex have unique characteristics that make it superior to regular exterior house paint? As you can see I donÂt know squat about paint and stains. When I started this investigation I figured all stains where just that...oil based stains. I had no idea some where latex. I've been advised not to "paint" the pergola because it's a nightmare. Hopefully CabotÂs solid "stain" provides some benefit over regular exterior house paint. Please help convince me. I'm very nervous about the choice. The only thing I'm certain of is she wants a solid white much like you see on the East Coast. Think Cape Cod or Wilmington. We built this beautiful pergola; unfortunately it's out of cedar and not Douglas fir. The good news is it will not be walked on, itÂs vertical. Any on thoughts or suggestions? Thanks for ALL the help and advice!!!!! Big Tex

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azjMjPN8HPY&t=426s So I have been researching for months to find a way to get all the stain off my deck. Floor sanders are not the way to go for decks. Last year it was peeling and I covered it with carpet. Again covered it with carpet this year. I was waiting for mother nature to remove it for me, before I do anything else. It's almost all off and I plan on using the the diamondbrush to remove what is left then use Thompson's Water seal to seal it, and again every couple of years. I will not stain it again. Does not last on boards that are flat on top of deck. The boards that are vertical have held up very well, but where sun and snow sits - not so good. To answer your question, you may have to wait til it dries before doing any thing, being sticky/gummy mayl clog up any kind of equipment. I used BM stain which I though would be the best.