Cleanliness of composite decking: WPC Or Composite as it is called requires little to no maintenance. The only thing required is to make sure that it’s clean. The most common issue with composite is water stains which occur from dirt and sulfur being left behind after water evaporates.
Causes of stains on composite decking
A newly installed composite decking needs time to acclimatize and this can take up to 10 – 12 weeks. During this period water stains and other spots are more common.
Composite material is usually shipped straight from a factory to a warehouse and thus is sat in a rather stale environment. This is also why when you buy composite you generally want to leave it out for a while before installing the decking.
Cleanliness of composite Decking
So, What do you do if these stains appear?
You simply clean the deck with soap or detergent and a brush with hard plastic bristles, and some elbow grease of course. Then simply just hose off the decking and it should have a new pristine look.
Oil and wine stains
Oil and Wine can also sometimes stain the top surface of the decking since they have some different ingredients that don’t really sit well with either plastic or wood fibers.
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Ways to Wipe off Stains
The most important thing is to wipe off the spot as soon as possible as to leave as little of it on the decking. This is to prevent the stains from spreading further and reduce the amount that can be left on the decking. Quickly rinse and wash the spots with soap and water. If they are still visible after the composite decking has dried then you can try to let the stains vanish with natural weathering. This means that you simply let mother nature do the job and the stains should just go away by themselves with normal wear and weather.
Use sand on top layer
If this isn’t an option or the stains have managed to stay after all this then you can sand the top layer of the composite to remove the stains. This is possible since the substances don’t soak into the composite and leave deep stains. This might cause the decking to have a spot that is now of a different color and this is simply because the rest of your composite has faded a bit with exposure to sunlight. The sanded area will also fade and match the rest of your decking in time.
Read more: Prevent composite from getting easily damaged
Read more : Top 10 questions about Composite Decking
