DEFY Wood Brightener - Restores and Brightens Exterior Wood Surfaces - 1 Gallon

I have used products like this one to clean off the black and ugly from my redwood gates for many years. This product, BY FAR is the best of them all!. It works quickly, spray it on with a garden sprayer, wait just a short time, don't let it dry and then I removed it with a cold power washer. Simple and very effective! IT is SO effective that yes, it will leave the surface of the wood rough and if you want it smooth, you've got to let it dry thoroughly and then sand it to remove that roughness. On my gate, it didn't matter so I cleaned it up and after drying, I applied a sealer/stain (Urethane/clear/flat finish). Came out beautiful and....... WELL PROTECTED!

We used this on our weathered garden bed. It had weathered one season and we wanted to stain this bed and a newly constructed one, but wanted consistency in color.. this brightened our 1 year old wood bed *almost* to brand new. It is still slightly weathered but close enough we felt good staining both. It looks great! Color is perfect and easy to apply. Would recommend. It is a bit expensive but to be expected for a quality product.

I've used this to brighten wood decks prior to staining and to clean Trex decking. Works great. The only complaint I have is that it is tough to wash off. If it's not thoroughly washed off it leaves a white residue. I generally need to rinse 2-3 times.

Used on some outdoor cedar posts after cleaning with Jomax and then having to sand off fuzzies. It really brightened and evened up the wood tone. After stain the posts look great and I had no issues with stain absorption even after sanding down to 320 grit with orbital sander. Easy to use just spray on and let sit before rinsing.

I had never heard of wood brightener before I took on the task of finishing both my front and back decks a year after they were built. Cleaning the wood definitely helped, but this product took it to the next level. The wood looked brand new after using it and made the finished wood look beautiful. I will definitely use it again on any outdoor refinishing project and I highly recommend it!

I built a cedar fence and within 6 weeks, it was already showing signs of water and sun damage (graying in areas). I bought this, applied as directed and it did nothing to brighten the wood color. I was very hopeful and now disappointed with the wasted time and effort for lack of results.

I can't decide how I want to rate this since I did not do a side by side empirical test with some non-brightened decking. I prepped my deck as thoroughly as possible - washing it with a deck wash, then power washing it to get rid of the tougher stains, and finally brightening. Then I stained. As far as coloring is concerned there was a subtle but noticeable difference in color after the brightener - the wood did indeed take on a slightly more new-wood look afterwards. But it was subtle. Then I waited a few days to stain. Unfortunately I got some rain and staining was delayed out about 7-8 days from brightening. Not sure if that had any impact on performance as far as reading the wood to receive the stain. The stain was received OK - but the wood did not soak it up as I expected after brightener use and it took longer to dry than I expected. I also didn't think the color saturation was great even with the brightener. It was OK. Not great. Of course, I used a gray stain (also Defy) and it might be light in color by design. Few things about my particular project. My decking was 4-5 years old, never previously stained. Weathered, but not terribly worn. One thing that might be of interested to you: when I rebuilt the stairs I flipped the boards over to show the non-weathered side (the side that was protected from the sun for all those years). For whatever reason the stain most definitely did not penetrate the "newer" wood on these stairs as well as it did the rest of the decking despite the same treatment with the brightener. If you have new wood maybe it's best to let it get a little sun / weather into it before you stain with a semi-transparent stain.

I tried about every possible combination of applying, rinsing, OxyClean ratios, wet, dry, pressure washer, garden hose, paint brush, roller, etc.. I have to say. Doing it EXACTLY like their 2 minute videos show, with the addition of a stiff bristle brushing, is certainly the most effective way. The wood cleaner and wood brightener really MUST be used as a combo deal. You won't get the best effect using just one. Trust me. What I learned. DO get the wood wet before using both products. You won't get a good result going on dry and thinking a "stronger, less diluted" application would be better.. Nope.. Pressure washer vs hose. Tried both. Like a hose better. The pressure washer actually doesn't put out a good volume of water, rather just high pressure. In the interest of not ripping the pores open, and actually rinsing the product, I found the hose with a spray nozzle much better. Highly recommend a bristle brush to scrub both products with. The yellow one on Amazon was too stiff. I liked the brown one https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004FTPT62/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Both the cleaner and the brightener turned my wood to kind of a surface jelly of fibers and dirt and without giving it a brushing, it didn't work as well. Keep things wet, don't try to do too much of an area at once. Application goes well with a sprayer. You'll be there for an eternity any other way. Make sure the brightener doesn't get in contact with any painted surfaces. It really will etch paint. DON'T use OxyClean. I tried it. I tried it in several ratios, in combination with the cleaner, solo, etc. Its little blue flecks in it are soap or something thats not desired, at least for me. The foaming action it presents is not what you want when rinsing your deck. Its a hassle. Its also half as strong (as a guess based on sample areas) so you use a bunch more and still don't get as good of a result. I'm using mine on Kiln dried Cedar decking and header timbers. About 1600 square feet.

Happy with the product and deck looks great