Sometimes, it's not about the Aesthetics

Since we bought this joint from the drug dealers via Countrywide's Fire Sale Dept.during a 3 year drought, visitors have occasionally wanted to revise our To Do list to suit their own personal world order.  The most frequent revision is "so what are you going to do with the deck?" The "deck" spans the ravine, which actually makes it a party bridge. But since its main function is to connect us with the side pasture from the house (NOT the barn), we don't use it much, which makes it easy to ignore. It's about 4,982 on my To Do list.

The main insinuation is that it should be cleaned or stained or both. I did fix the hole in it and tighten the step treads down to the paddock for safety reasons. OK, really because it was right before we hosted the Derby Party. It is now clear that the drought is over, and equally clear that mildew encrusted deck is slick as all get out when wet. So in effort not to go down on my backside like I did when running for the school bus on ice in the Ohio snowbelt--books flying--I began to look at deck cleaners on an extremely casual basis over the course of a year.

Most deck cleaners read badly on the label.  Something like:  "Dangerous Fumes. Will blow sky high if looked at sideways, scar lungs for life, and kill all plants around whatever you are trying to clean." In our case, since the deck spans the ravine, what goes on the deck, goes to the ravine, flows to Nonconnah River and then to the Mighty Mississippi. And then we are trying to keep what little vegetation we have in that area. Another minor consideration is my allergy to fumes, especially if being forced to clean something.  So like all great stories begin, I was cruisin' the internet one day...and ran across Wash Safe Industries "Deck Cleaner".
(www.wash-safe.com). They were harnessing the power of a strong hydrogen peroxide to clean nasty decks, and horse stables too. I knew this worked on a small scale, as I frequently use it to clean around the sink drain. So I yanked out a garden variety bottle from under the sink, and gave it a go on a deck section sized for a lazy man. Tried it on the driveway too, just for fun. Came back in and ordered 2 containers online.

My party bridge now has a racing stripe. A non-slip strip on the route of least resistance to the paddock. All plants survived, no breathing mask required.