The rich color of cedar wood can bring a warm feeling to your home. When used as the building material of the ceiling, cedar holds up quite well, though dirt and water stains can sometimes discolor the natural beauty of the wood. Remove water stains as promptly as possible to avoid further damage and discoloration caused by a bleeding of the chemicals in treated cedar.
Instructions
1. Move or cover furniture and other items that might become damaged during the cleaning of your cedar ceiling. If you can't relocate heavy furniture, place plastic or canvas drop cloths over the pieces for protection.
2. Mix together water, trisodium phosphate and bleach in a plastic bucket. Trisodium phosphate is a powdered cleanser available at home-improvement stores and mass merchandisers. The ratio of ingredients should be 1 cup bleach, 1 cup trisodium phosphate per gallon of water.
3. Put on rubber gloves to protect against irritation from the strong chemicals, set up a ladder so you can reach the ceiling and start scrubbing the water stains with a scrub brush. You may also notice mildew on your ceiling; this also can result from water damage, but the bleach solution should remove them.
4. Create another, alternative potent wash for your cedar ceiling that contains a gallon of water and 4 oz. of oxalic acid crystals. is a toxic chemical and will burn your skin and eyes if you come in direct contact with the substance. Wear both protective eyewear and rubber gloves and work carefully with the liquid.
5. Dip your scrub brush into the oxalic acid mixture, shake gently to remove excess water and prevent it from dripping on the floor. Scrub the water stains on the ceiling, then rinse with fresh water. Allow the cedar to air-dry.
Tags: gallon water, oxalic acid, rubber gloves, scrub brush, water stains, water stains