One of the most significant benefits of having Trex decking in your backyard is that it is easy to maintain and keep clean.
Usually, the rain, wind, and other elements are enough to keep the decking clean and free of debris and stains.
Sometimes, however, spills and other messes need to be cleaned up immediately in order to not leave a stain.
Grease is one of the things that need to be attended to immediately.
Otherwise, a stain will undoubtedly be the end result.
Grease stains on Trex decking that have had time to sit will likely not be able to remove no matter how hard you try.
Continue reading to learn how to remove grease stains from Trex decking.
What You’ll Need
Boiling Water
A bucket of boiling water (or at least very, very hot water) will be a great tool to remove grease from Trex decking, as it will help it melt away before it sits too long.
Dish Soap
Dish soap is a necessary tool for removing grease stains.
A strong degreasing soap can be found at any grocery store or online and it will be vital for removing the stain.
I use this one that I found on Amazon.
Scrubbing Brush
A scrubbing brush with firm bristles will work the best to scrub out the stain.
Good bristles are necessary to clean in all the grooves of the Trex decking.
Check this one out that gets great reviews on Amazon.
Paper Towels
Paper towels will be used to soak up the excess grease before it has time to soak into the decking.
Depending on the stain’s size, you won’t need many paper towels to soak up the grease, as they will not be used for cleaning.
Garden Hose
It will be necessary to rinse the decking several times throughout the cleaning process, so keep your garden hose handy until the grease stain is completely removed.
Step by Step Instructions for How to Remove Grease Stains from Trex Decking
#1. Soak Up The Grease With Paper Towels
Hopefully, you noticed the grease stain right when it happened, so there is still grease that needs to be soaked up.
This step might be the most important because you don’t want the grease to have any time to soak into the Trex decking.
Timing is critical to ensure the stain is not permanent.
Soak up the grease as much as possible, but don’t worry if the stain is not gone yet.
Pro Tip:
If you have a power washer, put the hot water in it and watch the grease stain immediately be washed away.
If you use a power washer with hot water on a fresh stain, it is possible that you won’t even have to complete the rest of the steps.
#2. Rinse The Stain With Boiling Water
Boiling water will help melt the grease away and make it much easier to clean.
If you do not have access to boiling water, the hottest water you have available will work, but probably not as well.
This step aims to keep the grease from hardening and leaving a permanent stain on your deck, so the hotter the water, the better.
#3. Scrub The Stain With Soap And Water
After you have rinsed the stain with hot water, use the dish soap and scrubbing brush to get the grease out of the grooves in the deck.
The more you can scrub the stain, the better.
Dish soap is made to remove grease from dishes, so a strong dish soap should work just as well on your deck as it does on your dishes.
#4. Rinse The Stain With The Garden Hose
When you have sufficiently scrubbed the stain with soap and water, rinse the soap off with the garden hose.
The water does not have to be hot anymore, so the water from the hose will work just fine.
If there is still grease left on the deck, repeat the above step as often as necessary to remove the stain completely.
If it is a fresh stain, it shouldn’t take too long to remove it completely.
Continue to scrub and rinse until the grease stain has been removed from the Trex decking.
Commonly Asked Questions
I have an old grease stain on my deck. Will I be able to remove it with these steps?
It depends on how old the grease stain is and how much grease there is.
Most stains that are less than seven days old should be able to be removed with the above steps.
Very large stains or that have been set for more than a week will likely not be able to be removed.
You can always give it a try, though.
Can I rinse the stain with cold water?
The purpose of the boiling water is to help melt the grease away and get it out of the deck’s grooves.
Using cold water to rinse the stain will be fine, but it will not have the same effect that boiling water has.
Cold water will still be better than not rinsing it at all.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed learning how to remove grease stains from Trex decking.
The next time you have a barbecue with greasy and oily foods, you will be prepared to clean up any messes that might happen.
The most important part of removing grease from Trex decking is timing.
Stains with time to sit and soak into the deck will be much harder to remove than stains that are cleaned up right away.
So, keep an eye out when you have company walking on your deck with greasy foods, and make sure to clean those stains up as soon as they happen.
