HD-80 Heavy Duty Wood Stripper Reviews: Before and After

Customer reviews and results from HD-80 Heavy Duty Wood Stripper. These before-and-after photos show HD-80 removing solid-color stains, failed sealers, polyurethane, and other built-up finishes that mild cleaners can’t touch.

Average Rating: 4.7 stars (based on 352 ratings)

Washed the fence this weekend

I used your products to wash my fence this weekend and I am totally pleased with the results. The cleaner was able to take the gray areas off and it also took away the water stains on the fence. The brightener was the icing on the cake. I also played around with my neighbor’s fence
…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Blue LeBlanc
December 5, 2022

HD-80 actually worked!

HD-80 did strip two layers of solid stain from my 11-year old deck. It worked really well. The customer service is also top-notch. I surely will order again next time.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Chiren Shyu
September 6, 2022

Super Products across the board

I have used all of Woodrich’s products on my deck since we built our home in 2013. They all work excellent in prepping, and the stain is spectacular. We have two good-sized decks and the results on both are splendid. I would advise any homeowner to start with Woodrich and stay with Woodrich for excellent
…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
David A Toops
May 9, 2022

HD-80

I use Woodrich Brand Extreme solutions products exclusively in my deck refinishing business, reason? they work! Great customer service and free shipping.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Russell Parker
February 7, 2022

Fantastic product for many wood stripping applications

This product made my life much easier. I used it to strip my mahogany front door and the frame of a mirror. All I needed to do was sand the wood when it was dry and apply stain.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Robin hutnik
August 19, 2021

Great for wood doors!

I needed to strip my detailed Mahogany doors and it worked great to take off the stain. Made my life so much easier. I just needed to do a light sanding. I am so glad I found this product.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Robin Hutnik
August 8, 2021

Quite Satisfied!

I am definitely Satisfied with the performance of this product thus far. I used it to remove a semi-transparent stain from a deck. It removed the stain fairly effortlessly. Now I have to see how it performs on a solid stain . I will let you all know!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
James Wallace
July 19, 2021

Great products

I used the Woodrich heavy duty stripper and Citralic products and they worked great! The deck I worked on hadn’t been stripped and cleaned for years and was a mess. I had to returned to a few boards after stripping and do some spot cleaning which was expected. I recommend these products for tough jobs.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Chip Isbell
July 16, 2021

Great as always.

I have used your products for over seven years now with excellent results. I highly recommend your entire line.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
David A Toops
June 21, 2021

Purchased the HD80 to strip

Purchased the HD80 to strip the old stain off of my cedar sided house, it worked great. Very easy to use, just sprayed it on, waited a few minutes and just washed it off with the garden hose. I will finish my house with western cedar timber oil. Thank you.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Tim VanMarter
June 11, 2021

Worked Like a Charm

Our deck hadn’t been waterproofed in about 5 years. The boards were starting to turn gray. I used the heavy duty cleaner with a deck brush and pressure washer and it worked great. Some spots needed a second coat, but it was pretty bad. I followed that up with the brightener and I was very
…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
April Osborne
June 3, 2021

The Best

Easy to use, effective, easy to clean up after use.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Bob Kerr
May 28, 2021

Ease of use, color and saturation is outstanding.

After stripping old stain with HD-80 and brightening with Citralic wood brightener, deck was ready for the amaretto Timber Oil. Applied with pump sprayer and stain was absorbed into the cedar deck with ease. Over the years, i have used many stains – Sikkens, Benjamin Moore, and ready seal. None compare to the Woodrich product.
…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
A. Golden
May 24, 2021

Great Protection

I had old surface sealant on my deck and used the Woodrich heavy duty stripper to get the old finish off. Then I used the Woodrich deck cleaner/brightener which set me up for success. I refinished my deck with the Timber Oil Stain (Signature Brown) which went on easy and gives great protection to my
…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Justin Powers
May 12, 2021

Exceeded My Expectations

I had an old worn deck with many layers of old stain. The HD80 stripper with a power washer using a 1500 psi, 25 degree tip took 95% of the old stain off without damaging the wood. Just takes time and patience. After stripping and applying the wood brightener, I went over the deck and
…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Doug Crocker
April 10, 2021

High Desert Wood Care

Fast shipping on a great product at an unbeatable price. We refinish around 65 decks a year and around 8-12 log homes, Woodrich products work!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Russell Parker
February 19, 2021

Wonderful

We have used your products many times and are always pleased with the results!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Charles J Schultz II
November 23, 2020

Excellent Products

I’ve tried many brands of stain over the past 22 years, nothing has compared to the excellent quality of the Woodrich brand. I purchased the stripping kit, applied it, pressure washed the old stain off and finished with the neutralizer/brighter and the wood was back to original bare wood state. I have cedar siding and
…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Deb Rufi
November 15, 2020

Unbelievable

The HD80 and Citralic combination has restored our cedar home to like new condition. The previous owners built the home and never cleaned it, only adding stain over the last 30 years. This combination of products has rejuvenated the cedar siding to like new condition… leaving us with our jaw dropping every time we finish
…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Clay Whitaker
September 20, 2020

great stain stripper

I’ve used the HD stripper now on two major deck refinishing jobs, and it’s fabulous. Takes the old stain and gray weathered, dirty top surface right off but leaves the wood in great shape for new finishing. Hasn’t seemed to harm any surrounding shrubs or grass, even if we don’t cover them. The power washing
…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
David Nerenz
August 21, 2020

Read the instructions

It works, let it sit a couple of minutes, I used pressure washer with this.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Amazon Customer
July 16, 2019

Super easy, worked great, and a fair price!

I decided to try a small triangular section of my twenty-two-year-old deck to see how this stuff worked. I probably had three or four coats of Behr stain that I needed to remove. I used the dosage it called for and soaked it with a garden sprayer as directed for 15 minutes. Since it was
…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Emma Customer
July 1, 2019

GOOD STRIPPER

Did a great job of removing Thompson’s water seal.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Larry W.
June 7, 2019

Did not work on log home

Did not work much at all on log home with several coats of stain. I found a product that does work but is super expensive. Strip-it from Permachink.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars
jason macdonald
April 9, 2019

Surprise, this product worked as advertised

I have a wood deck that is around 800 sq ft in size. It’s been over 10 years since I last stripped & refinished it, so the old stain had become very hard & difficult to remove. I had never heard of the Woodrich brand, but it had decent reviews, so I decided to give
…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Lou B
March 30, 2019

Doesn’t work!

Doesn’t work!

Rated 1 out of 5 stars
Amazon Customer
March 6, 2019

The rave reviews are correct

I have used Olympic Deck Cleaner for decades and sworn by it, but now after 30 years Lowe’s has dumped Olympic in favor of Valspar, so I decided to try the canister of HD-80 that’s been sitting around… Wow. Until this use, I rolled my eyes at Woodrich’s claims that HD-80 strips old deck sealer.
…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
JonBoy
October 8, 2018

This stuff worked pretty well to strip the stain off my deck

This stuff worked pretty well to strip the stain off my deck. Just be careful and wear PPE! It is caustic, and getting it on your skin is rough!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Amazon Customer
September 7, 2018

Tjhis product works!!!

I have a 23 year old dock. Has been stained and recoated on average every 3 years. In the past stripping was a nightmare!! This product WORKS. but word of advice on removing a decent old stain lightly dampen and most importantly KEEP damp then mix product at the highest recommended ratios. Let set for
…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Billy O.
August 22, 2018

It works as advertised. Finally!

As a professional architect I am trained to research, test and verify before I specify a product for myself or a client. I tried other big box products on 4-year old Olympic stain and after two applications I gave up and decided there had to be something better. (The other product started with a Z).
…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Abilene
August 21, 2018

This stripper worked better than I expected

This stripper worked better than I expected. I had a deck with solid stain on it. I wanted to use a semitransparent stain on it but was told I would have to sand the existing stain off first. I purchased this stripper and it removed almost all of the solid stain. I did have to
…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Amazon Customer
June 13, 2018

Five Stars

GOOD STUFF

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
GFDS LLC
June 12, 2018

Peels stain and skin

This is an excellent product. It will peels stain or whatever you want off of wood without any effort really. WEAR YOUR PPE. I had the acid run down my arm and rinsed it immediately. It blistered and burned for a few weeks. Have baking soda and cold water handy. If the dry crystal gets
…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Just a Normal Family
June 1, 2018

I was disappointed that on some of the wood it didn’t do…

I tried 3 different times allowing the stripper to sit on the wood for as long as 45 minutes. I used a power washer but the stain that was on the wood would not completely come off. I was disappointed that on some of the wood it didn’t do anything.I am now sanding the complete
…

Rated 2 out of 5 stars
Donald T.
May 15, 2018

Great Product

We are preparing our house siding for re-staining. This product is great.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Former teacher
April 20, 2018

Did not work for me.

The product didn’t seem to have any effect what-so-ever on my deck. I increased the recommended strength significantly, with no improvement in it’s performance. Interestingly, the stuff generates heat when mixing at high concentrations but, unless you are trying to keep your hands warm by hugging the dispensing container, this ‘stripper’ seems to be a
…

Rated 1 out of 5 stars
Aardvark
April 6, 2018

Doesn’t work at the recommended concentrations or significantly higher concentrations.

Only slightly more effective at removing deck paint than letting mother nature work at it for 30 years. Waste of money and effort.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars
Linda C. Piet
March 15, 2018

Best product I have used on pre stained dirty cedar

Best product I have used on pre stained dirty cedar. Cleaned it right up. Then followed up with the Woodrich Wood brightner and Neutralizer.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
bryan
February 25, 2018

excellent

easy to use and does a great job of removing old stain

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Carolyn Gaab Bronson
October 5, 2017

ITS NOT MEANT FOR DECKOVER OR SOLID STAINS

For those of you commenting that this product doesn’t work on Deck Over or painted surfaces you are correct. The only thing that will remove Deck Over is sanding it off. That stuff is garbage, once it starts peeling your in for a huge cost to remove it. I am a contractor for deck restoration,
…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Mike
September 19, 2017

Did not work

Did nothing to strip the stain off of my deck. Thankfully I was able to return it.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars
Paul F Estes
September 17, 2017

This stuff doesn’t really work that great on colored stains

This stuff doesn’t really work that great on colored stains! I thought, because it said it would take off several layers of paint, that it would work great on stain – NO. It is very, very watery and it basically runs right off from the stained area before it can start working.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars
Julie K
September 9, 2017

Four Stars

It worked great.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Terese Clusiau
September 1, 2017

This stuff works!

I had four very old 6-panel oak doors that had been stained dark walnut. I wanted to them refinish them with a golden oak color. I had them dipped to remove the polyurethane, but the dark stain was still there. I spent 4 hours sanding one side of one door and was just about ready
…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Jane
July 18, 2017

starsDid try it on cement and didn’t have as good of luck though

This worked amazingly well on my old deck. Worth every penny! Did try it on cement and didn’t have as good of luck though.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Amazon Customer
July 18, 2017

Don’t Use on Behr Products

This is a great product. My problem was I had a horrible stain on my deck. This product, nor anything else, will effectively take off Behr semi transparent All In One Weatherproofing Stain. This stain is just plain nasty to get off and pretty much needs to be sanded off. This product is highly revered
…

Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Robert The Consumer
July 15, 2017

Great product Great customer service

Awesome product really works well. Using this to strip old stain from log home. Some spots are stubborn and need a second treatment. Customer service is wonderful they answered all of our questions with patience and were very informative and gave us some great advice. We mix it a little stronger than recommended so it
…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
minnegirl
July 1, 2017

Highly recommended

Works well! Highly recommended:)

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Sylwia Gryc
May 24, 2017

Not for SOLID colored stains!

This product DOES NOT work effectively on solid colored stain… However, am giving it 3 stars because the Manufacturer’s customer service was top-notch and took care of me. Also I have am certain (based on research) that this product WOULD work on semi-solid, semi-transparent, or transparent stains… it just does NOT work on SOLID colored
…

Rated 3 out of 5 stars
Fresno
November 29, 2016

Former contractor

It worked as well as I expected. It would have received 5 stars but for the work it actually requires to clean the deck. I was a painting contractor for 24 years and did many decks. I do not recommend using a power washer after applying this material. I guarantee you will gouge the wood
…

Rated 4 out of 5 stars
T. Nash
September 15, 2016

Best stuff ever

This stuff liquifies the old finish in less than a minute. I couldn’t believe it. Best stuff ever. My deck is 600 sq ft and I only used a couple batches to do it all. The bucket will last many years. Great stuff.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
CMac
September 9, 2016

Doesn’t work on Deckover

Bought this to strip Behr Deckover we placed on our back deck three years ago. The deckover is blistering and peeling but this product has no effect on it. Don’t waste your money. We’re replacing the boards.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars
Bill
August 4, 2016

Five Stars

Worked great

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
GLENN G
July 4, 2016

Don’t waste your money

This product barely removed the stain I had on my deck. If you had a very very thin layer of stain it may work OK. I ended up buying JoMax from Lowe’s and it did a great job!

Rated 2 out of 5 stars
K-Dog
May 24, 2016