Some precautionary measures you take while cleaning your decks
Before you use such products that carry chemical components, you must dry up your deck. The deck should not only be dry but also be porous. To check the readiness of the wood drip a few drops of water on it. If the water is absorbed immediately, it will mean that the wood on your deck are ready for use of deck cleaners with chemicals.
For effective cleaning you can mask off the shrubs and other parts of the area around the deck. This will save you 15 minutes of very valuable time every time you do the masking for around 5 minutes only. If you are using sprayer for cleaning your deck you may use overspray to wipe out any extra coats you have on the decks.
You may use water repellent and sponge mop to the wood on the deck after every spray application so that there is coverage of all the parts evenly and maximum penetration is ensured. Vertical surfaces should be cleaned first. This will wipe out any overspray of the cleaning products you used or any sealers that might have come up loose after your spray treatments of the wood. If overspray is allowed to stay and dry up, they may result in wood stains. In worst cases it might be even impossible to remove such stains.
Horizontal surfaces should be treated last on your deck and that too at the rate of only 30-40 squire feet at a time. Brush the surface if you have walked on it and back brush the surface after every splash spray.