Do I seal or stain my deck after pressure washing?

Power wash, allow to dry at least 24-36 hours. Apply any good quality stain/sealing product (i.e., Thompson's), using a wide brush. (Rollers can leave marks.) Be sure you have at least 24-36 hours rain free ahead for it to dry. Repeat alternate 2nd or 3rd years depending on how mildew-y it gets over the winters.

I use Armstrong Clark stain. It will soak into the wood. It is linseed based and comes in many colors, both semi transparent and solid. It will never peel up like some (most) stain/sealing products. If it is not sold in your area you can order it from Amazon. I will NEVER use anything else. I have been fighting my decks for 35 years--THIS is the answer--since I applied this I only need to renew it about every 3 years.

Minwax stain has NEVER peeled up on me. But to answer your question once it’s completely dry you can stain it allow stain to dry and polyurethane over that depending on the look you want. You can go light with stain or dark. You can also just get the Thompson’s deck seal and seal it once it’s dry from washing. Like said above do not use a roller. Sheeps wool pad with wood block works best but they make something called a pro stainer it looks like a flat roller it’s great for stain and poly.