Refinishing a redwood deck

I shoved them in an empty paint can and sealed. I guess that I made a bomb

That's fine; they are not exposed to air.  I learned and got away with it;
I put the pile of rags in the middle of my concrete garage floor.  Went in to have lunch.  Came out to a garage filled with smoke!! 

The reaction is somewhat like a compost pile on steroids.  The breakdown of the oil generates heat. 

Im power washing a deck today, first some diluted bleach for all the mold and mildew, let it dry all weekend, sand the snot out of it with a power sander, its in bad shape....then I like using Australian wood oil. Im don't recommend acrylics, most just don't penetrate like oil, and if its in a foggy enviro, this is in the richmond district, it won't dry right. Rags will combust if you don't seal, put them in water or hang to dry. I dunk them in water, they will light on fire in minutes if you pile them in the sun. Whatever you use, its a maintenance thing, every year we re- oil ours. Don't put any clear coat or varnish..... cabbots is good, so are most brand names, Ive used a lot of them, I just like the Aussie stuff......I have used an acrylic called one coat, expensive at 70/gal, but you can put it on when damp, but it kind of stays on the surface ... it does seem last a long time.....go oil. my 2 cents from 30 years experience.

  When the deck gets all pitted and scratched up again in a few years, look at "Restore" (Probably similar to Deckover) I slapped some of that Restore onto my deck (After replacing a few rotted boards) and the stuff dries like concrete!  The applicator they recommend for the stuff, paints the restore onto the deck like "Non-skid" paint! (Navy terminology) It will definitely protect anything it's painted on!