Hello.

I have a cedar deck that

Hard to give you an answer. Depending on the brand names and how many coats of stain you may need to strip multiple times with a pressure washer and a heavy duty stripper. A garden hose and a stripper will not get it off. There isn't a magical stripper that just allows it to be rinsed off when you have multiple coats. The HD80 stripper is the strongest one we have but is sold to homeowners on a very limited basis due to the potency.

Taking that you said it was hard to give an answer as it depends on the many factors you have listed. Can you give us an idea based on all or part of what you said as an example. Lets say there are three coats of stain. Maybe let us know some tips or trick that can make the task easier overall.

Also what are some of the better stripper brands to use?

First of Solid stains will not come off with a stripper.

3 coats of water based transparent stain can take multiple times to remove.

3 coats of a penetraing oil base stain will come off relatively easy.

There is so many different stains out there that it is impossible to give a scenario that will work on all. Most will come off with relative ease, some will take alot more work, and a few will never come off. Best bet is to let us know exactly which stain was used, that way we can give advice as to which stripper will work best.