Changing from Oil base Stain to water base

Hi, I have a 2nd story balcony made out Massaranduba wood (54’ x 4’). It was build in April 2013. At the time of installation, they lightly sanded the boards with 100 grit paper, cleaned them with a damp rag and gave them a light coat of Ipe oil with another rag on all 6 sides. At the beginning of the summer (June) the wood was looking vey dry and faded on the surface. I re-applied the Ipe Oil on the top surface again with a rag, I did not clean or bright beforehand. It looked great for about a month and then it started to fade and dry again. The balcony is only partially covered and it gets wet when raining. The outer edge of it looks blackened, I guess from dirt and possibly mold. I tried cleaning a couple of boards with a very light solution of warm water/oxyclean and a hand brush, all the gunk seems to come out but it leaves the wood with a whitewash look, not really sure why.
Although Ipe Oil has positive reviews, gathering what I have read on this and other sites, I don’t think it was applied correctly in the first place. Still it has not worked really well for me. Nevertheless, I still have some Ipe Oil left.
On the other hand, I read in another site that natural oil stains are food for the mold and algae and that is why is better to switch to water based stains like the Defy Hardwood, plus they are easier to clean
I was thinking of washing it with “restore a deck” cleaner and re-staining it with the Defy hardwood. I was going to use a brightener but I have aluminum windows and doors underneath the balcony and I read that the brightener could corrode the frames. Not sure if that is truly the case.
Given that the method of application of the Ipe Oil, Do you think the cleaner would be enough or would it be better to use a stripper? If that is the case, is the stripper safe for the aluminum frames? Sanding with 80 grit would be the last resort.

I would greatly appreciate If you could please shed some light on what would be the best course of action for my situation.