I’ve been pondering getting a pressure washer for ages, but have never got round to actually buying one because I think it’ll end up being one of those things that ends up in the garage never getting used.

I envisage using it for cleaning the cars – mainly getting a snow foam lance thing & giving the cars a quick once over every couple of weeks to keep them clean-ish. From what I have seen on the interweb, with a decent foam & pressure washer you can probably get away with not actually washing it as often – just soak in foam (cup of tea while letting it do it’s thing) & rinse most of the muck off….that’s what I’m hoping anyway.

Then there’s the patio as well, which could do with a clean. I guess and annual clean in the spring would be a good idea, as well as a small bit of decking.

Our fence (and shed) is covered in green powdery stuff – before re-treating it this year I am going to need to scrub that off – presumably a jet washer would blitz that off, although I do wonder about the sensibility of using it on old-ish timber panels….and then how long I’d have to leave it to dry out before treating…

Basically – owners of jet washers……do you think they are worth having or is it just something that sits unused in the garage? What do you primarily use yours for?

Ta…

I use it about twice a month to wash the car.

Then there’s the patio as well, which could do with a clean. I guess and annual clean in the spring would be a good idea, as well as a small bit of decking.

The only thing we use ours for is to clean the flag stones in the back yard. Invaluable – gets rid of the slimy slippery sludge so easily.

never use it on the car, doesn’t take long to run round with a hose and a sponge.

Gets used on stone patio area and steps to stop them being slippy, other than that not used.

Mines gets used on slabs /lock block and the drive to remove oil stains after working on cars.

It also gets used to clean the chassis of the cars of salt and mud in winter.

Found it a total waste of time with snow foam etc trying to clean the top side of car. Looked shiny for about 10 minutes still prefer to use the sponge and actually clean the car.

Very useful bit of kit, especially if you pay a bit more and get one with pressure adjustment. I do wash the bike with mine but only use light pressure on the delicate bits, still avoiding bearings etc but a bit more pressure for wheels, tyres & chain. Never had much success with the car, it seems to take stuff off but for dried on filth it still needs a going over with the sponge.
If cleaning a patio/paving etc, it’s definitely worth getting the proper rotating attachment or you will be picking grit out of your ears and teeth for weeks otherwise due to blowback. They are believe it or not quite economical with water too as the flow is not as great as just using a hosepipe.
If mine bust then I would replace it.
Don’t try to see how powerful it is by putting your hand in front of it–a friend of mine tells me it stings a bit–

Pressure washers great for cars/paths etc. The snowfoam isn’t really that effective however,its just a pre-wash and sometimes has very little impact on dirt.

Just scrubbed our patios with one, and then the car because the front patio is raised over the driveway and I may have spent two hours firing the detritus from the patio onto the car. Never use it on the bikes obviously, and prefer a bucket of hot soapy water for the car.

If we’re talking pressure washers, does anyone have one of those patio cleaning attachments? I did ours using the standard lance and I’ll admit it got boring quite quickly, so do those attachments help?

Interesting – cheers.

Our slabs don’t get massively slip-slidey but would probably benefit from a blast in the spring to clean them up a bit.

The car thing is the main sticking point for me.
I currently use a hose with a spray gun on the end for rinsing duties & 2 buckets and a mitt thing to actually do the cleaning.
The main draw of getting the pressure washer for me would be to speed up the car washing, so I can blitz them once a fortnight (or whatever) and save some time. I did both cars yesterday morning & it took about 2hrs from start to finish.
If a pressure washer isn’t really going to save me any time because I have to give them a thorough clean anyway, then perhaps it’s not worth the bother.

I have the patio attachment on a 130bar pressure washer.

Much more effective than it was on my old 110 bar unit but still i have to do a first pass with the rotolance

Sweep that up then go at it with the patio attachment and when doing the oil in the concrete drive way i soak it with antifreeze first then spray it with oil and grease remover then go at it with the roto lance. The patio cleaner won’t touch it.

It would work if you did it regular but I’m a once a leap year kinda guy 🙂

I made a wooden box to bolt to the wall just above the outside tap. Pressure washer (ancient Karcher) sits in that with a power outlet. Very handy to wash the bike within two minutes of getting back from a filthy ride. Quick blast of air from the compressor and a spray with GT85 and the bike can be put away.
Only hassle is having to take it in on a frosty night.

ours sits in the garage until its patio cleaning time.

A sponge and bucket of water with appropriate car cleaner does a better job of car cleaning than a jet wash plus there’s less hoses to get tied up in

I washed the slabs/driveway with Hydrocholric acid. Much better job, quicker and far less mess afterwards too. I don’t think it would be much good for the car though.

Twice-yearly for patio/concrete areas and it was good for getting the worst of the old flaking finish off the decking.

The patio cleaner attachment things actually work really well and keep you a bit drier.

I don’t bother with using it for the car or bikes, regular hose works fine and saves dragging an extension lead and the washer out as well as the hose.

jimjam – Member

I washed the slabs/driveway with Hydrocholric acid. Much better job, quicker and far less mess afterwards too.

But did you use a pressure washer?! That’s what we want need to know!!

stumpy01 – Member

jimjam – Member

I washed the slabs/driveway with Hydrocholric acid. Much better job, quicker and far less mess afterwards too.

But did you use a pressure washer?! That’s what we want need to know!! [/quote]

Er….no. But I have done in the past. My brother in law has a fairly big one he uses for cleaning tractors which I’ve borrowed in the past. I just used some acid, a yard brush and some water. So I’m just pointing out that you can clean the yard as effectively without a pressure washer, hopefully you can factor this into your decision as to the usefulness of pressure washers.

As someone who used to clear cars for a living a long, long time ago I wouldn’t buy a pressure washer and assume it will jet dirt off your car – it really doesn’t work like that. As for snow foam… if you’re really that scared of a bucket and sponge pay someone else to clean it. I guess if you never let it get that dirty and do it once a week it might keep the bulk off.

We used them simply because we had to clean and deliver about 50 cars a day and a pressure washer will jet soap off a car quicker than a hose.

I’ve gotten much slower in my old age, I used to be able to wash a car in 4 minutes (well half a car in 2, I used to do one half and my mate the other) now it takes me maybe 10 mins, but then I don’t have to rush anymore, dealing with that degree of labour, I’d suspect I’d spend more time taking the thing out, hooking it all up and putting it away again than I’d ever save using it.

They’re very good on patios though, they’re the right tool for that job.

Snow foam and then the soft brush attachment is good for a quick clean of the car.

Can’t be arsed cleaning the slabs, they get dirty too quick.

I’ve not bought one, bought my dad gave me his old one, then gave his new one away so I’ve given him his back and will get one this year, but a smaller one.

jimjam – Member

Er….no. But I have done in the past. My brother in law has a fairly big one he uses for cleaning tractors which I’ve borrowed in the past. I just used some acid, a yard brush and some water. So I’m just pointing out that you can clean the yard as effectively without a pressure washer, hopefully you can factor this into your decision as to the usefulness of pressure washers. [/quote]

Sorry. That was supposed to be a witty quip/joke, as in ‘tell us man; we need to know!!’ – I probably should have used a smiley or something, but at the moment they don’t appear above my text box, so I did without because I couldn’t work out with symbols to use…..(/winking, blushing smiley)

If you’re quick there’s some heavily discounted ones here;

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/psa-vax-sale-ends-3rd-april-1700-bst

I managed to get one of the £50 ones to replace one of the same model that had recently gone to pressure washer heaven

P-Jay – Member

As for snow foam… if you’re really that scared of a bucket and sponge pay someone else to clean it.

Erm. As I have mentioned at least once, if not a couple of times I thought it might make the job faster – nothing to do with being scared of a bucket & sponge.

I don’t like paying someone else to clean it having seen the bloke at our local car wash drag a sponge along an extremely muddy sill before proceeding to wash the rest of the side of the car with the same sponge without any attempt at rinsing the dirt picked up from cleaning the sill.

P-Jay – Member

I’ve gotten much slower in my old age, I used to be able to wash a car in 4 minutes (well half a car in 2, I used to do one half and my mate the other) now it takes me maybe 10 mins…

I don’t know how you manage that! It takes me probably 4 mins at a guess to wash, rinse & dry just the roof of my car…..
The wheels on my Ibiza can take probably 5 mins each to clean most of the dirt off, given that they are awkward multi-spokes with loads of areas that catch the dirt. The ones on the Citroen are a LOT easier but probably still take 2 mins/wheel….

verses – Member

If you’re quick there’s some heavily discounted ones here;

That might be why I’m asking the question (/insert winking smiley) ;o)

I’m debating whether to get the £65 one or not – most have sold out.
Money is tight at the moment with a young daughter and only one income so whereas a couple of years ago I’d have taken a punt, at the moment I have to be really sure that anything I buy is actually worth buying and not just to fulfil my shiny gadget urge….ho hum!

Bloody hell, I open a thread out of curiosity and now I’m £85 down.

🙂

lol @ chakaping

(/insert laughing smiley…)

Cleaning the patio with the karcher cleaning head is one of the most satisfying jobs there is.

Patio cleaning heads: the rotary one or the scrubber one? I’ve also got a deck to clean…

@stumpy01

Sorry, I assumed you would being using the ones they claim you can us to blow soap suds all over your car and then just rinse it off again, they don’t work. I still don’t see the point of having slightly sticky soap suds rather than just using a bucket – but I guess Halfords have got shareholders to keep happy.

The trick to washing a car efficiency is – to quote my old boss – “not cocking about”.

Time doesn’t include setting up buckets etc, because ours was more like a production line.

But –

hose / spray car make it wet, if you’re dealing with lots of loose mud, like after a bit of off roading then that’s about the limit of what water pressure will shift, but for the most part – wet will do, truthfully if we were in a pinch we’d skip that part, but this was a much warmer climate without road salt and a lot less grit and grime to worry about – I’d want it wet in the UK.

Sponge / glove / mitten – start at the front or back, go panel by panel, start at the bottom, work upwards to a central point on the roof – do the windscreen with the front doors and the bonnet with the front wings. – not what most people do – start in the middle, ignore the roof / bonnet until later etc too much walking around time – you should aim for a clean that will clean everything, rather than concentrating on ‘spots’. front wing, front door, rear door, back. top to bottom so you can see where you’ve been. a decent pace without going mad, but more importantly a constant effort not wash a bit, step back, admire, study for bits missing etc. Then rear or grill depending where you started.

I only include this separately because some people like to use different stuff for wheels, but mits / gloves are best for wheels – I used to do them the same time as the panels they were closest too – but I know someone who are really into clean cars get all twitchy about that – it’s just about starting at a single points and constant movement effort around till you get back where you started.
Rinse, done. I’m almost middle aged and my right arm is a real mess of broken and missing bones and I can still do it in 10 mins.

I wouldn’t call it a skill, but wash 40-60 cars a day, 5 days a week for 3 months and you build a decent pace up, even 15 years later.
My point is the getting it wet bit and the rinse bit are a small proportion of the total time, you’d wipe it out in faf factor easily.

If you’re into car “detailing” or worried about harming the paint and go in for lambs wool mittens and 2 or more buckets then we’re probably looking at the problem from different ends – but if that’s the case the getting it wet and rinsing it again parts are going to be an even small proportion of your time.

P-Jay – Member

Time doesn’t include setting up buckets etc, because ours was more like a production line.

…….go panel by panel, start at the bottom, work upwards to a central point…..

If you’re into car “detailing” or worried about harming the paint and go in for lambs wool mittens and 2 or more buckets then we’re probably looking at the problem from different ends

I reckon it was 2 hours to do an Ibiza and a C3 Picasso yesterday but that does include getting the buckets out & filling them, dragging the hose round from the back, finding a suitable ‘washing the car playlist’ etc….
I do probably waste time quite a bit while wringing out the leather etc. when I could be going full chat…..

Eeeek – see, I always go from the top downwards – my logic says that water flows that way, so you’re better off cleaning the top bits first….

Working from the bottom upwards at speed would, I imagine, drag the worst of the dirt up towards the cleaner bodywork.
I do:

roof
rear end
side up to a-pillar
windscreen – bonnet – bumper & front wings
other side back from a-pillar
wheels

Yeah, I use 2 buckets & regularly rinse my wash mitt thingy.
I tend to do a section, then rinse & leather before moving onto the next section. If I wash the whole thing before rinsing it tends to dry before I’ve finished & is more effort to rinse & dry than doing it in sections.
Maybe I should get another mitt just for doing the wheels with….I currently use a sponge & it’s a right pain in the arse……

While not into ‘car detailing’ I do try to clean my cars carefully given that I tend to hang onto them for years (my last car I’d had for 9 years before selling on). If I leased cars & got a new one every 3 years, I probably wouldn’t care so much about it.
One of the cars is metallic black, which can look very bad very quickly if you wash it without much care.

My opinion (which nobody has asked for) is that modern Vax stuff is pants and in my experience unreliable.
Parents and grandparents always had big orange Vax vacuum cleaners and recommended them, however I think that Vax now are one of those brands that are a pale imitation of their former self.
The vacuums are usually available from those poundstrecher type places and MSE has a ‘super exclusive’ Vax sale almost every week.

Bought a vacuum from one of these about 5years ago at a 75% off deal , it was replaced 3times under warranty before being binned. They did not want the old ones back to diagnose or fix, was told to discard them.

I would therefore avoid their pressure washers.

Especially as Karcher ones can be picked up so cheaply from the outlet shop http://www.karcheroutlet.co.uk/products/subcat.asp?mID=Pressure-Washers&sID=K1-and-K2-Pressure-Washers

£45 or £59 including the patio scrubber. Full warranty.

Having said that those Karcher ones are reconditioned units which did suggest that they do have some faulty ones returned, but it is reassuring that they bother to repair them instead of just disposing.

I’ve had a karcher outlet one for the last few years. No issues at all. But then it’s used maybe 4 times a year.

I bought a Nilfisk off the back of a similar thread on STW about a year ago

Came with a Patio attachment, which made cleaning it so much easier

Consensus at the time was the Nilfisk was a better choice than the Karcher for similar money

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/pressure-washers-karcher-vs-nilfisk

I always go from the top downwards – my logic says that water flows that way, so you’re better off cleaning the top bits first….

Working from the bottom upwards at speed would, I imagine, drag the worst of the dirt up towards the cleaner bodywork.

I was thinking that also. You’re dribbling grubby suds down the bits you’ve just cleaned, surely? What’s the logic here, that it’s easier to see what you’ve done / missed?

Mind you, my attitude to car washing is to give a nice man 20 quid to valet it every three months are so. To support local industry, of course.

I paid about £35 from B&Q 8 years ago, gets used two to three times a month on average, more so in the winter.

Will happily do 20-30sqm of patio etc without a grumble.

The only thing I replaced was the hose as its too short as stock, I bought a ten metre one so I don’t have to keep moving the jet wash around with me.

Snow foam is a waste of time you may as well blow bubbles at it.

Traffic film remover however is brilliant.

Or muc-off, that stuff is great on alloys.

Snow foam adds an extra step to cleaning your car, but it does help reduce the amount of scratches/swirls, by helping loosen the dirt. You can do this step then get your buckets and stuff ready. You will have to buy snow foam and a proper lance.

Nilfisk are decent pressure washers and cheap, Argos had a deal on last week for £99 which comes with attachments, patio and wheel cleaner, they also have a metal impeller, I think its only the Karcher K4 and above that have metal ones.

The thinking behind the bottom to top cleaning method is to do with washing the snow foam off the car. If you start rinsing the foam off from the bottom, if you get interrupted, you can clearly see where you stopped. Doing top down you can do the roof only and it looks like you rinsed the whole car.

2 bucket method with grit guards! It is a lot of effort and I have probably spent £300 in the last 2 months on washing/detailing supplies. I think I would’ve preferred to drive around in a dirty car and have it professionally detailed a couple of times in the year!

I think it took my an hour just to wash and dry my car, it was my first time tho and I did more fannying about than anything.

All the £5-£20 washers that I have seen use one bucket and the water is black… Step away from the car!

Domestic pressure washers really are quite rubbish; cleaning slabs takes a year and you still end up with lines all over them.

They also don’t clean cars very well… I always use a hose brush attachment then a sponge (well, once every 6 months when I do it).

For your patio I’d be tempted to just use an algaecide from a watering can.

Well….I procrastinated…..procrastinated a bit more and then decided I didn’t need one… 😐

As above, jetwashers are rubbish for cleaning cars unless it’s caked in mud. I do use one all the time though – for washing my bike!

Contrary to popular belief, it does not ruin your bike provided you use a bit of common sense. I buy a small cheap one that isn’t ludicrously highly powered, and I don’t point it straight at my fork or shock seals, and don’t get too close to anything else. Bearings haven’t been a problem – I’ve only changed a few bearings in ten years of owning my current bikes.

It’s the best thing I’ve found for cleaning chains. Put it right up against the chain as it goes over the cassette, pull the handle, and spotless grit-free chain ten seconds later.

They’re great for patio cleaning, but even better is using patio sealer to keep it clean afterwards. This has extended our patio cleaning regime from annually to once every 3 years. 😀

You can get special stuff to remove the green mould from fence panels which works well.

I found it hard to clean our patio with it. It did take some grime off but I couldn’t use it to actually remove dirt because the water just pools and the dirt settles back out.

the round rotary patio attachment works a treat with ours.