The pressure washer is a highly convenient and versatile tool that can be used in a range of situations to clean the garden, patio, car, and other areas where dirt accumulates and is difficult to remove. In essence, a pressure washer is capable of cleaning any solid surface.
On the market, there are different types and it is not always easy to choose the right one for your needs. To help you choose the right one, here is a practical purchase guide and a ranking of the best high-pressure cleaners.
Everything You Need to Know About Pressure Washer
A pressure washer is less sophisticated than it seems. In essence, it is a pump powered by an electric or internal combustion engine that sucks water from a tap or a tank, the pump accelerates it to high pressure, then expels it from a high-speed tube through a gun-lance.
Various other accessories can be mounted on the end of the tube to clean different surfaces and things.
Types of Pressure Washers
The market offers many types of high-pressure cleaners, from professional to domestic ones. Professional high-pressure cleaners are more performing, have a higher power, and therefore can work at higher pressure, sometimes using an internal combustion engine.
Of course, they are large, heavy, and above all expensive, therefore suitable for the use that goes beyond washing the car or the driveway at home.
The common or domestic pressure washers instead are smaller, more economical, and more transportable, usually, they use electric motors and thus have less power and less pressure of the water jet.
They are suitable for less demanding use such as cleaning the car, external floors, and any other word that comes to mind. The bands also include semi-professional high-pressure cleaners, which can mount internal combustion or electric motors, which provide intermediate powers between professional and domestic models.
Another important feature of a pressure washer is the ability to produce hot water before being expelled under pressure, the heat of the water contributes to greater cleaning as it manages to better dissolve the dirt, efficacy enhanced also by the possibility of adding detergent in the tank.
Why to Buy a Pressure Washer?
Here are the 4 most important reasons to buy a pressure washer, the essential tool for cleaning exteriors:
1. Time Savings
Cleaning car wheels with pressure The next time you are on the driveway at home struggling with cleaning your car with a pressure washer, savor the moment, because you are saving water five times as much as you would normally use, taking a fifth of the time. Furthermore, you will not have to bend over to reach the lowest points: just point your pressure washer and shoot.
Here is where the savings “5 times as much” come from:
- A garden hose supplies water for around 8 GPM (around 1800 l / h), with a PSI pressure of 60 (4 Bar). The result is a Cleaning Power (CP) of 480 (or 7,200 for European measurement units).
- A 100 Euro pressure washer generates 1.6 GPM (360 l / h) at 1500 PSI (over 100 Bar). This is a Cleaning Power (CP) of 2,400 (or 36,000 for European units of measurement).
Another example of effective use of a pressure washer is in the accessories: thanks to them you can clean large flat areas such as a tennis court or the driveway to your home. All portable pressure washers have at least one accessory supplied, and this will help you complete multiple operations on the same day.
2. Save Money
A pressure washer helps you save money in three ways:
- You will use less water, and your bill will be lighter. Pressure cleaning requires fewer liters per hour than a normal garden hose and completes the job in less time.
- Buying a pressure washer involves the expense of only 100-400 Euros, depending on the model you decide to buy. The help of a professional to clean your driveway costs you 150 Euros. The rate for cleaning the outdoor terraces is around 100 Euros. Renting a pressure washer would also be expensive: around 80 euros per day.
- Keeping surfaces clean makes them last longer. If you regularly clean your terraces, driveway, grill, and other domestic areas you will extend the life of your property. Do you know those external platforms so badly damaged that they have to be restored or removed? Here, keeping everything clean and sanitized you will avoid such scenarios.
3. More Thorough Cleaning
Cleaning garden chairs when it comes to cleaning surfaces, the pressure washer is unrivaled. The certification bodies that control the work of the companies recommend the use of a hot water pressure washer to eliminate even the most stubborn dirt and to eliminate it quickly.
You could spend hours and hours sweeping mud, dirt, and dirt or you could rely on a hot water pressure washer that, with the right detergent, will guarantee you a professional result.
4. Fun in Doing Household Chores
Terrace cleaning with your new toy, cleaning the external surfaces will be fun: you against dirt. Whether it’s concrete, wood, plastic, or metal it doesn’t matter.
Have you seen what you can do with a pressure washer? Take a look at the picture of the half-cleaned platform. Amazing. And cleaning with a pressure washer does not involve any effort: just point the nozzle and pull the trigger.
Criteria for Narrowing Down the Choice
For electric pressure washers, considering size and weight, the number of nozzles, the various accessories included, the strength of their pressure hose, the material used for the spray gun or the lance (if it is made of steel it is better), and if they have a container for the detergent.
The best petrol high-pressure cleaners will have valves and chambers, a pump head in brass or aluminum (to manage the high pressure generated), a high-pressure hose in steel, or in screened PVC, a well-resistant frame (preferably in steel) and wheels.
A steel lance with easy attachment to the body of the appliance, a good choice of interchangeable accessories, adjustable lances, thermal discharge systems, and a container for the detergent installed directly on the appliance.
Of course, if you foresee an exhausting use for your pressure washer you will have to go towards more resistant models. In this case, commercial appliances with features such as steel axle and hub, pneumatic wheels, and piston pumps are right for you.
