Lets Talk Pressure Washers

I got one today. A friend is moving and I picked it up at the Friday morning pre yard sale. It has been used once for two hours to wash his concrete driveway for the sale of the house. It is a Subaru unit sold at Costco. Gas powered unit. I got it for less than half of what it cost new.

So what all can you do with this thing. I am going to use it to clean a couple stone walls by my driveway that have moss and dirt on them. Next up will be the concrete walk in the front of my house and after that I was going to clean the under carriage of my wife's truch in preparation for a coating of POR and then undercoating. I have a couple project cars that need the engine and engine compartment cleaned.

That is my list so far.

What else can you do with these things.

Edit: Specs on this thing are 3100 psi with 2.4 gpm

I've got a rotating broom style attachment for washing my deck as well as a push broom style attachment for washing my driveway. I'm looking for the attachment to clean eavestroughs from the ground, i know there was one.

if your hose is under 25', i'd look for an extension hose. most days i find i'm always needing a longer hose.

The Canadian wrote: most days i find i'm always needing a longer hose.

Phrasing.

My power washer is one of those tools I didn't know I needed until I got one. Decks, driveways, stripping the crud off car parts, prepping my barn for paint, you name it. But do be careful using it on cars. If there is the slightest chip or edge on the paint, the power washer will make it a whole lot bigger in a big hurry.

I made myself a little doodad for washing the undersides of the vehicles (a must here in Michigan). Bit of black pipe, some wood and some casters, and I can slide it under the car to blast the underside directly.

Tom_Spangler wrote:

The Canadian wrote: most days i find i'm always needing a longer hose.

Phrasing.

lol. i didn't even think about when i typed that.

but yea something to wash underneath is always a plus.

Hummm paint stripping..... . My project car was re painted years ago and the paint is in poor shape. The paint and clear coat are on very thick and are pealing in areas. I would love to get it off and get back to the original Porsche dark grey.

With a Turbo Nozzle I stripped the paint off my garage....it took some wood in some places too but that was fine I just needed to get it done for the refi. turbo nozzle

The Canadian wrote: ...something to wash underneath is always a plus.

You're not making this any better.

SVreX wrote:

The Canadian wrote: ...something to wash underneath is always a plus.

You're not making this any better.

"Say What" lock if not for the graphics.

stroker wrote:

SVreX wrote:

The Canadian wrote: ...something to wash underneath is always a plus.

You're not making this any better.

"Say What" lock if not for the graphics.

First rule of "Say What" is you never mention "Say What"

So I leaned a couple things about this unit.

Do not accidentally hit you hand with it. That hurts!!!! I dropped my glasses and was reaching over to pick them up and just grazed my hand. Yes it left a mark. Kind of like a burn really. Looks like I am going to have the Nike logo permanently on my hand Does not hurt like a burn but basically the same ingery. Ohwell chalk that up to being dumb. I also now realized that the spray gun on this thing is shorter than others I have used in the past. Others I have used you physically could not have done this. Subaru may want to re think this design a little. Lengthen the wand by a foot and I could not have done this.

But this thing is FANTASTIC. I cleaned the concrete walk by my house and got 2/3 of the stone retaining wall cleaned. It made them look like new. Absolutely fantastic!!!

Next we cleaning trash barrels. Ok this worked great but you get covered in what ever is in the barrel. So this needs some re thinking

Then came cleaning the yard cart I have. It is old and rusty. It took off all the old flaking paint and any loose or flaking rust. IT is now ready for POR and a fresh coat of paint.

I did an initial washing of my 924s engine compartment. No surprises there.

A couple observations to those that have never used one of these (It has been a while since I have and I forgot about these)

Ware clothing that you don't care about. You will get covered in what ever you are cleaning.

The obvious don't hit you or anyone else with these things

I was amazed at how little water it uses. It is MUCH more efficient than using a hose. I probably used 1/10th the water and got 3x the "work" done in 1/4 the time.

Even with me being stupid with it I can see this becoming one of my favorite tools!!!

4th of July Weekend and all my neighbors head up to the cabin and here I sit at home spinning wrenches and yes using a pressure washer also. It's my buddies he got a few years ago at Home Depot for under $300. Not sure on gpm but it's 2700 psi and allowed me to blast my 15x15 deck so it's ready for stain. Also made 10 year old pvc outdoor chairs look new again.

I think I need to invest in one and I really like the homemade under chassis blast set-up idea for the salty winters here.

I just got a pressure washer (also a Subaru unit, so it might be the same one) and was given two pieces of unjustified advice:

1) Hold the wand trigger when starting it up to reduce wear on the engine.

2) Use premium gas to make it last longer.

I've added my own:

3) Wear safety glasses because you never know when the water will blast back at you.

4) Make sure the nozzle really has snapped into place because it will shoot across the yard and be almost impossible to find otherwise.

I did number 4. Shot it about 30 feet.

We've had the MIL's Costco PW here for the week. It arrived to blast the deck before staining, but the damn thing is kind of addictive; I've been out finding excuses to blast things all weekend. Just finished blasting off the remnants of the Valdez spill from my driveway after yesterday's truck maintenance/wrenching session.

Have not seen one but somewhere read there is also attachments to turn it into a dustless grit blaster or soda blaster. Would like to see some info about that.

Have an outdoor drain that is clogged? Wear really crappy clothes and jam the nozzle in the drain with the 0-degree tip on it. You'll get a rainshower of mud and debris, but it is much easier than a drain snake.

The concrete/stone cleaning is a wonderful thing as you've discovered.

Use it first on your car if it has a lot of road dirt/mud on it. This blasts away the scratchy particles instead of the wash mitt picking them up and putting micro scratches in the rest of the car.

3100 psi up close with a 10-degree nozzle will actually pull a good bit of rust off of steel. It can also strip undercoating, caked-on grease around suspension/engine components, etc. Safety tip: Don't use it with aircraft stripper. I put some on an old intake and used a pressure washer to blast it off. I thought I was at a safe distance, but it splashed back a fine spray of stripper all over me. Not fun.

Use a 10 or 25 degree nozzle on your tires and wheels instead of a scrub brush.

Want to make wood look old and weathered? Use the pressure washer to blast it. It will pull the softer fibers off the surface and leave the grain raised. (note: it will also likely warp the wood if its not PT)

I used mine to deep clean my cloth truck seat with the 40-degree tip. I pulled the seat out of the truck and blasted it on a good hot, dry day. 24 hours later I put it back in looking nearly new.

Floormats are GREAT when cleaned with a pressure washer. If they are the no-pile cheap kind, be careful not to rip the fibers out, but any pile carpet will take a lot of abuse.

With really careful application, pressure washers can take the oxidation off of paint. I did the aluminum siding on my house which was very chalky. A couple places I got a bit too aggressive and blew through the paint to aluminum. Get a wand extension with a 120-degree bend at the end for siding. If you just shoot up or straight-on it can jet water up through the seam in between the siding. The bent nozzle shoots it slightly down which prevents that. The other benefit to having that equipment is that you'll never need a ladder to clean your gutters again.

Someday I'm going to invest in a steam jenny. Its a boiler for pressure washers that heats the water. What you get is a combination of hot water and steam at the nozzle. With that you can strip paint or remove asphalt. I used one a lot when I did commercial property maintenance. I used the regular wand to blast off gum spots and then the big rotating circular cleaner to do the sidewalks. Amazing results. I tried to use it to remove a gum spot from asphalt once and it just ripped a 3" hole in the blacktop.

dean1484 wrote: I did number 4. Shot it about 30 feet.

Keep a few o-rings handy. There is an o-ring in that connector and it sometimes blows it out as well. If you put a nozzle in without the o-ring you usually get a 2.4 gpm shower when you pull the trigger

pirate wrote: Have not seen one but somewhere read there is also attachments to turn it into a dustless grit blaster or soda blaster. Would like to see some info about that.

Me too. I have read that they are kinda crappy. I read that once a single drop of water drips or wicks back in the sand/soda nozzle, it clogs and quits working. Maybe someone out there has made a better one.

I got tired of digging, so I used a pressure washer with the zero° nozzle to undermine a large birch stump so that I could cut the roots and lift it out. Yes it was a dirty job.

If your using it semi regularly, invest in some cheap rain gear. A pair of over pants, a raincoat with a hood or a rain hat along with some gumboots and a face shield means you don't have to worry about being covered in crap and will stay pretty dry. Sure you look a bit daft, but I rather daft, clean and dry than wet and covered in crud.

Also, decent rubber gloves aren't a bad idea, stops little injuries like Dean's and protects your hands if your using a heated unit. Parts and some fittings can get pretty damn warm.

Rubber gloves would have been a help for sure. My Nike symbol is healing nicely. If I think of it I will post a picture.