The 5 Best Pressure Washers of 2022 Reviews by Wirecutter

A pressure washer isn’t quite as powerful as those industrial water cutters but it still packs enough force to eat through a leather boot within seconds if you equip the Red tip. If you want to use detergent, you will have to employ the external bottle which doubles up as a foam generator. Internal soap tanks are nice for convenience but on some pressure washer models like the ePX3000 you have to calculate exactly how much soap you need.

Detergent tank ensures you can easily apply detergent to whatever you’re cleaning by attaching the black quick connect nozzle to the spray wand. Note however, that you should only use recommended detergents which will not damage the unit in any way. When it comes to doing medium cleaning jobs around the home such as cleaning small driveways, decks, grills and patio furniture, you can’t go wrong with an electric pressure washer. It comes with a 1.6 L soap tank that allows you to apply soap on the surface you’re cleaning. Just attach the soap nozzle to the spray wand and you’re good to go.

The K5 Premium is an excellent performer if we go by GPM and PSI figures, but there’s much more to it than what a mere spec sheet can convey. Take the motor for instance- it has extremely high endurance which approaches the level of commercial electric induction motors. The water cooling part is nothing new, a lot of electric pressure washers use water-cooled motors. And an integrated water filter is also standard issue on most pressure washers.

If you are carrying the pressure washer with you on camping trips in your trailer or RV, you can simply detach the wheels. This will further reduce the size of the already compact ePX3000, and it can easily fit into a cargo slide on your RV. It also turns out that 5 gallons doesn’t get you too far with a pressure washer. In fact, it got us only about five minutes of cleaning time, so we had to refill the bag twice while we were cleaning the side of a shed. If you want to use the bag for anything but the smallest cleaning jobs, a nearby hose is a necessity because the bag will need constant refilling. So technically this washer can untether you from a hose—but long enough only for the quickest and most basic cleaning.

Being so small and light, it’s a design that you can carry around by the convenient top handle, and it’s much easier to stow away when you’re not using it. The drawbacks are that it lacks the premium induction motor of our main pick, so it may not last as long, and it isn’t as powerful. In a practical sense, it should still muscle through the same work—it’ll just take longer. Another downside is that the GFCI is at the cord end, so it may be difficult to use with some exterior outlets. Pressure washers give you the power you need to remove stubborn dirt and grime. From gas-powered pressure washers to the accessories you need to achieve a deep clean, Sam’s Club® makes it simple to remove stains from siding, decks, concrete and other surfaces.

This is more than enough for any homeowner looking for a powerful machine to clean months or even years of dirt from the driveway, patio, swimming pool and other outdoor equipment. This is like the amount of water pressure or the amount of force at which the water hits your pavement or how many times the machine multiplies the pressure of the water coming from your garden hose. Talking about pressure washers, there’re two technical specs you should watch out for when making your choice. The first is pressure measured in PSI short for Pounds Per Square Inch. Then, from 12 inches away, we sprayed each block to see if the unit had enough power to chip away paint.

One is for normal, high-pressure cleaning and the second is a low-pressure mode, likely for just pre-soaking areas. You activate by pulling the trigger twice and holding on the second pull, although just like the other electric models, this can take some experimenting to figure out. Surprisingly, the water supply connection on this unit is significantly higher-quality than the three other electric models we tested. The others had noticeably poorer quality connections, lower-quality materials and more wobbly knobs.

I don’t recommend you use the red nozzle (0°) unless you’re doing stonework or stripping paint. The black tip is for soap application, so you can use it for cleaning windows and vehicles. As mentioned in the user manual, you only want to use thin soap (the kind with water-like consistency). Any soap that is too thick or heavy will clog the nozzle of your ePX3000’s built-in detergent bottle.

westinghouse pressure washers

An effective way to measure the cleaning power of a pressure washer is to calculate its GPM multiplied by its PSI . This calculation works because it takes into account both how much water is output and the pressure at which the water is sprayed. We found theIvation – IVA-9175L to be a great choice for most homeowners because of its thought-out design, high-quality components and ample cleaning power for light- and medium-duty cleaning tasks. Power washers are highly useful and efficient power equipment for cleaning jobs on anything from rinsing your car to cleaning your grill, but they do carry some risks if you aren’t careful. Here are some of the top safety tips to keep in mind when operating a power washer. If you plan on using your power washer around your house, look for a model with low weight or a model with wheels or backpack straps for easy mobility.

After all, it’s your castle, the place where you and your family spend the majority of your time outside of work and school. Along with our in-house experts, our team analyzes thousands of product reviews from Champion Power Equipment the most trusted websites. You will get digital access to reviews and ratings for over 8,500 products and services to help you make better choices for life’s big moments and the everyday ones in between.