The 5 Best Pressure Washers of 2022 Reviews by Wirecutter

Stanley’s electric pressure washers are all made by AR Blue Clean and appear to be the exact same but with yellow paint instead of blue. The performance of a gas pressure washer starts with the engine, and the Ryobi RY comes equipped with a 160 cc Honda engine that has a truly stellar reputation. This is the same engine as the one on our gas pick for the best mower, which is without question the most universally praised piece of equipment we’ve encountered in our years of reviewing lawn gear. To highlight the significance of adding a Honda engine, Ryobi includes “Honda” in the name of this pressure washer. The AR Blue Clean AR383, which provides a much lower pressure of 1,900 psi, delivers a higher volume of 1.5 gpm and thus a CU of 2,850, so the two machines have roughly the same cleaning ability.

As for features, the Ryobi gas washer shares a lot of characteristics with its electric counterpart. It has the same easy-to-use Velcro strap for hose storage, the same giant wheels, and the same metal roll-bar handle . The overall look and feel is nearly identical between the two models, and the design is as successful on the gas washer as it is on the electric version. With the larger washer models, doing such things is far more difficult.

We’re a small team of woodworkers, engineers and contractors with a combined experience of over 20 years dealing with power tools and outdoor power equipment . I have a degree in mechanical engineering and together with my team, we use this medium to share our insights and recommendations with you. Though it not the longest of hoses, the 30 foot reinforced hose that comes with it ensures that you can cover a wide surface area while cleaning. The WEN PW31 comes with 5 quick connect nozzles that you can really use to cause any form of dirt around your home to flee without looking back.

Our product experts start by analyzing the current marketplace to identify the pressure washer you’re most likely to find on store shelves and online. From there, we focus on the brands that have performed the best and proven the most reliable through Champion Power Equipment years of pressure washer tests at the Good Housekeeping Institute. The This Old House Reviews Team has written over 1,000 reviews on products in the home space, from cordless drills to kitchen trash cans, lawn mowers, and dining room decorations.

If you have an extremely high velocity but not a whole lot of mass, you’ll punch through dirt but only in a tiny area. Too much mass and not enough speed means you’ll cover a giant area but get nothing done. Sometimes high GPM is better because the stains are mild and spread over a large area. sun joe spx 3000 That’s why you get different spray tips- so you can adjust your water jet depending on what you’re cleaning. For vehicles and windows you don’t want more than 1500 PSI, and the nozzle shouldn’t be narrower than 25°. For concrete and stone you want at least 2000psi and a 15° nozzle.

The SPX3501 also has a unique safety feature wherein the pump is automatically turned off if you aren’t pulling the trigger. This ensures no accidental sprays on objects you don’t intend to get wet. It also preserves water and increases pump lifespan through decreased wear over time. Kärcher’s K3 Follow Me has an interesting four-wheel design that you can pull around behind you.

Pressure washers come in a variety of options for handling simple cleaning to removing ground-in stains. Electric power washers connect directly to an outlet and your water hose. These models feature a pump that increases water pressure and provide up to 1.76 gallons per minute .

This is a significant difference, and it made the RY the easiest washer to maneuver around, especially when we traversed a lawn, hopped a curb, and bumped the washer up a set of patio steps. In fact, this was one of the few models we even bothered to roll across the lawn—most of the others we half dragged and half carried due to the total ineffectiveness of their smaller wheels. This Ryobi model also has a padded handle, which adds to the ease of rolling it around. Because water sprays from a washer’s nozzle with such intensity, it can lift up and remove dirt, mildew, and grime that a regular garden hose simply can’t handle. Pressure washers are most often useful for cleaning decks, driveways, yard tools, house siding, fences, cars, and patio furniture. Frequently, a pressure washer can produce dramatic results, as this photo gallery of wood decks at Kramar’s site shows.

Two simple hooks, as on the RY142300, make it easy to gently loop the cord and hose, a contrast to the hard-to-deal-with hose reels common to inexpensive models. This hook design, unlike a reel, helps keep the hose from curling too much, so it’s more likely to lie flat in use. This is a common weak point on most pressure washers, and although the Ryobi washer’s holder isn’t anything special, DeWalt’s holder on this model hardly works at all. Any time we had to move the washer, we took off the spray wand and just carried it because we got sick of it falling off just about any time we touched the washer. But what’s worse about the detergent tank is that it’s bolted to the washer body, so if you have detergent left over at the end of a project, you can’t easily put it back in the bottle. The instructions say that at the end of each use of detergent you should fill the tank with water and flush the system.

westinghouse pressure washers

The Sun Joe SPX4000 is equipped with easy glide wheels and a big handle in order for you to easily move it wherever you want to work. Pull the wand’s trigger to release pressure from the system and drain remaining water from the hose. Some user reviews claimed certain units didn’t always seem to live up to their advertised stats so we wanted to test for ourselves. This brand was the only to offer a slick-looking reel for the high-pressure hose. Unfortunately, this feature is nearly impossible to use without getting stuck. The design of the reel exerts extra pressure by bending the hose, and once the hose gets in a bit of a tangle the reel is basically useless.