Pressure washers and associated goodies

[Stutopia]

My Zed washing spot is far from a tap. This means frequent trips back and forth with buckets, rubbish rinses plus a wet kitchen floor. I'm trying to sort an external tap round the back, once I get this in I think I want a pressure washer. The sheer volume of gull deposit I deal with each week and sand that whips around the streets on the coast is meaning frequent trips to the garage for a quick rinse. I do a proper wash by hand but need a nice easy rinse option for when I get back from work in the week.

 

Firstly, do they simply connect to a regular tap?

 

Secondly, I'm thinking about £100-£250 for the unit, plus a recommended gadget for making a massive foamy mess. What I'm hoping you awesome peeps can do is recommend a washer you've used, a quality foamerer and maybe even some of the cool foamy stuff.

 

Thanks.

Edited May 23, 2013 by SuperStu

[AK350Z]

I've got a £40 Nilfisk washer from Amazon, and a (£30?) foam gun from Tim@envy valet, more than enough to do a car. (from a tap)

 

I know Martinmac has a posho Kranzle pressure washer that can be fed from a bucket, but the're mega money I think.

 

 

And a quick google later:

http://cpc.farnell.c...06068&CMP=NLem3

 

[gsexr]

Bought one form here

http://www.karcheroutlet.co.uk/

and saved some wedge

[Stutopia]

Thanks. Any particular accessories that are useful?

[Seabee]

I just bought a Karcher K2 from tesco's for £9..... lol I doubled up £40's worth of vouchers mind tooo!

[rtbiscuit]

Bosch do good units and very reliable

[Dave-350]

Remember that different manufacturers of pressure washers have different fitments, the only different lance I use is a foam lance - Foam lances can come in a different range of fitments but make sure you check first.

 

For example; Don't buy a halfords pressure washer as I am pretty sure the foam lances on the market don't come in that fitment.

 

I have a Karcher unit - Its fantastic.

 

Snow foam mixed with a little of your favorite shampoo.

 

Buy tons of clothes and big drying towels.

 

Sign up to Waxy box and test all he different products - Have fun!

[Pete87]

I've got a karcher k2 or k3 I payed £100 for it last year it's really good for the money I need to get a foam lance for it tho but there £14 so not mega money.

[MartynB85]

I just bought a Karcher K2 1400w for £67+ postage, bargain

[KyleR]

Get a Karcher or Nilfisk, i'm on my 3rd pressure washer now, previous two I found it hard to find accessories because they weren't mainstream fitment.

[Stutopia]

Cheers all, at least I have a couple of manufacturers to target now. Looks like there are some decent options for less than I expected.

 

Dave-350 thanks for the image, super useful. Also, I'm already inside the Waxybox!

[ilogikal1]

Nilfisk is a better bet as Karcher's are now build using plastic parts (Nilfisk still use metal) so are more susceptible to breaking sooner. As mentioned above, different fixtures for each brand, so I'd advise choosing a washer before buying a lance - there's plenty of choice and not a lot of difference between dedicated snow foam lances to be honest.

 

I currently have a Nilfisk and a lance from Polished Bliss which does the job well.

 

The foam itself will come down to personal preference really, I've tried a few from Megs Hyperwash, Magifoam Blue & Purple, VP PH Neutral, etc, etc, but the one I've found to clean the best is AF Avalanche. Doesn't foam as much as some, but cleans well.

[ilogikal1]

A timely bank holiday weekend deal at Screwfix; http://www.screwfix.com/p/nilfisk-c120-3-6-120bar-pressure-washer-with-trolley-230v/56192.

[Stutopia]

I settled on a Kärcher K4, for the very pertinent reasons (1) I need it for the weekend for various odd jobs I've been roped into by the Old Man and also (2) there was naff all choice at the tin pot B&Q, Homebase and Halfords round my way. I'd normally sort this sort of thing online for choice and price reasons but time factors took over.

 

Halfords "the automotive specialists" had precisely one snow foam option, Demon Wash. It looks sh!t, but it was cheap and available. I'll find something proper from your suggestions soon. Thanks everyone for your contributions.

[Stutopia]

Gave her a run out today, cleaned moss off a mile of path, took two hours or so, took two days last time by hand. Needless to say, I love it! Had a practice on my old man's car too, before allowing her near the Zed. The unit is solid, decent pressure feels relatively sturdy. Joins are all properly water tight.

 

however, I can confirm the Kärcher foam lance and Demon Wash are a dogsh!t combination, churning through product and making milky foam with a two minute dwell time. PA lance and some Avalanche foam ordered!

[ilogikal1]

The standard "foam bottles" that come with most pressure washers are crap for actual foaming duties - they can be quite handy for other things but nothing beats a proper foam lance.

 

Don't expect super thick foam from Avalanche (it does still foam quite well but I've never got a shaving foam consistency with it).

[Stutopia]

I only ordered a litre to give its whirl. Think I'm going o have some fun working through snow products!

[sloutrou]

I bought one of these:

 

http://www.cleanstore.co.uk/products/Product.asp?ID=5646

 

It's a semi pro product with a semi pro price, but it has far more pressure than the cheaper models and comes with an armoured hose that won't kink when you're dragging it round the car. I wouldn't buy another Karcher, they don't use brass pumps on the cheaper models so given a couple of years they usually break down.

[Stutopia]

Consensus seems to favour the inch of snow foam plus 2-3 shots of shampoo approach (presumably topping the rest of the lance up with warm water). Is there any benefit in adding a shot or two of some kind of citrus degreaser? Or should I say, is there any clear and present danger in doing so?

 

I picked up some Dodo Juice Lime Prime Lite in the Opie Oils Mayhem, wondering if it would assist.

[ilogikal1]

Yep, top up with warm water (I usually top up to about 2/3rds-ish of the bottle). There's no harm in adding a citrus degreaser either.

 

However if you're using Avalanche it's not really needed - also, depending on what you're using it may strip or weaken any wax on the car. I find with Avalanche I don't need to add either shampoo or degreaser though so you might want to play around with what works best for you.

 

Lime Prime is a pretty good pre-wax cleaner - I've not used Lite but it's the same stuff without the abrasives - so it's a good step to add between the wash and the wax stages.

[ilogikal1]

I should add that Avalanche is actually citrus based too - it's essentially the snow foam version of Citrus Power.

[Stutopia]

Thanks. I'll give it a few mixes til I get something good.

[Stutopia]

Any suggestions for adding something NOT friendly to paint products?

 

I've got to wash my old man's shed as the snowing simply revealed some pretty filthy stuff. I can't really be arsed to go full clay bar on it, so I'm hoping you won't go mental if I suggest adding a bit of Fairy Liquid to the mix to try and shift some of the deeper down filth?

 

Anything else I should consider?

[ilogikal1]

Snow foam isn't meant to be an alternative to washing; get as much off with the snow foam & pressure washer as you can, then get the buckets & wash mitt out.

[Stutopia]

Oh yeah, the foamy fun is just the beginning :-)

 

I just this minute finished the two bucket, having a brew, but after the mitt wash there's still some weird splotches here and there, not to mention a serious amount of tar spots all over the roof. I don't think it's ever been cleaned right down. Just wondering what's the best way to get right back to the paint, without lubing up the clay bar. I used some muc-off shampoo that I got recently in a deal, did a pretty decent job. Looks pretty good as is. The old man thought I'd finished!

 

I'm going to have a crack with some Megs paint cleaner next, hopefully that'll do the trick.