Best pressure washer

[rustyuk]

Danns said:

Personally have had terrible experience with both Karcher and Nilfisk (neither were the cheaper models)

My recommendation is Stihl RE130 plus. Can be had far below the RRP.

Only issue I've had was one that arrived dead(ish).. thinking about it afterwards, I'm sure the stop valve in the hose pipe end was part of the issue. Since changing to non restricted, zero problems.

Radmore and tucker usually have the best deals, and occasionally a 5% / 10% offer ontop.

Everything about it looks and feels at least twice the quality of Karcher.... and about 10 times the quality of Nilfisk. Is about on the limit power wise that you'd want to be drawing from a 13A socket. They recommend not using extensions, I did, and it quickly highlighted the ropey plug on the extension by melting it!

I have the Stihl RE130 and the hose split in the first 3 months. I can't see the new one lasting much longer.

[dhutch]

rustyuk said:

I have the Stihl RE130 and the hose split in the first 3 months. I can't see the new one lasting much longer.

Sounds like a Nilfisk!

[timberman]

carreauchompeur said:

What are peoples thoughts on the uprated rubber hoses available from eBay? Are they a game changer? Standard hose is bloody annoying

yes absolutely.

the original hose on ours lasted all of about 3 outings before I decided to ditch it,

the rubber one I replaced it with is longer than the original, easier to handle, easier to unwind and rewind, and doesn't constantly try to coil up every time I use it,

I kept the old one for a while just in case the rubber one split and we needed a spare, but after several years of taking space up in the shed I eventually binned it.

[Rosscow]

I bought the Nilfisk 145.4 last year, as here:

https://www.nilfisk.com/global/consumer/products/h...

It's been excellent, although I think the patio cleaner is a bit weak and won't last long - can you get aftermarket versions that are better?

[ambuletz]

What is everyones thoughts on this pressure washer for £45?

It costs about £25/day to rent a pressure washer. This seems to make better financial sense. Sole purpose would be to clean the front/back garden patio slabs that are brick/concrete that haven't had a clean in at least 6-7years I'd say. It doesn't have one of those rotary cleaner heads. (i've no idea if it can be boought seperately for this model). Having said that the last time I used our pressure washer (which died from not being stored dry) I didn't use any rotary attachment, just the normal hose on the end of the pressure washer.

It'll be used primarily to clean the front/rear patio. but also might be used for washing the windows/car (from a distance of course). the reviews suggest it's fine for the job. however some websites/guides suggest that you need something with greater pressure for cleaning.

[Timothy Bucktu]

I suspect it will be fairly useless.

[RichB]

I have a Makita with 140 bar max pressure. The rotary brush is really good for the patio and uses less water than the lance. Screwfix/Titan tools are actually pretty good for an economy brand but just don't expect too much from it.

Edited by RichB on Sunday 19th November 10:20

[timberman]

I've found Screwfix's Titan range to be a bit hit and miss

some of the stuff I've found to be absolute crap and ended up taking it back, other stuff has been brilliant

[dhutch]

Timothy Bucktu said:

I suspect it will be fairly useless.

I agree, it likely will work for a bit, and slowly clean the patio. At which point it depends on how big the patio is and you value your time.

However as they are cheap and available if you're planning to mainly use it on the patio I would atleast got to £85 or whatever it is to get one with patio head as it makes a lot less mess.

The one you hire will do the job in a quarter of the time, or less.

If you do buy it, make sure to get it wet and bleed the air through a bit before turning it on, keep each trigger press as long as practical rather than lots of short blips, don't kink the hose, and run it for 1 second after taking off the supply and delivery hose before winter to ensure it can't freeze.

[LotusMartin]

My trusty Nilfisk E140 has finally given up the ghost. They want nearly £150 to fix it so into the bin it goes. Found this thread as I was considering going petrol.

Just ordered the ParkerBrand - it’s now only £189 if anyone else is interested. Seems like a bargain.

QuickQuack said:

I bought a Kärcher K5 a few years ago, and it was only used a handful of times during that time. A few weeks ago, it suddenly started pouring water out of the casing, went bang and tripped the fuse in the house with it. It was well beyond repair.

As it hadn't even reached a dozen uses before self destructing, I decided not to get another Kärcher and started looking up pressure washers which got me thinking. This is a car site. We like engines. We like petrol. Petrol powered pressure washer! Surely, someone must make them? True enough, turns out they do.

After a bit more reading, I plumped for this one:

https://www.parkerbrand.co.uk/petrol-pressure-jet-...

It arrived earlier this week and it's a bit of a beast!



Even I managed to put it together without much difficulty or any help and I didn't break it. It came with 5 nozzles all stored on the chassis. They take seconds to swap over and change the angle of the spray from 40° to 0° plus a soap nozzle.

The engine seems quite well built and has been given a quick check by my friend and gardener who knows and understands this type of petrol engined equipment a lot better than I do.

We've both had a go with it and it is insanely powerful. It stripped paint off bricks as if peeling a banana. Best of all, no need for electricity. We have several taps in the garden and water supply in the paddock but getting electrics that far out is a real pain/impossible for the paddock. With this, that's irrelevant now. All the main components are easily accessible and everything is made of solid metal so should last a long time; no crap plastic in sight.

All of this was cheaper than the electric pressure washers I was looking at so that's another plus point. (It was under £300 when I bought it on Monday!)

I have absolutely no connection what-so-ever to the seller, I found them on a Google search last weekend and ordered the washer on Monday morning. It arrived on Tuesday morning and I'm really delighted with it. Even better is the fact that it's not from Amazon, eBay, or another tax dodging online business from the other side of the Atlantic but a company properly based in UK. If a PHer would like to have a look or borrow, I live in Northamptonshire, just south of J2 on A14, just send me a PM.

[K87]

Years ago I bought a diesel powered pressure washer, it heated the water and put out a lot of pressure, it was intended for heavily greased commercial plant, Tarmac laying kit etc. Without asking me an employee used it on his Mitsubishi Shogun, it dented every panel and every decal came off.

I still have an old Karcher 411A, must be 20 years old and still gives good service.

[FilH]

Not much help now, but I bought one from Woolworths for £49.99 back in the late 90s and have abused it well over the years...

No idea on the make or brand?

Been faultless, apart from having to replace an O-ring on the lance screw on connecter several years ago.

[K87]

FilH said:

Not much help now, but I bought one from Woolworths for £49.99 back in the late 90s and have abused it well over the years...

No idea on the make or brand?

Been faultless, apart from having to replace an O-ring on the lance screw on connecter several years ago.

I was talking to the owner of a repair centre about the quality of earlyish pressure washers, the quality of the engineering in the 90s pressure washers was much better than today when makers have replaced metal with plastic in order to produce lightness.

Bit like Honda 4s in the 1970s, the quality of the cranks, bearings and gearbox has been sacrificed for lightness and cost.

[loudlashadjuster]

K87 said:

Years ago I bought a diesel powered pressure washer, it heated the water and put out a lot of pressure, it was intended for heavily greased commercial plant, Tarmac laying kit etc. Without asking me an employee used it on his Mitsubishi Shogun, it dented every panel and every decal came off.

I still have an old Karcher 411A, must be 20 years old and still gives good service.

I only binned my 411A a few years ago after its internals disintegrated following many years of faithful service. Bought in Costco in the late 1990s it endured surprisingly well.

I have a feeling today’s consumer-grade washers are built to nowhere near the same standard.

[mikeiow]

Our ancient no-brand one now leaks like a sieve inside, lowering pressure from average to useless....
Time for a Black Friday deal perhaps.

Read a few comments: feels like it might just be worth getting the cheapest which offers a decent pressure
This unheard of Ofcasa looks a good price at under £60 (with current deal): threatens 1900W/150bar/450lphr - anyone used one?

Or anyone seen any other great BF deals on lower priced units?

Also saw this £70 Screwfix Titan unit - sounds like a weird connector (hard to get a snow lance for, perhaps), but otherwise well rated?

I feel we don't want to splash more than a hundred on one: we don't do acres of patio cleaning (but do have a small area that would benefit) - mostly the occasional car wash.

Edited by mikeiow on Sunday 19th November 08:25

[MarkJS]

My old Karcher kb2020 is leaking oil out of the water outlet for some reason, so been looking at a replacement - had it for about 15 years and it’s been excellent.

This looks like a decent price:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08R65MD9G/ref...

[un1eash]

I've had my Karcher K4 for a couple years now without issue. I went with the K4 as they have the metal water cooled impeller where models below are plastic air cooled.
I think mine only came with a 6m hose which was very stiff so I got a 10m Flexi one from directhoses.

[Davie]

I had a few Karchers over the years then got fed up with them not lasting particularly well after the last one died mid driveway wash. I bought a Workzone branded machine from the middle aisle. About £80 I think and that was about 5 years ago and it’s still going strong with fairly persistent usage. I had to replace the lance but through no fault of its own, just seems it won’t withstand 2 tons of Volvo going over it.

[Escort3500]

Davie said:

I had a few Karchers over the years then got fed up with them not lasting particularly well after the last one died mid driveway wash. I bought a Workzone branded machine from the middle aisle. About £80 I think and that was about 5 years ago and it’s still going strong with fairly persistent usage. I had to replace the lance but through no fault of its own, just seems it won’t withstand 2 tons of Volvo going over it.

My experience with Karchers has been similar (I’ve probably said so somewhere earlier in this thread). Both of mine died weeks out of warranty (ordinary domestic use). Their tech department chap was bloody rude when I sought advice and expressed my disappointment; he just wasn’t interested.

The Nilfisk I replaced them with has been brilliant.

[mikeiow]

Davie said:

I had a few Karchers over the years then got fed up with them not lasting particularly well after the last one died mid driveway wash. I bought a Workzone branded machine from the middle aisle. About £80 I think and that was about 5 years ago and it’s still going strong with fairly persistent usage. I had to replace the lance but through no fault of its own, just seems it won’t withstand 2 tons of Volvo going over it.

Kind of why I am leaning towards the cheaper Titan or Amazon Ofcasa……