Pressure washers
It’s time to spring clean the patio, as Kay Maguire tests 10 models to find our best buys for your garden
With the arrival of spring, giving your garden some TLC to get it ready for the long warm days to come is an essential job. So now is the ideal time to consider investing in an electric pressure washer.
Ideal for cleaning surfaces, furniture and large areas quickly, a pressure (or power) washer contains a motor that pumps a pressurised jet of water through a nozzle to shift dirt and stubborn grime with ease. They use far less water than a hose would to complete the same job, so they cut down on water usage, plus there’s no need for hours of back-breaking scrubbing that would otherwise be required to get your garden back in shape.
There are hundreds of these versatile power tools on the market, ranging in price from £50 to £500, and all claim to leave your patio, decking, garden furniture or car sparkling. To see how they fared, we took a range of corded electric washers, all priced under £210, and put them to the test.
How we tested
The pressure washers were assembled and assessed when cleaning a range of different surfaces, including brick paving, Yorkstone paving, furniture and decking. We used the following criteria, with equal marks for each: K Setting up & storage: considered size, whether assembly was needed, the clarity of instructions and how straightforward to do. K Ease of handling: included how easy it was to move around the garden and use, its weight and noise level.
K Cleaning performance: assessed cleaning power and ability to clean quickly and well, choice of nozzles and accessories, and whether they were useful.
K Value for money: looked at all the above, plus any special features, RRP and warranty.