Powerwasher to wash car-Advice needed

seclachi

So, I have my own car now, so I have some interest in keeping it clean. My father owned a powerful pressure washer for use on a farm, which i used once on the car (with care !). The car was already pretty clean, and it seemed to do a nice job knocking off the small bit of dirt that was there. Moreover it did a fantastic job on the alloys. Then my brother nicked it, so I`m down to the garden house and sponge :rolleyes:.

I was going to pick up a cheapish washer just for the car, lets say 50-150 euro, does anybody have any recommendations ? Or should I just save my money for garage washes ? Any other tips for easy and effective cleaning would be appricated too !

L-M

If your not looking to spend much, I'd wait until the likes of Lidl or Aldi get the pressure washers in, generally they're cheap and fairly good quality. I wouldn't use a sponge to wash the car either, little bits of dirt can get caught in them, and in turn put light scrapes in your paintwork.

Get a wash mitt of some form, and a good bucket (B and Q have orange buckets for around €1 and they do the job). If you get a good enough head for the hose, you shouldn't even need a pressure washer (unless you do alot of mileage and a bit of offroading).

hollywoodhoppy

Before i start, i have done a bit of a search between here and bargain alerts and nothing recent came up. Looking for some advice on getting a power washer for washing my car mostly. Was thinking along the lines of a Karcher or a Bosch, it doesnt need to be overly powerful, just good enough to wash a car.

The main thing is reliability beuse have had a De Walt one for last year and a half and have had nothing but hassle with it.

So if anyone has spotted any good deals lately or can recommend one that you're using i'd be mich obliged.

peasant

Have had several brands/types of (home user type) power washers over the years ...at the end of the day they all more or less dissapoint. They don't get the car as clean as you'd like, they break, haven't got enough pressure, overheat, accessories stop working ...etc.

Lately I find myself using a telescopic brush that connects to the hose for the quick washdown and the good old bucket and sponge for more detailed work ...works just as well (if not better) than the power washer and you don't need electricity either.

waraf

hollywoodhoppy wrote: »

Before i start, i have done a bit of a search between here and bargain alerts and nothing recent came up. Looking for some advice on getting a power washer for washing my car mostly. Was thinking along the lines of a Karcher or a Bosch, it doesnt need to be overly powerful, just good enough to wash a car.

The main thing is reliability beuse have had a De Walt one for last year and a half and have had nothing but hassle with it.

So if anyone has spotted any good deals lately or can recommend one that you're using i'd be mich obliged.

The main thing with power washers is not the operating pressue but the litres per minute of water it produces. Anything less than 8 litres/min (480 litres/hour) will be rubbish. You just end up with very skinny jet of high pressure water or a very weak fan effect which wouldn't blow the skin off a bowl of custard.

dodzy

hollywoodhoppy wrote: »

Before i start, i have done a bit of a search between here and bargain alerts and nothing recent came up. Looking for some advice on getting a power washer for washing my car mostly. Was thinking along the lines of a Karcher or a Bosch, it doesnt need to be overly powerful, just good enough to wash a car.

The main thing is reliability beuse have had a De Walt one for last year and a half and have had nothing but hassle with it.

So if anyone has spotted any good deals lately or can recommend one that you're using i'd be mich obliged.

Powerwashers are convenient but ultimately dodgy for car washing. I've had a situation where laquer was removed due to a stonechip and the pressurised water lifting the laquer off. Not nice.

+1 for Peasants reccomendation. Elbow grease & big yellow sponge with hose

If you are set on a power washer, i got one in Lidl a while back. A Lavor 160. Very good specs with regards to output / pressure and reasonably priced at €120 approx IIRC and came with a few accessories.

niceirishfella

This is some elbow grease......http://cgi.ebay.ie/NEW-HEAVY-DUTY-TELESCOPIC-WASH-BRUSH-CAR-VAN-GARDEN_W0QQitemZ230295957384QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_HomeGarden_CLV_Cleaning_CA?hash=item230295957384&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

samhail

we got the karcher K5.91M. Its a good little machine, only problem i had with it was after i connected it incorrectly (had a twist in one of the tubes for the extra liquid containers (for soap for the car)

As peasant mentioned i am extremely unhappy with how "clean" it gets the car. there are little water marks all over the car most noticably on the windows which is what you want clean ! at the end of the day i dont expect to have a clean car when i wash it with a pressure washer.
My mate said that the garages use rain water which will not give the water marks but i dont know about that. there should be some sort of liquid i can get that wil stop those marks.

http://www.karchershop.ie/shop/product.asp?numRecordPosition=5&P_ID=351&strPageHistory=cat&strKeywords=&SearchFor=&PT_ID=84

Stevie Dakota

Powerwashers are only good for wetting the car, and then rinsing it off and inside the wheelarches. If you want the car clean you have to get hands on.

hollywoodhoppy

thanks for the quick replies lads, i hear what ye are saying alright but i've always found the powerwasher handy (when it did decide to work), each to their own i suppose but i had a kind of bottle on the lance which had shampoo in it and found it very handy and was a really ggod way of getting the car very clean very quick. I have been using the hose straight from the tap of late and its just plane awkward with the way our yard at home is.

Dodzy the neighbours got that one a few weeks ago but i missed out on it, god knows when they will have that offer again but something along those lines would be exactly what i'm looking for without paying too much!

waraf

samhail wrote: »

My mate said that the garages use rain water which will not give the water marks but i dont know about that.

I lol'd at that. You were right to be suspicious. Your mate is full of it

hollywoodhoppy

dont get me wrong lads i give the car a serious scrubbing after i rinse it down with one of those meguirs mits and their shampoo but the powerwasher loosens all the big dirt (live in the sticks, driving on country roads every day so the car gets very dirty). The powerwasher is handy to rinse it off after scrubbing particularly for the wheels, then i dry it with a 'shammy' type cloth. Dont worry i'm too lazy to scrub the car!

hollywoodhoppy

niceirishfella wrote: »

This is some elbow grease......http://cgi.ebay.ie/NEW-HEAVY-DUTY-TELESCOPIC-WASH-BRUSH-CAR-VAN-GARDEN_W0QQitemZ230295957384QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_HomeGarden_CLV_Cleaning_CA?hash=item230295957384&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

very good idea niceirishfella,i like your style, will be picking up one of these anyway!

peasant

The other issue is that your typical irish tap doesn't always supply enough water (pressure) to keep the power washer running at optimum performance

R.O.R

peasant wrote: »

The other issue is that your typical irish tap doesn't always supply enough water (pressure) to keep the power washer running at optimum performance

In work we take a feed for the high pressure (petrol) hose from a big drum of water (which in turn is fed by tap). Would this work at home on a smaller scale from a bucket? Have practically no pressure from the outside tap at home.

Ferris

Isn't there a Karcher one that rolls the hose up in a drum. That would be an advantage, stop you tripping over the shaggin hose when you're in the garage. I use a small old Karcher machine, its fine for wetting and rinsing suds but you still have to get your hand wet lads and use a mitt or sponge.

By the way i'd never use a brush to wash a car, the bristles will scratch the paint.

D_BEAR

I bought a karcher one about a year ago works well powerful enough haven't had any problems with it. As with all power washers only good for cleaning off thick dirt before getting the sponge out to really clean it. Bought it from http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PID=127475 cheaper than buying from ireland only £12 delivery when I got it.

fryup

Ferris wrote: »

By the way i'd never use a brush to wash a car, the bristles will scratch the paint.

scratch the paint??..........not at all

ive being using a brush for years..no scratches.....its the best thing for getting the heavy dirt off imo

seclachi

Might see if the ole fella gets a new washer anyway, probably wont. As I am too lazy to do back breaking labour, I think ill just go for a garage wash every 2 months or so, and pressure hose it every so often between.

dodzy

Dejavu ?

MarkR

The Aldi near me still has some, I bought one a few weeks ago. About 120 I think.

Esel

dodzy wrote: »

Dejavu ?

Funk you.

dp639

Stevie Dakota wrote: »

Powerwashers are only good for wetting the car, and then rinsing it off and inside the wheelarches. If you want the car clean you have to get hands on.

Totally agree! I use a pressure washer to wet the car and remove the worst of the dirt and under the arches. Then out with the soapy bucket of water and sponge, and then rinse with the pressure washer.

seclachi

Oh joy of joys, my father got back his decent washer so I gave the car a good wash. Your right about it not giving a decent clean. But it does a brilliant job on the alloy wheels, getting rid of that black dirt that builds up around them.Another thing is if you regularly give it a hosedown it keeps it looking cleaner for longer.

There seems to be some dark tarry substance sticking to the car at the moment in small specs, its a bugger to remove and quiet noticeable on a light coloured car. Its a bugger to get off even with hot water and soap. Anybody got any ideas about what it is a good strategy for cleaning it off ? I was thinking of taking it for a garage wash to try and get rid of it.

Ferris

seclachi wrote: »

There seems to be some dark tarry substance sticking to the car at the moment in small specs, its a bugger to remove and quiet noticeable on a light coloured car. Its a bugger to get off even with hot water and soap. Anybody got any ideas about what it is a good strategy for cleaning it off ? I was thinking of taking it for a garage wash to try and get rid of it.

Use a cloth soaked in petrol, just did it on my car, its a b1tch of a job tho.