Choosing the Best Pressure Washers, and Pressure Washing Equipment!

Executive Summary about Pressure Washres By Navneet Taori

Certainly, commercial pressure washers and industrial pressure washing machines require much heavier-grade components than pressure washers designed for home use. The type of pressure washer very much depends upon the pressure washer application.

Pressure washers come in different varieties, namely, cold water pressure washers, hot water pressure washers, and steam pressure washers. Hot water pressure washers work better than cold water pressure washers to clean cars when auto detailing, trucks and construction equipment, food contact surfaces, and much more.

Steam pressure washers use heating coils to achieve temperatures up to 330° F, and are far superior to either cold water pressure washers or hot water pressure washers when it comes to removing dirt, grease, food, chewing gum on concrete, graffiti, and countless other substances. The high steam pressure washer temperatures are excellent to sanitize and disinfect better than hot water and cold water pressure washers. Steam pressure washers use propane, kerosene, gasoline, or heating oil to create essentially “wet steam”. Dry steam cleaners’ power is measured in psi just like steam pressure washers, but dry steam cleaners typically emit only 60 psi or somewhat higher compared to steam pressure washers at up to 4000 psi. The point is we urge you not to confuse dry steam cleaners with steam pressure washers. Pressure washers can be powered by electricity, propane, gasoline, heating oil or kerosene. The method of powering a pressure washer is every bit as important as the heating method, assuming you seek a hot water pressure washer or steam pressure washer. Mobile applications demand gas pressure washers, propane pressure washers, and other pressure washers that require no power cord to an electrical outlet. Pressure washing outdoors means you can use most types of pressure washers unless any specific regulations require you to select a particular pressure washer technology. Indoor pressure washer applications are another matter. You may decide to consider a high pressure, hot water, electric pressure washer if you absolutely cannot use a steam pressure washer in your facility.

How a Pressure Washer works

Executive Summary about Pressure Washres By Samantha Clark

An ordinary pressure washer can put up to 20 times more pressure onto a surface than the garden variety hose.

A light duty pressure washer surface cleaner is suitable for cleaning cars, awnings and patio furniture. Electric pressure washers

Electric pressure washers are made in all three levels of pounds per square inch--light duty, medium duty and heavy duty. Ratings by one of the major online sellers of pressure washer parts, pressure washer pumps and pressure washer equipment don't show a preference between an electric pressure washer and a gas pressure washer. Gas pressure washers

Honda pressure washers rate high among the gas pressure washers, with better and best ratings for both mid-sized and large sized capacity washers and Honda pressure washers captured all three categories in the contractor's model. A Ryobi pressure washer is another favorite of residential users. Hot water pressure washer

Another even more exciting innovation in pressure washers is the new hot water pressure washer.

Pressure Washer

How To Choose A Power Washer

Executive Summary about Power Washer By Pete Marentay

Choosing from the vast amount of power washers isn't easy so make sure you read this information to find the best power washer for your needs.

1. Gasoline vs Electric power washers

2. Hot Water vs Cold Water power washers

3. PSI vs GPM vs CU

4. Belt Drive vs Direct vs Gear Driven power washers

5. Portable vs Stationary power washers

6. Wobble vs Axial vs Camshaft Pump

7. Heavyweight vs Lightweight power washers

8. Home Model vs Contractor Model power washers

Gasoline vs Electric: Most power washers are either powered by an electric motor or a gasoline engine. A few are diesel powered. Electric power washers require little maintenance and are very quiet. You can have electric power washers with lots of power, but most electric power washers are small units designed for specific jobs, such as mobile detailing or deck cleaning. Gas power washers, on the other hand, can be extremely portable. Gas-powered power washers are used for cleaning concrete (called “flat work”), deck cleaning, fleet work, kitchen hoods and ducts, or any other power washing job that requires portability.

Hot Water vs Cold: Most power washers are cold water portables. Some jobs, like removing heavy grease or stripping off finishes, just go better with hot water power washers. Hot water power washers will enable you to cut about 30% off the time it takes to do ANY job. Many new power washing contractors make the mistake of under-buying their tools to save money. Most experienced power washing contractors over-buy their tools and make the difference back in no time with the added power and features. If all you are going to do is clean and seal wood, just buy one of the cold water power washers. If you already own a cold water power washer and want to have hot water, you can call us and buy a “hot box” which will heat the water coming out of most cold water power washers.

GPM stands for Gallons Per Minute, the flow rate of power washers. CU stands for Cleaning Units, which is PSI multiplied by GPM. All of these terms refer to the power put out from power washers.

To clean effectively, power washers must provide ‘agitation’ to scrub off the dirt and ‘flow’ to rinse it away. Homeowner's power washers tend to run between 1200 and 2700 PSI. Contractor-grade power washers tend to run between 3000 and 5000 PSI. More power means faster work, but more power also means more potential for surface damage. GPM is much more important to most contractors than PSI. PSI (power) will help you break the chemical bond between the cleaning surface and the dirt. The higher the GPM, however, the more surface area a power washer can clean. Dealers of homeowner power washers like to refer to CUs when they show you power washers. If you have power washers with 3000 PSI and 4 GPM, you have 12000 CUs. For homeowner power washers, this is a good comparison of the power you are buying. Belt Drive vs Direct vs Gear Driven: The gasoline engines used for power washers all run at around 3450 RPM. In Direct Drive power washers the pump is bolted to the engine shaft, so it spins at the same 3450 RPM. Direct drive power washers transfer the vibration of the engine directly to the pump as well.

The faster pumps of direct drive power washers are spinning so fast that they cannot draw water from a tank or a lake very well. Portable vs Stationary: Stationary power washers are used in car washes, factories, etc. Portable power washers are used by contractors who travel to the customer to do the work. The most common power washers for contractors to use are cold water portable power washers (for small residential work) and hot water skid units (for large commercial work or high-volume residential work).

Every pump manufacturer makes several grades of pumps – Good, Better, and Best.

Axial pumps tend to last for about 600 hours before needing service.

The Camshaft design delivers the most power and durability of all these designs. Heavyweight vs Lightweight: If you are buying portable power washers, it makes sense to pay attention to the weight of the power washer. The cheapest power washers usually have the cheapest pump, which won’t hold up well for most contractors. The finish of power washers can be very important. This particular choice will vary depending on the power washers preference.

As a power washer and distributor, I see homeowners dragging in dead power washers that are only a few months old every week. These power washers cost more to fix than to replace, so my ‘boneyard’ is full of discarded homeowner power washers.

In the long run, you are better off with the better power washer.

Tips on Using Power Washers

Executive Summary about Power Washer By David Urmann

The most basic power washer consists of a trigger gun, high pressure hose and a motor that directly drives a water pump.

A pressure washer is a powerful mechanical device that has high pressure water systems fit for several household jobs. The electric power washer is great for cleaning small surface areas like grills, cars and even windows. Gas pressure washers, on the other hand, are more powerful. An industrial power washer is deemed as the most durable model. Do not run the power washer without a water supply because it can damage the motor.

When cleaning sidings, make sure that you point your power washers downwards. Squeeze the power washer trigger before storing the washer in order to reduce pressure inside the hose.

Home Power Washing Tips

Executive summary about Power Washing By Jamie Skinner

If you are looking to repaint your home or just to clean off the pollen and dust that has settled on your home, then you may want to consider home power washing. This process of power washing has enough power to clean most debris and dust off your home and is great at removing paint. However, when using this process to remove paint from your home or just cleaning the dust and debris build up, there are several home power washing tips that you will want to consider.

3. Maintenance keeps your power washer working properly. Always run clean water through your power washer after using a cleaning solution to clean your home. If you are looking to renovate your home by repainting or just get tired of looking at dirt and mildew that may have built up on your home, then following these home power washing tips will help to save time and trouble. You will also avoid any damage to your home by following these very simple steps when operating your power washer.

Power Washing - A Great Way to Start Your Spring Cleaning!

Executive summary about Power Washing By Michael K Murphy

Time to power wash!

Power washing is a logical and cost effective start to any spring cleaning. Homes that are not meticulously cleaned and maintained do not enjoy the return bookings that used to be taken for granted.

Last year we fielded an unusually large number of calls from rental agencies requesting emergency power washing. The Better Business Bureau gets thousands of requests for information on reputable companies who perform power washing each year. If you do plan to attempt the power washing yourself, look at your needs. Perhaps you intend to clean the outside of your home, your car, your driveway and maybe even your decks. You can easily ruin decking, siding, concrete, and other surfaces with a power washer. For small, intermittent projects the smaller electrically driven machines will serve you better.

You can, also, rent a machine from your local paint store, hardware store or rental store. You will need a garden hose and about 3-5 pounds of pressure to run the machine without starving the pump of water. Most homes do have adequate pressure, but some properties that use well water and have an old pump will not have enough to run the machine property and will overheat the unit.

Be extremely careful when operating pressure-washing equipment from a ladder. Once applied, all chemicals need to be rinsed. When rinsing, you want water volume, not pressure and the garden hose delivers greater volume than the power washer. When applying chemicals, keep plants, grass, and anything else you want to protect from the chemical wet. Power washers can help with a large variety of cleaning chores.