Pressure washers: Keeping your car, drive and patio pristine during the wet weather months

As February progresses and the year marches swiftly on, we’re headed face-first into the wet season. This means it’s much more difficult to maintain a sheen on our cars, our drives look a margin glummer than usual and our patios don’t gleam as they should. Situations such as these do not call for a simple scrub - they require more heavy duty equipment to preserve the high standards of any respectable home or business premises.

Que the pressure washer; a pressure washer is a lot less complex than one might expect and typically consists of a pump powered by either an electric motor, compact petrol engine or diesel engine. These super-powered hoses blast objects or surfaces sparkling clean with water typically between 1500-3000psi (pounds-per-square-inch), which in laymen’s terms is 100-200x the pressure of the air around us. They are brilliant on many varieties of surfaces and are a safe piece of reliable equipment when used properly.

Typical build for a pressure washer:

• Water inlet: This is a hose that bridges the pressure washer to the water supply, there is typically some form of filter within this part to stop dirt and any potential debris from entering and blocking the parts of the washer. Grit and debris are the last things you would want inside of your washer as it would cause damage and stop the machine from working.
• Electric motor or a petrol/diesel engine: Most compact pressure washers run off domestic electricity but more heavy-duty models can be fuelled by petrol or diesel engines which can be very useful if you are working outside where electricity may be scarce or an extension lead may be inconvenient or even dangerous. If you are working up to 10 metres away from a power source you can use an extension lead providing it is a heavy duty 2.5mm cable but any further away and you should use a petrol or diesel machine.
• Water pump: These pumps are designed to handle flow of circa 4–15 litres per minute. In a similar way to how a manual water pump would work, this pump is instead driven at high speed by the motor or engine.
• High-pressure hose: A high pressure resistant hose is typically strengthened with a wire mesh and normally has several coats of high-density plastic in order to reinforce it against the powerful levels of pressure. Pressure washer hoses typically boast a 300% safety margin, so if a washer is rated at 2000 psi, the attached hose should withstand pressures of 6000 psi.
• Cleaning attachment: These variable attachments can be changed to suit the current use of the washer and are powered by the flowing water jet produced by the pressure washer itself. Some rotate, spin and oscillate to suit the task at hand. There are also attachments for clearing out drains and cleaning patios.

Plantool hire out an industry leading range of pressure washers to suit all your needs, starting out with a light duty electric machine to suit more conventional cleaning needs around the home. The light duty electric washer is a cold-water pressure washer ideal for smaller jobs such as garden paths, smaller patios or even your car.

All our pressures washers are supplied with a standard lance but if you are cleaning a patio or driveway the roto jet patio cleaner is a must. This brilliant attachment cleans flat surfaces quickly and efficiently without blasting dirt into the air and onto your clothes. This attachment can be used with hot or cold water and cleans up to 20 metres per minute.

The light duty petrol washer is a light weight petrol powered pressure washer ideal for cleaning driveways, paths and patios similarly to the light duty electric, with the added flexibility of not requiring a power source for use. It can be used with a standard garden hose or a pick up pipe from a water container. Perfect for a larger garden or job requiring extra mobility.

Alternatively, we offer a hot water electric washer to handle the dirtiest cleaning tasks with reliability and ease, with the added washing power of hot water. This machine is ideal for oil and grease removal from machinery, vehicles or engine bays but will also do a great job of driveways or patios.

Onto the bigger cleaning duties: the heavy-duty petrol washer is extremely powerful and will remove the most stubborn of grime – it can be used with detergents for cleansing grease-covered surfaces. This is the best machine to use with the roto jet patio cleaner as it is much more powerful so it is quicker and gives the best results.

The heavy duty diesel pressure washer/bowser is both powerful and convenient in the fact that it is connected to a water bowser and can be put to use in almost any location provided that it can be suitably towed into position. The diesel engine starts with a key and gives better fuel economy than the petrol machines. It also connects with the professional roto wash, similar to the roto jet patio cleaner but much larger for bigger jobs such as car parks or yards.

To view Plantool’s array of pressure washers and enquire to see how we can assist you with other tool hire packages, check out our dynamic range here.