This Old House Reviews Team

A quality pressure washer helps you remove stuck-on dirt and mold from your home’s siding, driveway, and sidewalks, restoring their natural color. While all pressure washers are designed to clean your home’s exterior, not all models come with the same features, water pressure, and power source. That’s why the This Old House Reviews team did the research for you, searching for the best pressure washers on Amazon. Here are our top selections.

 

Buyer’s Guide

Before purchasing a pressure washer, it’s important to consider how each model’s accessories and specifications affect its user experience. Here are four factors to consider when buying a pressure washer.

 

1. Power source

Most pressure washers are gas- or electric-powered. Gasoline-powered pressure washers deliver more power than their electric counterparts, though they require more maintenance because of their motor’s oil use. Electric-powered pressure washers use power cords instead of engines, which causes them to be more affordable and lightweight. However, electric-powered pressure washers are typically weaker than gas-powered models.

 

2. PSI

Pounds per square inch, or PSI, refers to how much pressure the washer’s stream of water creates. The higher the PSI, the more powerful the pressure washer. Most gas-powered pressure washers deliver around 3,000 PSI, while most electric models generate around 2,000 PSI.

 

3. Weight and portability

The weight of a pressure washer directly affects its portability. Most gas-powered models are over 50 pounds, which is why they’re usually equipped with heavy-duty wheels to make transportation easier. Electric power washers are lighter and come with small wheels or a handle for transportation.

 

4. Spray nozzles

The spray nozzles used by a pressure washer are typically color-coded and correspond with a certain angle degree and water pressure. For example, most pressure washers use red to signify the zero-degree nozzle, which sprays a high-pressured, direct stream fit for cleaning stains off of hard surfaces like concrete.

 

 

FAQs

• Can you pressure wash your car?

Yes. However, it’s important that you use the right pressure washer and correct setting so that you don’t strip or damage your car’s paint. Usually, a 40-degree nozzle is suitable for cleaning your car’s exterior.

 

• What is a good PSI for a pressure washer?

The PSI depends on the types of jobs you want to tackle. If you’re cleaning your home’s siding or driveway, a high-powered gasoline pressure washer with around 3,000 PSI is recommended. However, if you want to complete small jobs around the house like cleaning patio stairs or your car, a lower-powered model around 2,000 PSI is adequate.

 

• How can you lower the PSI of a pressure washer?

To reduce a pressure washer’s PSI, increase your distance from the material you’re cleaning or switch nozzles. Nozzles with a greater angle degree have a lower PSI because the water is less concentrated.

 

 

Why Trust The This Old House Reviews Team

This Old House has empowered homeowners for more than four decades with top-notch home improvement content in the form of television programs, print media, and digital content on its website and social media platforms. The This Old House Reviews Team focuses on creating in-depth product and service review content to help inform your purchasing decision for just about any item or resource that you might need for your home. The This Old House Reviews Team has written over 1,000 reviews on products in the home space, from cordless drills to kitchen trash cans, lawn mowers, and dining room decorations. 

We recommend products in each review using an intensive research process, spending hours combing through the best available models on Amazon. For a product to make our list of top picks, it must hold a solid sales record on Amazon, have consistently positive customer reviews, and offer unique features, among other factors. After narrowing down our list of recommendations, we conduct additional research and sometimes in-person testing to ensure that the products meet our standards. Once we conclude the research phase, we craft a well-rounded, user-friendly article that includes our recommended products and additional information to help homeowners like you make the right purchase.

 

 

The This Old House Reviews team provides overviews of select products that are top-selling on Amazon and/or popular in consumer searches. Our team evaluates the products based on industry research, consumer reviews, pricing data, hands-on testing in select cases, and other objective criteria unique to a given product line. Unless otherwise noted, these product reviews are intended to help inform buying decisions for DIY or other non-pro users only. Editor’s picks are made by members of the This Old House Reviews team.