Pressure washers are a great tool for car detailing. There are so many on the market, and it can be tough to narrow down what the best options are. With that in mind, I’ve made this list so that you can see for yourself what the best possible option is for your needs, and also your price point.
Karcher K4 Power Control
This is a modestly priced pressure washer (floating around the £200 mark) in which you get a lot of bang for your buck.
In terms of it’s performance with respect to pressure, it goes from 20-130 bar. This makes it ideal for removing dirt from the car, without destroying the paint.
I found it really easy to use, and the fact that there is 8 metres of the high pressure cable means that you don’t really need to move the pressure washer around whilst carrying out your detail.
Since this is designed for the garden as well as the car, the spray lance on it has numerous settings depending on the task. I really like how easy it was to change between settings; it’s carried out by turning the lance and then this will show up on the inbuilt display on it. It’s a really cool feature, and means that you don’t need to fiddle around with pressure dials.
Of course, one of the stand out reasons to get a Karcher pressure washer is that the majority of snow foam lances work with the K series right out of the box.
If you don’t already have a high quality, reinforced garden hose, you’ll also need one of these for the K4. Karcher make their own version and it’s really great quality and includes the required connectors as well.
The K4 is a great option for those that want a high pressure system at a low cost. It produces great foam when used with a high quality foam cannon, and it makes quick work of rinsing the car down as well after a wash.
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Last update on 2023-03-30 As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
- Practical: Ideal for connecting a Pressure Washer to an outside tap.
Last update on 2023-03-30 As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nilfisk C110
For those that are looking for a budget pressure washer, but still want a high quality and well known brand, the Nilfisk C110 is a great option.
There are some caveats with it which makes it cheaper than the K4 mentioned above. The first is the length of the hose for the gun, it is only 5 metres as opposed to 8 metres with the K4. In addition to this, the overall pressure is a bit lower, with it maxing out at 110 bar as opposed to 130 bar on the K4.
Having said that, it is still a great value pressure washer. It gives a great clean and also when using it with a snow foam lance (a different adapter may be required depending on what model you go for), it produces a really nice foam as well, making it great for carrying out a safe pre-wash.
Despite the low price, it also comes with a patio cleaner in the box, as well as a snow foam bottle. Whilst the bottle for the snow foam isn’t brilliant, it’ll tide you over until you can get a dedicated one. There are three attachments in it, the tornado nozzle, powerspeed nozzle and high pressure gun. I would only use the high pressure gun on the car, the other two attachments are for patio and brick work and could damage the clear coat on your car.
With respect to connecting the hose to the mains water, again, I would recommend the Karcher hose and fitting set listed above. This means that you can be sure that you won’t end up tearing the hose with the high pressure going through it.
It’s light enough to move around as well thanks to the wheels on the unit, and it isn’t overly noisy either.
- Powerful, Lightweight Pressure Washer: This 110 bar max pressure washer handles mildly dirty surfaces up to 25 m2 per hour. Rated power is 1.4 kW
Last update on 2023-03-30 As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.