Pressure Washers

[JamJay]

I was thinking about getting a pressure washer to assist in cleanining my car, getting muck out from the arches mainly and losening some dirt of the body work on it's 1st clean after driving in the rain.

I don't know much about these really, are they safe to use on paintwork or are there any hazzards in general I should be aware of?

I was looking a getting a 100bar model or would I need a 110bar?

Any recommendations on brands?

 

[fossie]

Halfrauds sell both their own brand and a Karcher.... both are canny good and i own both they have.. not too powerful so wont damage the paint etc

 

[JamJay]

Thanks Fossie

 

[flak monkey]

Dont pressure wash a car with 100bar! You can use pressure washers to clean cars with the pressure turned right down though. You still need to be very careful, especially if you have any chips where the water can get under the laquer. If it does you will do mor damage than good.

Personally I find washing with 2 buckets (one dirty and one clean) with a decent shampoo perfectly good enough. Then taking the wheels off and getting a normal hose pipe under there to clean up.

 

[Crafoo]

I bought a Bosch Aquatak 100 off eBay yesterday for £35 BIN (came to about £40 after delivery charges) which has a maximum bar rating off 100bar but will probably on average produce around 80bar when you use it, the maximum bar ratings on pressure washers are like maximum ratings on audio speakers, you never get that maximum power for more that a couple of seconds anyway.

I always thought that the more powerful the pressure washer I got the easier it would make the job of blasting the dirt off my car, but recently having been involved in a few detailing days, and seeing how people prep their cars before they actually come to get the grime off them really opened my eyes. The fact is it's the products you use and the steps you take that make the job of getting the dirt and muck off your car easier, if you do your prep work and use good products you really don't need anything more powerful than a hose pipe to get your car clean.

But just for reference anyway I was initially using a 140bar maximum rated pressure washer with no problems caused to my car at all, until one day the hose flew off when it was turned on and it nearly took my head off lol