Pressure Washing Must Know Rules

Pollution, dust, pollen, ..... can and will slowly but surely turn your beautiful property into a less desirable space. Like it or not, your house is always exposed to the elements.

But that doesn’t mean you have to sit idly by as grime dulls your beautiful home. Instead, you can use a medical procedure, ups. just kidding, too much public media exposure......  For so many stains, grime, pollen and other unwanted side effects you can use pressure washer to remove years of dirt and bring your home’s exterior back to life.

Sounds easy enough, right? Hold up. There’s a "small print" you should read. Side effects are in details, long lasting damages can and will occur if using this procedure without learning about its potentials, uses, best practices and challenges. 

Pressure washers can cause damage if you don’t know what you’re doing. It’s important to do your homework before getting started. And if you’ve never used a pressure washer, you’ve come to the right place.

Ready to get started on your own project? Keep reading for a crash course in power washing.

Gas or Electric Pressure Washer?

Pressure washers work by forcing a motor rotation, operating a pump to increase the pressure of water flowing through the attached hose. That motor can be powered by gasoline or by electricity.

Gas Pressure Washers

Gas-powered pressure washers use automotive gasoline to drive the motor, gas engines typically provide higher PSI (pounds of pressure per square inch) and GPM (gallons of water per minute) than the electric version. Higher power means they clean surfaces much more quickly.  Professional Contractors usually use gas pressure washers to clean surfaces due to its power and unrestricted mobility.

Electric pressure washers

Electric pressure washers use electricity to drive the motor, smaller home units operate at 120V 15A home outlet circuit while more powerful, commercial or industrial pressure washers utilize 220V or even 380V. Electric pressure washers can be more convenient than their gas-powered peers in some circumstances. 

What Size Pressure Washer to choose?

In order to choose a gas or electric pressure washer, you’ll need to make a decision about the size of the engine, size of your project and how often you wish to operate the unit.

Like any other engine-powered machine, the size of the engine determines the total power of the unit. A small engine will not be able to produce the PSI or GPM output of a larger engine. Generally speaking, pressure washer engines are categorized in four ways.

Light-Duty Pressure Washers             - up to 2000 PSI

Medium-Duty Pressure Washers        - up to 2800 PSI

Heavy-Duty Pressure Washers            - up to 3300 PSI

Professional Pressure Washers            - above 3300 PSI

This categorization can be confusing but regardless of which PSI unit you choose, remember to take the GPM measurement into account, too. Why you might ask? Because the general rule is, the amount of water is washing not necessary the higher pressure. Higher pressure can possibly damage surfaces while the amount of water cleans.

Which Nozzle is Best for Your Job?

While the size of the pressure washer’s engine determines the machine’s overall power, the nozzle you choose determines the angle of the water stream.

This is important because it affects what the water stream can do. A narrow-angle spray is more powerful than a large-angle spray. Choosing wrong angle can result in possible damages to the surface you wish to clean.

Nozzle Color Coding

Pressure washer nozzles are universally colour coded and the angle should be always imprinted on every tip.

Red Nozzles - zero degrees. This tip creates a water stream that can do a lot of damage, so be careful. Don’t use a red-tipped nozzle up close on any surface.

Yellow Nozzles -  15-degree angle. 

Green Nozzles  - 25-degree spray. This works well for all-purpose household pressure washing. 

White Nozzles - 40-degree spray. Probably the most safe nozzle to use. A white-tipped nozzle is suitable for windows and siding.

Black Nozzles  -  65 degrees. This spray is so light that it typically won’t remove dirt or stains. Instead, use this nozzle when you just need to wet a surface.

Specialized Nozzles & Attachments

For specialized jobs you can use other attachments for even more efficient cleaning. Every attachment is to be considered "specialized tool" for certain type of work, these are not allrounders and should be used only when needed. Here are some popular pressure washer attachments.

Surface Cleaner

This attachment uses usually a spinning bar to distribute the stream of water over a larger surface area than a single spray. This is helpful for cleaning large sections of concrete, like a driveway or walkway. 

Why using surface cleaner instead of handheld device? 

• Surface cleaners have a specified distance from pressure washer nozzle to the ground, this prevents users to goo too close to the surface.
• Rotational cleaners use two or even tree nozzles to wash.
• Faster cleaning

Rotary or so called Turbo Nozzle

A bigger in size tip produces a spinning zero-degree water stream. This nozzle is especially useful for removing difficult stains and grimy buildup.

Expandable Wand

An expandable wand will give you more reach when you need to clean surfaces up high without using a ladder. 

Soap/Detergent Reservoir

A soap/detergent reservoir attaches to the pressure washer and adds cleaning solution into the jet of water. Be sure to use the right nozzle for this job. A water stream that’s too strong will force soap into the surface, which can cause damage.

How to Pressure Wash

After getting familiar with different types of pressure washers and techniques, we can start to think about pressure washing tips and tricks. Pressure washing can be a messy job—and dangerous if it isn’t done correctly. It’s important to take the time to adequately prepare.

Pressure Washing Safety Tips:

Eye & Hearing Protection 

Be sure to wear eye and hearing protection.

Use Both Hands

High pressure can get you off ballance. Until you gain confidence hold the wand securely with both hands so that it won’t fly out of your grip.

Don’t Get Too Close

Keep the spray tip away from the surface you’re cleaning to minimize the risk of damage. Newer use pressure washer to clean plants or clothing. Keep pressurized water always away from skin.

Cleaning Wood With a Pressure Washer

Pressure washing is a fantastic way to bring your wood deck or fence back to life. If this is your first time working with a pressure washer, we highly recommend you do a spot test before beginning your project in earnest. Most fences and decks are constructed from relatively soft woods, such as pine or cedar. It’s easy to strip off more of the surface than you intended. Most of DIY projects go side ways with power washing wooden surfaces if using wrong tips, pressure adjustment or even hand movement. Deck and fence is usually an expansive investment and ruining it will hurt the budget tremendously.

Don't use rotary or power nozzle spray tips for washing wooden surfaces.

Cleaning Concrete With a Pressure Washer

If you’d like to pressure wash your own concrete driveway, walkway or patio, here are some valuable tips.

You’ll need a very high-pressure stream of water and high GPM to clean concrete, so it’s important to protect yourself from any flying debris worked loose by the water. Be sure to use the right nozzle. A narrow spray will have the most cleaning power.

Consider using surface cleaner instead of hand held nozzle gun. If stubborn stains need more help, add soap to the pressure washer’s detergent reservoir or pre-soak the surface. Particularly tough stains may need a few passes with the pressure washer but don't over do it, more washing means more irritation to the material that has been cleaned. 

Cleaning Siding 

Siding, especially vinyl siding, is prone to dulling and mildew growth. Luckily, the best way to brighten your home’s exterior is a thorough pressure washing.

Before you get started, inspect the parameter of your house. Keep an eye out for loose pieces of siding, cracks, and other breaches that could admit water during the cleaning process. These problem areas should be patched up before you pressure wash. Once you’re ready to start cleaning, attach the soaping nozzle to the pressure washer’s wand and fill the machine’s detergent reservoir. Once you soap the surface, wait few minutes for the solution to work its magic. Switch to the green- or white-tipped nozzle to rinse the siding. Don’t rush. It is not recommended to use step ladder and prohibited by Canadian Safety Association to use extension ladder while operating a pressure washer. If the job takes a few days or weekends to complete, so be it. Your safety is the most important consideration.

The Bottom Line

Pressure washing your property can be a very fulfilling task. Clean surfaces will be notices by anyone right away, your property will stand out in the neighbourhood.

On the other hand, you may decide that pressure washing is just too much time consuming, hard work and risky undertaking. And that’s okay!  If you’d rather let someone else take care of the pressure washing, contact a professional specialist for help.