Pressure washers and kits advice please?

[nucleustylzlude]

Hey guys.

Looking at getting a new pressure washer for general jobs and wondered what advice people have as there's a few keen detailers here.

I want something to clean the cars, patio, bikes and general items and so went straight for the main brand Karcher, specifically the K2 Home and Car kit:

http://www.karcher.co.uk/uk/Products/Ho ... 731250.htm

I've found it on sale in B&Q for £107.98. Might find cheaper on the web.

But is this any good?


In addition, as I know a few will chime in with snow foam stuff, I also saw this kit from them:

http://www.internetgardener.co.uk/produ ... oogle_base

Is this stuff anygood as an alternative for snow foam?

Havn't even looked at snow foam stuff yet, how pricy is it? Is it compatible with Karcher stuff?


Any help would be great guys.

Cheers,

Rob

[Gayno]

Ideally you want one with variable pressure, so you can turn it down for washing the cars.

For the snow foam, you want a proper snow foam lance which are around £45 from detailer resellers. The provided "detergent suction" facility is next to useless, and the Karcher foam gun is only marginally better!

[Merlin]

I have had a Karcher for the last 4 years, it is good but the gun handle is a bit crap and leaks. A good snow foam lance is a must (I cant remember where I got my one from )

[Supermarine Blues]

I have had a 4.99 for several years. e-spares, etc, are your friend for a new trigger/hose and the cylinder head/manifolds when they burn out. and it loses squirt/starts cycling.

I have a lance for squirting the crap out the wheelarches etc. I also have a patio cleaner which I use on the conservatory roof. No, really.

It pulls from my rainwater butts well, too.

[nucleustylzlude]

Not many responses.

@Shiny

@W1ggz

Any other thoughts guys being other keen/business detailers?

I've read around a little more on the Karchers, read some reviews and also checked out snow foam and lances. I think the K2 Karcher will do the job nicely for how often I'll use it. However I think it only has one setting - On! So I assume @Gayno you mean a variable pressure lance right?

No other suggestions for any alternative brands? Or are Karcher the leading brand?

I'm not one to shy away from fixing stuff and I'd already found E-spares thanks.

I might just get the home kit which includes the patio cleaner and then invest in a proper lance like this one, seems the most popular:

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/washing-a ... d_371.html

and invest in some of this (again seems to be the fave):

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/washing-a ... d_370.html

Combined it's double the price of the Karcher 'kit' but will do the job better and the snow foam will last loads longer being 5l as opposed to a small satchet.

[W1ggz]

Karcher would be your best bet to go for they are definitely a better build quality than the halfords b&q homebase types. When I started up we went through about 4 jet washers in a year buying cheap ones. We eventually bought a k7. Something it's a good bit of kit and now is our back up if our static washer breaks down.
I'm not a big fan of snow foam as its basically TFR sprayed through the lance which makes it foam up. You don't want to be spraying these sort of chemicals on your Milano red or it will start to go pink. I also wouldn't worry about a variable pressure to be honest it won't be powerfull enough to damage any trims.

[nucleustylzlude]

Oh, ok, great. An honest tried and tested opinion that will save me money! Just what I like!

So what do you use the pressure washer for then in the grand scheme of a wash and detail?

[Space1999]

I've got a Karcher and can vouch for its quality - it's nowhere near the sort of 'pro' ones you see at service stations but it's miles better than your cheapo ones. Mine is just good enough to get the job done properly, well worth the extra £40 or so over the cheap types.

[W1ggz]

The pressure washers used to remove as much dirt as possible from the car prior to putting a sponge on it. Blast over the whole car in the wheel arches and wheels then sponge the car over clean the wheels blast the car off again then dry with a chamois. We also use the 2 bucket method for sponging to makes sure no dirty or gritty sponges touch the paintwork

[nucleustylzlude]

Cool. Exactly what I plan to use it for (bar the snow foam originally), just wanted to see if there is anymore to a good wash.

I already use a 2 bucket method too.