Pressure washing (aka power washing) uses high pressure water to clean away dirt on a surface that a regular hose and spray nozzle simply can’t. Pressure washing is common on decks, fences, patios, porches, house siding, driveways and other outdoor surfaces that accumulate dirt, grime, mildew, etc.
The pressure washer itself is a gas engine connected to a water pump. It takes water from a garden hose (100PSI), pressurizes it, and pushes it under high pressure (3000PSI) with a flow rate of 2.5 Gallons per minute through a wand. There are electric models, but they tend to not have sufficient pressure and flow to get tougher jobs done.
Depending on the surface and application, we will use different nozzles and attachments that attach to the wand, i.e. for large surface cleaning. Pressure washing is great for outdoor furniture that is subjected to the elements too. Sometimes the pressure alone is not sufficient to remove certain stains, so we pre-treat these areas with a mixture that will loosen the dirt and allow a lower pressure “soft” wash. In this case, we can either use a downstream blending system to run the mixture through the pressure washer stream, or we can use a pump sprayer to pre-apply the mixture to the desired surfaces.
Don’t go another season wishing your outdoor spaces were clean and usable!