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Testing pressure washers is not an exact science. I mostly sprayed things. A lot of things.
The evaluation began when I opened each box. A few pressure washers were packed so well you’d think they were solid gold, and for a few others, I’m surprised there weren’t more broken parts than I ended up with (which was just a few small plastic covers).
I then had to assemble each washer from the pressure hose to the tip of the wand nozzle. I like to put things together so that part of the process isn’t so bad. There aren’t too many surprises when it comes to pressure washers. This will be either an upright gas pressure washer cart or a low and wide (and usually heavier) type of model. For electric models, assembly was generally more complete out of the box. Usually just a few plastic covers or handles to attach.
I like the integrated hose reel on this unit. Also, I’m a fan of the atomizer dock with the added tip support on the bottom of the unit.
All but a few units made good use of current efficiencies in the assembly process, such as spring pins or other geometrically fragile parts. Ekstra, a lesser-known Teande brand, still relied on bolts and nuts for everything. It came with a screwdriver and wrenches, but I still collected that one washer as much as all the others combined. The Rock&Rocker electric unit also relied heavily on physical mounting screws.
My favorite thing about this unit is its ability to efficiently store and transport all of its parts. Shown here are spray nozzle tips with integrated storage on the spray nozzle handle.
The next thing I looked for was how they performed with different types of pressure nozzle tips. A big sticking point for me is when a manufacturer decides to offer less than five standard nozzle tips. Often the 15 degree yellow tip gets hit and for me it’s a tip for the money. I have a lot of concrete in front of my house and using anything but the yellow top would take me away forever to finish. The yellow tip is probably the one I use the most, not just for concrete. Yes, I’m aware you can buy one for a few bucks, but it probably only costs a few cents to make.
Main note on this thread: For electric pressure washers, the standard seems to offer a turbo tip and two to three other tips, almost always excluding the red tip. This is probably due to the psi range of the model being lower than the gas models, but I still like the options, even at the lower pressure ranges.
I was excited to get to this point with the Ryobi gas pressure washer and its five-in-one nozzle design. Imagine having all five tips available at all times. My excitement faded when I realized that Ryobi, like many others, had neglected the 15 degree tip and instead had second nozzle for cleaning soap and detergent surfaces. Plus one bonus point for a five-in-one. He lost one point without the 15 degree option, plus he lost 10 points for getting my hopes up. The Craftsman CMCPV250D1 comes with a five-in-one tip that includes 0, 15, 25, 40 and soap tips.
Speaking of soap and detergents for cleaning surfaces, they have to go somewhere, and the best place is the tank on board. I don’t often use detergents with my pressure washers. When I do, and when I need to move, it’s annoying to deal with the hose (even when the washer has a hose reel), the spray tube, the detergent bucket, and the pressure washer itself. With the tank built in, you can just move the pressure washer while still holding the wand, letting the pressure washer trail behind you. I love its simple efficiency. Teande was on my bad side after the assembly process, but I liked that he tried to include two detergent tanks, each separately controlled.
Teanda double tank.
Having two separate tanks allows you to load two different types of detergent at the same time. This is handy if you have different hard surfaces you are trying to clean and need to switch back and forth. Otherwise, with one tank, you would be forced to completely use up the first detergent before adding the second.
The rest is really just an inventory game. All models have washer hoses and sprayers. As mentioned earlier, only DeWalt excelled in those categories. They all have wheels, different engine sizes, extra parts, oil and so on. The Craftsman had one unique feature that I liked: an engine pull rope guide that moved the pull handle rest above the engine on the frame closer to you if you were standing behind it. After working with pressure washers for so many hours, I was happy that I didn’t have to bend over so far to start this one.
