The best pressure washers of 2023 for cars, decking and patios
Carter Sullivan Can you use a pressure washer to clean a car? What about a bike, patio, gutter, barbecue, garden chair or window? The answer is yes, to all of these. Some people even use them to clean their carpets and chimneys, which seems foolhardy. The trick is to use the best pressure washer for the job, since the likes of Kärcher and Clarke differ from Bosch and Worx.
High pressure is essential if they are to lift any sort of deeply-ingrained dirt, but lower-pressure washers are more economical if you’re just cleaning mucky boots. Pressure washers generally draw between 1,400 and 2,800 Watts, which at today’s prices will cost between 42p and 84p an hour to run. Any type of pressure washer will use less water than trying to clean stubborn dirt with a hose, because they require far less water to make an impact.
Below, you can find in depth reviews of all the biggest brands in the business as well as some advice from a professional gardener on how to use them. If you’re in a hurry, here’s a quick look at my top five:
Which is the best pressure washer in 2023?
How to choose the best pressure washer
The key thing to look at is the cleaning pressure. Anything over 150 bar is very high, capable of blast-cleaning concrete. Anything under 50 bar is very low, better for plastic garden furniture. It’s worth checking the quality of the materials (metal pumps being better than plastic, for example), and you should take into account any accessories it comes with, since these can be expensive to buy separately. Hose length, noise level, weight and value for money are also important.
As with other power tools (see our guides to the best lawnmowers, best hedge trimmers, best leaf blowers and best strimmers) pressure washers vary greatly in weight, power and usability.
How we tested the best pressure washers
The most common uses for pressure washers are cleaning cars, patios, decking and garden furniture, so I tried a dozen of the most popular models on all of those tasks (to get the garden ready for outdoor entertaining). I wanted to see not just how effective they were at cleaning, but also how portable they were and how easy they were to set up, use and store. The only pressure washer I didn’t try personally was the Clarke PLS petrol-powered unit, which was recommended by our expert Ljudmil.
Best pressure washers
1. Kärcher K7 Premium Smart Control Home
Best overall, 10/10
We like: spectacular results on all surfaces
We don’t like: you might be paying for more power than you need
- Pressure is very high (180 bar)
- Portability is low (18kg)
- Hose is long (10m)
- Bonuses include a 3-in-1 multi jet lance, patio cleaner attachment, detergent and smartphone app
Made in Germany for over 70 years, Kärcher pressure washers are ten times more searched-for than the next most popular brand. They range from the portable K2 Compact (reviewed below) to this big, heavy and very powerful K7, which must be regarded as the big daddy of domestic pressure washers – although it’s not necessarily the right choice for everyone.
The heavy weight comes from the motor and components needed to deliver the immense 180 bars of pressure. I found it very difficult to manoeuvre on its two wheels but once in place, it can largely sit in one spot – the pressure from the end of the 10m hose is high enough to clean large areas of decking or patio extremely quickly. I attacked a decades-old, grime-encrusted garden table for just 20 seconds and it came up looking brand new.
The wand – although you may prefer to think of it as a rifle – has three nozzles which you twist to select: a low pressure spray for applying detergent, a high pressure, spinning ‘dirt blaster’ jet (you’ll use this with the patio cleaner attachment) and a ‘vario’ jet which lets you choose between six settings for different jobs like decking, paving or car cleaning. There’s also a Boost function which adds an extra 15 bar for 30 seconds. It’s like getting a power-up on Mario Kart.
The K7 along with other models at the top of the Kärcher range comes with Smart Control, linking it to a phone app. Being old, I’m generally against that kind of thing but this app is helpful. Tell it what you’re cleaning – car, bike, wood, glass, stone and so on – and it will tell you what attachment and what settings to use and how to get the best results step by step.
A foot-wide patio cleaner attachment is included in the box, along with a bottle of patio detergent which slots neatly into a feeder dock on the main unit. Together they’re a formidable force. Every sweep of the circular cleaner head reveals a foot of sparkling fresh decking or paving, like waving a massive magic wand - just make sure there’s somewhere for the dirty water to run off onto.
When you’re done the hose winds up, the power cord fits in a mesh bag and the lance slots into a clasp. It’s all very neat: only the big patio cleaner head doesn’t have a slot. So although it’s a big unit, the K7 doesn’t take up too much space in the garage.
In all honesty, a less powerful Kärcher like their 145 bar K5 or 130 bar K4 is enough for most household jobs and some come bundled with soft car-cleaning attachments, which this doesn’t. But I had to make it the overall winner because, for anyone asking “what is the best pressure washer?” this is it.
Also, in all honesty, because I’m addicted to the power. They say that to a man with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. The same with the K7. Give it a week and there won’t be a single thing in your garden you haven’t blasted and you’ll be knocking on your neighbour’s doors asking to do theirs.
2. Nilfisk Core 140
Best value pressure washer, 9/10
We like: extremely impressive power and features for the price
We don’t like: lightweight design means it can fall over when stretching the hose
- Pressure is high (140 bar)
- Portability is medium (9.2kg)
- Hose is long (8m)
- Bonuses include in-hand power control, internal hose reel and five attachments
140 bar is easily enough pressure for cleaning decking and patios, so if you don’t need to attack acres of concrete there’s no need to spend top dollar on the Kärcher K7. This challenger from Denmark weighs half as much, costs half as much and is arguably the best pressure washer at this price point.
You get a lot for your money: an extendable lance with two nozzles for gentle and high-pressure cleaning, a foam sprayer, a soft brush attachment and a small patio cleaner attachment. Other accessories sold separately include a roof cleaner, multi-brush kit for cars and garden furniture and a long, flexible tube for cleaning drains and pipes.
When washing my car, a big plus was being able to switch between high power (for the wheels) and two lower levels from the wand without going back to the machine. The 8m hose was just about long enough to clean all round without moving the unit but it did fall over a few times, which is one drawback of its being so portable. A big plus is the neatness and simplicity: the hose winds into the body of the machine and all the standard fittings attach to various places when you put it back in storage.
It’s very solidly built, too, with a metal pump (some are plastic) and high torque engine. With a lot of power at a relatively low price, this is the plug-in pressure washer of choice for all but the most hardcore users.
3. Bosch Fontus 18V
Best cordless pressure washer, 9/10
We like: no tap or plug required, so you can use it wherever
We don’t like: it’s not very powerful
- Pressure is low (20 bar)
- Portability is medium (7.5kg empty, 22.5kg full)
- Hose is short (4m)
- Bonuses include a 18V Power For All battery (sold separately) which is interchangeable with other power tools
You’ll have gathered by now that I don’t like all the messing about with plugs, wires, taps and hoses. I can’t be the only one and that’s why Bosch’s cordless, genuinely portable unit has its own niche.
Unlike other pressure washers it doesn’t have to be fed from a tap and hose. A fifteen-litre tank inside it holds enough water to clean a big balcony, small patio, small car or two bikes. Charge the battery (which takes an hour and a half), put it in the back of the car and it’s a quick way to clean wellies or bikes at the end of a muddy day out. At the lowest of the three pressure settings it’s also safe for use on muddy dogs.
Of course, that’s only possible because it operates at 20 bar: ludicrously low compared to the Kärcher K7. But if you dial up the flow speed to maximum and use the most focused of the four spray patterns, or the brush, it’s enough to remove any day-to-day dirt unless it’s really ground in.
Clearly you’re buying this for the portability, not the power, so be aware that though it’s nicely compact, it weighs 7.5kg empty and 22.5kg full. That’s quite a workout - although the chunky wheels and suitcase-style handle make it easy enough to wheel around. Another plus is that it can share its 18V batteries with other Bosch power tools, saving money.
4. Worx Hydroshot
Best portable pressure washer, 9/10
We like: light, easy to store, good for people in flats and occasional users
We don’t like: power fluctuates during longer jobs
- Pressure is low (22 bar)
- Portability is very high (1.7kg with battery)
- Hose is medium (6m)
- Bonuses include two 20V batteries supplied
Take one step further down the portability scale and you get this ultra-lightweight power washer consisting of just the gun and a dangling input hose, which can be fed into a bucket, washbowl, bottle or anything you have in the house that holds water. Offering five times the pressure of a garden hose with no need for a tap, it’s the perfect pressure washer for city dwellers – like our reviewer Abigail, who writes:
“The big selling point of the Worx Hydroshot is convenience. It could easily be taken on the move and used to clean bikes or outdoor gear.
“The parts simply click together; the assembly is simple and there are no confusing extras or tools required. The battery charged quickly and got up to full power in under 45 minutes. I dangled the hose into a washing up bowl to clean my balcony. Initially, the power was disappointing but it soon picked up the pressure. Expect it to fluctuate a bit when you refill the water.
“While it did a great job of cleaning at least a year’s worth of grime off my balcony tiles and walls, it definitely doesn’t have the power of a conventional pressure washer. It’s designed for smaller jobs.”
5. Kärcher K2 Compact Car & Home
Best pressure washer for cars, 8/10
We like: light and portable, great for cars
We don’t like: it’s not so great for pavements
- Pressure is medium (110 bar)
- Portability is high (3.7kg)
- Hose is short (4m)
- Bonuses include patio and decking cleaner plus detergent, foam jet plus car shampoo, wash brush and an extendable spray lance with a dirt blaster setting
Cleaning cars is one of the main uses for pressure washers and requires nothing like the power of the big, concrete-cleaning behemoths. Arguably the output from this entry-level Kärcher is a bit too low to handle paving and decking, which it’s also supposed to do, but it’s easily overlooked given the handy size, decent price and the useful attachments that come included.
My favourite is the foam jet, which attaches to the end of the ‘gun’ with a bottle of cleaner screwed in. Press the trigger and a tide of foam roars out to cover the car. Then you swap it for the wash brush, then finish off with the spray lance. I got months of London grime off in just a few minutes. (The second time, I even remembered to buff the car dry to prevent water marks.) The hose is short, so I found it easier to carry the K2 around while I used it, but it’s so light that wasn’t a problem.
The ‘Car & Home’ part of the name means that as well as the car accessories you get a patio cleaner head and bottle of deck detergent. Using the circular head multiplies the effectiveness of the dirt blaster spray and you can see exactly where it’s been by following the snail trail of clean flooring (albeit definitely not as sparkling clean as with the K7 above). Garden furniture can be cleaned pretty well using just the dirt blaster lance.
One word of warning - you will need a new bottle each time you use the foam gun (unless I’m unusually profligate with foam) and they cost about a tenner. And, because the K2 isn’t cordless, you will also need a nearby power source and water source, which rules out most city-dwellers who park on the street. For suburbanites, though, this is a great and affordable power-up for the ritual Sunday car clean.
6. Muc-Off bicycle pressure washer
Best pressure washer for bikes, 8/10
We like: powerful cleaning without damaging chains, gears and brakes
We don’t like: you need a power source which makes it difficult for city cyclists
- Pressure is medium (70 bar)
- Portability is medium (11kg)
- Hose is medium (5m)
- Bonuses include three lances plus snow foam gun, bike cleaner liquid, bike cleaner concentrate, sponges, cloths and protective sprays
Muc-Off, the pink detergent invented specifically for bikes (the salt in other detergents can corrode their moving parts), turned out to be such a massive money spinner for its makers that they sponsor Team Sky and have now launched the world’s first pressure washer for bikes, deliberately set to output just 70 bar pressure.
Like the K2 above, it has a spray attachment that you can use to apply a specially designed snow foam, which you leave for five minutes to lift off grime. Slot a different bottle into the chamber and you can apply the original pink detergent. To remove them, the cleaning lance sprays a relatively wide fan of water, making it safe for bearings, suspensions and paint, but that’s not to say it’s feeble. It has a big kick, powerful enough to get a filthy bike looking spotless in seconds. You still have to apply some elbow grease afterward to dry, buff and lubricate everything but it definitely beats sweating away with a stiff brush and a bucket of soapy water.
This package includes a second lance for use on motorbikes and cars and an adjustable one for use on decking and garden furniture – although those aren’t its strong points. Like the K2 above, it needs a power source and water source, so again it’s not ideal for people who live in flats. But given the low price, it’s undoubtedly the best choice for anyone focused on cleaning exciting mountain bikes, rather than boring old patios.
7. Clarke PLS 165 AH
Best petrol pressure washer, 8/10
We like: high power, extremely durable parts, but definitely for industrial use
We don’t like: it’s bulky and heavy
- Pressure is very high (150 bar)
- Portability is very low (41kg)
- Bonuses include a two-setting lance, filtered input hose and a detergent pick-up hose
Given the power of electric pressure washers these days, the petrol-powered type is relegated to car washes, building sites or other workplaces where they’ll be in heavy use. Most are powered by Honda engines, including this 150-bar monster from industrial toolmaker Clarke.
“I use this pressure washer for big jobs,” says professional gardener Ljudmil Vasilev of Fantastic Gardeners. “They’re very powerful but also very bulky and heavy. I’d only recommend them for cleaning very large paved areas, like a car park. Electric models are perfectly good for everything else.”
In fact, at 150 bar the Clarke is actually outperformed by the 180-Bar electric-powered Kärcher K7 and at 41kg it’s not remotely portable: you need a van and a strong back.
On the plus side it’s practically bombproof, being the only pressure washer here that can sit in the middle of a field or construction site, chugging away and putting out constant dirt-blasting power. The lance has two pressure settings and there’s a detergent pick-up hose plus a filtered hose for drawing water from open containers in remote locations.
It’s not pretty or clever, then, but this is definitely the pressure washer you’d want for cleaning your patio during a zombie apocalypse.
Power Tools DirectPressure Washer FAQ
Are electric pressure washers better than petrol?
Yes. Except for industrial use, these days all the best power washers – as they are sometimes known – are electric. Many are cordless, but they are not as powerful as plug-in electric models and the runtime can be limited.
Plug-in pressure washers require a constant power supply from an outdoor socket as well as a constant water source from an outside tap. Managing all that can be frustrating: a common complaint is the hose popping off.
Do you need an outside tap to use a pressure washer?
Not always. Some cordless models can be used with standing water sources like a water butt or have a built-in water tank.
Another advantage of cordless pressure washers is that their batteries are often interchangeable with other power tools you might already have, such as cordless drills. In our tests, we generally found these cordless models more convenient, especially when cleaning cars or working at a distance from the house.
What is the best PSI for a pressure washer?
“About 100 bars (1450 PSI) is right for cars, decking or garden furniture,” says our expert Ljudmil Vasilev, who’s been blasting dirt for a decade. “For patios, it’s about 130 bars (1885 PSI) and for concrete you can go up to 150 bars (2175 PSI). You can only really damage concrete if there are already cracks and fissures, otherwise it’s perfectly safe.”
A lot of the most popular pressure washers have a set PSI but come with different attachments for different jobs, multiplying their effectiveness, Ljudmil says. “I recommend using the attachments if you’re worried about causing damage. I have a Kärcher at home and I love using the patio attachment, which spins round in a circle. It’s such a satisfying job. A lot of people post videos of their pressure washer wins on YouTube.”
Can you use detergent in pressure washers?
Some pressure washers can’t take detergent, although Ljudmil says that’s not a big deal. “You can use detergent, but I never do. The chemicals could be bad for pets, flowers and the environment and, with a good pressure washer, cold water alone is enough to do a great job.”
What safety precautions should you take when using pressure washers?
Ljudmil says to remember that these are extremely powerful machines. “You should never point a pressure washer at anyone, even as a joke. You should wear workboots or at least wellingtons. Anyone using a pressure washer in flip flops could end up in hospital very easily. If you’re working in a confined space, I’d also recommend goggles in case of flying debris.”
