Can somebody explain pressure washers?

[Emile]

How does a pressure washer work? Do you hook up the unit to your water hose and then plug it in (or start it up if it's gas) and then it just draws water from your house along with air to increase the pressure of the water?

And how do people get that thick, frothy foam coming out of their pressure washers? Some people seem to have a bottle/container hanging from under their pressure washer wand like the way the Gilmour Foam Cannon is, but other people just seem to have a regular pressure wand and it's just spraying foam like crazy. Are you able to hook up the Foam Cannon to the pressure washer?

I'm trying to figure this whole thing out. Can somebody please break it down for me.


Thanks,
Emile

[Finemess]

Hope this helps.

The Direct Drive Power Washer (http://www.the-power-washer-advisor.com/Direct-drive-power-washer.html)

[SRHTX]

Since I do my clients vehicles here at the house, I went to Home Depot and bought a 2000psi power washer for $150.00. I also bought an extension hose for about $25.00. This power washer works just fine. Here is a link to it.

btw - the website says 1800psi

Product Information Error Page (http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?jspStoreDir=hdus&catalogId=10053&productId=100669159&navFlow=3&keyword=husky%2B1800%2Bpsi&langId=-1&searchRedirect=husky+1800+psi&storeId=10051&endecaDataBean=com.homedepot.sa.el.wc.catalog.bean s.EndecaDataBean%408cd83f0&ddkey=Search)

Just my $.02

Stephen

[loudog2]

It's called a camspray foam cannon, it works great.

[Emile]

How much psi is good? Do you need to use any brushes or soap or anything, or can you just foam the car up and then pressure-rinse the car clean.

[loudog2]

I have a gas powered 2550psi troybuilt w/a honda engine. It comes with 4 nozzles(soak, gentle/auto, general purpose, and heavy duty). I never use brushes on my car, well except the rims/tires.

I spray the car down first to get the dirt off. Then switch to the camspray foam cannon. I foam the car then wash it using the 2 bucket method.

[CharlesW]

Do a lot of research before you invest in a pressure washer for washing cars.
I have a 2200#, 2.0 gpm gas powered unit with a 6.5 hp engine.
It is great for pressure washing a house, a wood deck, the pontoons on the boat, (that I no longer own), and not really of any value to me for the vehicles at all. It might be handy to do wheel wells, but I don't really need it just for that. It gets used once every two or three years on the house and is just taking up storage space the rest of the time.

You may find it a valuable tool, but it was not one of my better decisions on how to spend $250 to $300.

[Emile]

I was just thinking that maybe for winter washings I could use it to do a fast and touch-less car wash. I don't mind the cold weather, but I do mind dunking my hands in freezing cold soapy water while in cold weather when working with wash mitts, and brushes for the wheels and stuff.

[SRHTX]

I was just thinking that maybe for winter washings I could use it to do a fast and touch-less car wash. I don't mind the cold weather, but I do mind dunking my hands in freezing cold soapy water while in cold weather when working with wash mitts, and brushes for the wheels and stuff.

What is winter? What is weather like in a freeze? LOL It's always too HOT and HUMID down here in the deep south.

[loudog2]

Do a lot of research before you invest in a pressure washer for washing cars.
I have a 2200#, 2.0 gpm gas powered unit with a 6.5 hp engine.
It is great for pressure washing a house, a wood deck, the pontoons on the boat, (that I no longer own), and not really of any value to me for the vehicles at all. It might be handy to do wheel wells, but I don't really need it just for that. It gets used once every two or three years on the house and is just taking up storage space the rest of the time.

You may find it a valuable tool, but it was not one of my better decisions on how to spend $250 to $300.
I find it useful for cars. It gets used everytime I polish a car. Dust and excess polish get rinsed out easily.

[Emile]

All I am reading is one bad review after another. Karcher seems to be the most popular, but also the most likely to receive poor reviews because of reliability.

So with a pressure washer, do you need to use wash mitts and actually wash the vehicle, or can you rinse, foam the car up, and then power-wash everything off?

Does it give you foam fun if it has an on-board detergent tank and you use that for car wash soap?

I'm looking at this $160 McCulloch 1600psi unit (comact, no wheels) with an external detergant tank/sprayer....will that give me foamation?

Somebody please point me in the right direction because this is hard to narrow it down.

[Emile]

Pfft, just ordered a Karcher K3.67M pressure washer. I hope this thing works out for me.

[oldmodman]

I have a Karcher 16hp Honda powered 4000psi pressure washer. If you do much washing of anything here in Southern California it is just about required. Our water dept is limiting the amount of water that you can use and your bill will skyrocket if you go over. A pressure washer uses much less water than an open hose. I can spray a car off. Use a foam cannon to soap it down. Rinse it again then use the one bucket method, Then a final rinse using filtered water. And it will still be less water than just a normal two bucket wash and rinse. Plus it's another gas powered tool to play with!Im the MAN

[chirs72]

What size tips are you using when pressure washing the car. How can you get the foam cannon to work your pressure washer when it is 4000psi.