What do you do with your pressure washer?

[DCOutdoors]

Okay, so I have a pressure washing business but am moving into full time detailing. For those of you with pressure washers, how do you use them and for what? What are some ideas you can come up with that can SAFELY employ a pressure washer?

Undercarriages would be a no-brainer! Thanks.

[Sailfish]

Foam Cannon

[DCOutdoors]

Foam Cannon

Oh yea, I forgot that one!

[david11g35]

washer floor mats. i tried it for the first time a couple of weeks ago and it worked great. sprayed matts with folex scrub with brush then pressure wash off

[us6krums]

+1, +1. I will also do rinsing with 40 degree nozzle.

[rmagnus]

Just wash cars using a foam canon.

[Vegas Transplant]

PW and dd wheels.
PW, brush, degreaser to remove tire crud. Gets what brushes and chemicals alone leave behind.

[OMRebel]

As said above, floor mats are a breeze and a good up-sale. Spray w/ a citrus based cleaner, let dwell, then power wash clean. No scrubbing involved. Other than that and a foam cannon, I wouldn't use one on a vehicle.

[neat e34]

Use mine for foam cannon, rinsing & everything else already mentioned.
Floor mats, boot carpets, wheels, wells, under-carriage, etc are SO much less effort when using one.
Only thing I would avoid or be extra careful with is engine bays.

Personally, I believe rinsing can be done safely as long as common-sense is used.
In saying that if your previous job was purely heavy cleaning you may have a fairly heavy duty unit?
I use an electric 2000w, 2000psi, 2GPM unit at home & a more powerful item at work. Not sure of exact specs as it's not mine....
Never caused any damage with either.

If anything I consider it safer from a detailers perspective as more dirt is removed in the pre-soak/rinse stage before the car is even touched.

[DCOutdoors]

Use mine for foam cannon, rinsing & everything else already mentioned.
Floor mats, boot carpets, wheels, wells, under-carriage, etc are SO much less effort when using one.
Only thing I would avoid or be extra careful with is engine bays.

Personally, I believe rinsing can be done safely as long as common-sense is used.
In saying that if your previous job was purely heavy cleaning you may have a fairly heavy duty unit?
I use an electric 2000w, 2000psi, 2GPM unit at home & a more powerful item at work. Not sure of exact specs as it's not mine....
Never caused any damage with either.

If anything I consider it safer from a detailers perspective as more dirt is removed in the pre-soak/rinse stage before the car is even touched.

Because we have a lot of wells around here (N. Florida) I kept the size down to 4000 psi @ 4 gpm. I can change the tips to a larger orifice and back off some to bring the pressure down. Good point about getting more dirt off before washing. I guess the trick is to keep an eye out for chips and be careful of stickers.

Thanks

[neat e34]

Yes, flaking paint, stickers, etc are definitely things to be rinsed from a distance, & even then carefully. Of course you will have to evaluate case by case & weigh up safety vs speed of job, etc.
Same with engine bays. They can safely be rinsed with a pressure washer but only from an appropriate distance.
Last thing you want is water forced into areas where it shouldn't be...

[sparklingwater]

Keep the psi down if you do the car. I use a 1900 psi and don't stand real close (dont' listen if people say you will damage the paint) as long as s not a streamline straight shot and not real powerful it should be fine. I'll "swear" by the pressure washer to help with bugs, tar and especially wheels and rims. I don't think i can effectively clean rims if i don't use a pressure washer as hard as i may try or scrub!

[Bunky]

If you use the spray pattern and keep the tip a reasonable distance, the typical <2000 psi washer should not cause any issues. With a pressure washer, you can use less overall water than with a hose especially if you have lower water pressure. They can rinse tires/wheels quickly.

[BobbyG]

Wheels, tires, wheel wells, general rinsing, house, tree sprays, mother-in-law, Agent Orange...to name a few...

[vet]

BobbyG, you're a hoot!