Is a pressure washer really needed for a safe wash ?

[Bill D]

Today I used a $20 foam gun and it worked well but it drank up my soap pretty quickly. I barely was able to foam up a mid sized car before it was time to add more soap to the cup

I’d say if you get one of these, it foams fine, just be prepared to add soap often.

[GTguy559]

Again OP you can will get a lot of yes’s and alot of no’s

But it really depends on you and your environment.

Things for you to consider:

What is your weather like?

Your enviroment? Dusty? Pollen? Dirt roads?

How often are you going to wash?

What kind of road film does your car build up?


I live in Pacific NorthWest. I use my pressure washer along with rinseless during fall and winter and every so often in spring and summer.

I use the foam gun as Bill D would for most of Spring and Summer. Foam the car down and then spray the foam gun at the point of contact where the foam pad contacts the paint.

You can watch this video at the 8:08 mark to get a visual of that process

Audi R8 BLACKBIRD: Basic Car Wash Techniques - /DRIVE CLEAN - YouTube


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Let’s say one guy washes using pressure washer and the other using a hose with a spray nozzle, are both going equally safe and swirl free ? I have people that swear that using a pressure washer for the best method.

[DetailZeus]

Let’s say one guy washes using pressure washer and the other using a hose with a spray nozzle, are both going equally safe and swirl free ? I have people that swear that using a pressure washer for the best method.

This really isn't a question with a black and white answer. It all depends on how dirty the vehicle is, how fresh is the protection, how good is your wash technique, etc. For someone in California with light dust who carefully rinseless washes weekly, no there's probably not a huge benefit. Someone in the midwest or up north who can only wash their car in the winter when it peeks above freezing then yeah probably safer to blast off the layers of gunk.

In my opinion the more dirt you can remove from the car before you touch it the better. So in *theory* if you take two equally dirty cars and pressure wash one and rinse the other with a hose, it should be "safer" to wash the one that was pressure washed because more dirt was removed before you touched it with a mitt. But in the real world there's a ton of other variables that matter.

I personally bust out my pressure washer every time because I have a great setup, I don't wash that often, and I really really like using it on wheels and wheel wells.

[opie]

I meant like is it “needed” to have a proper or safe wash rather than using a spray nozzle on a hose.

Ask yourself this...if the road you live on is a shat road,(meaning dirt road) then yes i would use it often. But if not then..no ya dont need it. Then maybe just try foam gun. I might get one come spring to try out.

If every once in a while it gets trashed then use a coin op if one is near or if not then maybe bust out the pw for that.

Or try a damn good foaming soap in foam gun to get the debris to lift off surface

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[Coatingsarecrack]

Let’s say one guy washes using pressure washer and the other using a hose with a spray nozzle, are both going equally safe and swirl free ? I have people that swear that using a pressure washer for the best method.

I would say no if the car is past dusty. Weather your in the foam cannon group or not most would agree a PW would blow most grime off of a car before you use your wash media to contact the care.

The grime you have on your car is what makes the difference.

If your washing 5 times a month i wouldn’t worry about it. If 2-3 months i would say yes you would have less swirls….. in my environment.

You haven’t given me an indication of your enviroment so I could not really answer for you.


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[Tasmania]

I live in California and this is further from the truth. I don't use a pressure washer and use a garden hose. If the idea is to save water then rinseless washing would be the way to go.

Garden hose would use way more water than a pressure washer,
Rinse less wash of course would use less water not hard to understand that concept
I live in Tasmania, Australia and we have very dry summer's so i will stick to my opinion.

[Coatingsarecrack]

Not only no, but Hell no.

By the time it would take to drag out my PW, connect it to water, crank it up, etc. I could have almost washed my entire truck.

And I always have this little nugget in the back of my head:

I worked at a marina for over 20 years. As anyone knows, a pressure washer is used for hundreds and hundreds of hours a year in that business, and I have possibly 1,000 hours behind the wand of one if I had to guess.

In all of that time, I have seen a wand tip fail and get shot into a boat hull maybe a dozen times. Things like that will happen over the course of 20+ years, but I'll be damned if I'll ever risk that on my vehicles.

I can hook up my pressure washer in less than 3 minutes. I do have all quick connects on it though.

I switch out the tips a-lot exaclty because of same fear but will be ordering these. Rubber guard is nice but really for the quality to keep the rocketing off from happening.




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[Silly Rabbit]

I can hook up my pressure washer in less than 3 minutes. I do have all quick connects on it though.

I switch out the tips a-lot exaclty because of same fear but will be ordering these. Rubber guard is nice but really for the quality to keep the rocketing off from happening.




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Where did you order those?? That looks nice.

[Coatingsarecrack]

Where did you order those?? That looks nice.

Pm’d


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[Silly Rabbit]

Pm’d


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Thank you sir!