What do we do? Normally we fill a bucket with soapy water and a scrubbing brush and after hours of back breaking work we have little or nothing to show for it. In other instances we take out the garden hose and try to wash away the dirt. All this achieves is a massive waste of water.

Here I come to the dream machine and this is what every householder should have, The Pressure Washer or Power Washer. The first thing that every body will say when this is suggested is,” but what about the price?” Well you will be surprised to hear that not all pressure cleaners are expensive. Yes, the industrial and commercial machines can get a bit pricey, but these machines are manufactured to withstand hours and hours of heavy duty work and therefore are fitted with state of the art pumps to do this.

The domestic pressure washer can be bought for as little as $100 up to $199. Yes, you heard me correctly. Why are these machines so cheap? Typically a pressure washer used around the home will only be used on average, for a maximum of 20 hours per year, and then only in the summer months. This, if you do the math, works out to a little over 2 hours per week, if you only use the summer months, and, a couple of week ends either side. This means that the manufacturer can use cheaper parts such as plastic and aluminum. The down side of this though, is it makes repairs uneconomical. But who cares. After 5 or 10 years all you have to do is buy another one at the low price of $100 or $200. Believe me it is well worth the price!

Right! Now we have bought the pressure washer what to do with it? The first thing to do is read the operating instructions supplied with the machine. After you have done this and you are fully versed in the operating methods, safety measures should be taken. So take some time to prepare the work site. The water coming out of this power cleaner is pressurized and therefore jets out with incredible force. Make sure the children are out of the way and never allow them to use the machine. The pressure is of such a nature that it can cut through skin and also loose stones can become airborne causing injury.

Now you are ready to start, but before you do this, are you dressed correctly? Remember this is an electric pressure washer you have bought and there is lots of water going to be lying around. Make sure you put on a pair of rubber soled enclosed shoes and then get yourself some safety goggles. The safety goggles are in case any loose particles fly up into your eyes.

With all these safety measures in place you must be wondering what you have let yourself in for. Don’t worry. It’s not all bad; in fact, it can be a lot of fun.

You can now start your project. Make sure the trigger lock on the spray gun is engaged and then attach the garden hose to the machine and turn the water on, making sure you do this before you switch the machine on. If the machine is run without water it can cause damage to the pump. Point the nozzle in the direction of your project, holding the gun firmly with two hands and start spraying.

Just another small word of caution, try not to leave the machine on by-pass for any length of time. Rather switch the pressure washer off. By-pass is when the machine is left on without pressing the trigger. This causes the water to re-circulate within the pump causing the water temperature to rise as time goes on thereby damaging the pump.

Well hopefully this has given you some courage to go out and buy a pressure cleaning machine that will save you many hours of work, and remember that these incredible machines will save you an enormous amount of water. A pressure washer uses a 1/5 of the water that the common garden hose uses.