Best pressure washer

Cleaning your outdoor areas can be a chore, but there’s a much easier way to wash down your driveway, decking, windows, fences and more, with minimal effort required. The right pressure washer can clean them all, and certain models can even soap up your car and get it nice and sparkly too.

Brands such as Bosch, Kärcheri and Worx all offer pressure washers to suit different needs and budgets. If you’re wanting to transform an outdoor area that’s suffered years of neglect, you’ll need a powerful pressure washer with a high PSI, such as the Kärcher highlighted below. For smaller jobs that don’t require as much grit, you could be better served by a pressure washer with a lower PSI – which is usually cheaper too. 

This electric pressure cleaner from Bosch packs 125 bars of pressure, so it can blast away tough dirt and grime in all your outdoor areas. It comes with a 3-in-1 nozzle too, so you can target between mossy garden pavers using the pencil jet, or fan out to clean a wider space. And if you want to clean your car, you can also attach a detergent nozzle to quickly soap up your vehicle. The unit is lightweight, and easy to move around thanks to its wheeled body, though the 5 metre hose length may not be long enough for some users (an extension hose is available separately). It’s not as compact as the EasyAquatak version below, but the handle does fold down to halve its size when storing.

The Bosch EasyAquatak 120 is a more compact pressure washer than the model above, but despite its size, its capabilities are still quite strong. It’s equipped with a marginally lower 120 bars of pressure, which is plenty for washing off the dirt from your car or bike, as well as most outdoor areas. It also features a high-pressure detergent nozzle, so you can reduce your cleaning time by directly applying soap. Unlike the Bosch UniversalAquatak 125 above, this model doesn’t come on wheels, but its smaller size and attached handle still makes it easy to move around. The attached pressure gun is a little awkward to store, but otherwise it’s a winner for those living in apartments that are short on space.

Kärcher is well-known for its pressure washers, and this K4 Premium Full Control Home is a powerful piece of kit. It has a maximum PSI of 2,100, and you can control the pressure right on the spray lance, with a handy LED display showing what mode you’re using. This is the Full Control Home version of this pressure washer, meaning it comes with extra attachments including a surface cleaner, a detergent nozzle and a dirt blaster nozzle, so you can tackle different jobs. While it’s a little bulky to move around, it has a very practical 9 metre hose reel which is completely retractable, keeping things neat and tidy for storing. This is the pressure washer to buy to be the envy of your neighbours.

An interesting feature of the Worx Hydroshot is that it can be used anywhere, without access to a tap or a wall socket. That’s because it’s a battery powered pressure washer, and it using a suction hose to draw water from any source, even a bucket or swimming pool. It’s not the most powerful pressure washer on the market though, as what you’re really paying for here is portability. With this in mind, the Worx Hydroshot is perhaps best suited to small jobs, such as washing off a dirty car or bike, or cleaning up camping gear. The lower pressure also means it can be used for watering the garden. Plus, its compact size lends itself to easy storage.

The pressure is on

It’s fair to say that a pressure washer isn’t a tool you’ll be using every week, but when those gruesome cleaning jobs do come around, a pressure washer will absolutely make them easier to tackle.

The best pressure washer for you will depend on your needs and budget, but for an excellent all-rounder, the Bosch UniversalAquatak 125 is likely to get the job done for most people. If you want something you can easily take on the road to wash down cars, bikes, boats or camping gear, then the Worx 20V Hydroshot Cordless will serve you well, while the Kärcher K4 is the one you need for exceptionally tough cleaning tasks.

Why trust us?

At Real Homes, we recommend the best products to enhance your life. As expert curators, we handpick products based on quality and usefulness to positively impact your day-to-day, from cart to doorstep. We take our responsibility seriously – testing products, reading reviews, and sourcing knowledgeable outlets to ensure our selections are worthy of your time and money. We deliver detailed product overviews, balancing objective information with subjective opinions, so making the best choice for your home and lifestyle is as easy as possible.