Hoses lengths vary from three metres, which is too short to wash a car; to five metres, which is an adequate length for car cleaning. Some of the cheaper pressure washers come with fixed nozzles that don't allow you to vary the water pressure. Nilfisk's entry level models tend to have more powerful motors and come with an aluminium pump head rather than a plastic one for durability. Best for: Cleaning extensive areas of paving, grimy 4-wheel drive vehicles, commercial vehicles and caravans UPDATE 2016 : If you prefer a slightly less powerful model but from a well known brand Machine Mart have both the Bosch AQT 33-10 and Makita HW101 at a similar price to the Aldi machine.

Noise level is a bit more than my old pressure wash but not to noisy at 98db. It does have an auto shut off so when you are not pressing down on the trigger, the pump cuts off. Though recommend if not using for 10mins or so to use the power switch on the front of the unit. Pressure gauge: some more expensive models have a pressure gauge on the lance handle but, as the pump pressure doesn't vary, they're of little practical use. The quality of the water gun, lance and nozzles is par the course for a cheap pressure washer so this is not a shot at Aldi/Action Spares but a case of you get what you pay for. Wheels: handy for heavier models. But, if you have lots of uneven ground or steps make sure you can still carry the machine.

Medium duty pressure washers tend to be a mix of high-end own-brand models and cheaper premium-brand models. As such, you'll find a confusing array of high-powered-but-basic models by garden machinery brands such as Stihl or Nilfisk, mid-powered Karcher, Bosch or Vax models with some choice of accessories, and high-powered and highly accessorised machines from Qualcast and Mac Allister.

I run a fish pond cleaning business, so part of my job I use a pressure wash to clean the pond of the blanket weed that grows on either the liner or concrete. So for this job I need a reliable and powerful pressure washer. To see full details of what I do for a pond service see HERE. So far I have been really impressed with this Workzone pressure wash. I use between the normal Lance that has an adjustable flat spray and then the turbo Lance which produced a rotating circle of water, if at about and 1″ away from the surface the diameter of the output is about 1″. I found for my purposes the turbo Lance is great. It gets the blanket weeds off a lot better than my old karcher. The only accessory that comes with it that I haven’t used is the patio / wall brush cleaner, as for me this wouldn’t be suitable but does seem to be a good accessory will be trying soon at home though and not sure about using on the car. You do also have a detergent bottle that can be used and does come with some detergent, though i have no need for this functionThe shorter hose and low power can make cleaning slow and difficult, and the motors tend to be noisy. The parts also tend to be flimsy and prone to frost damage. Medium duty The unit is nice and solid not too heavy, but heavy enough. The hose length is great at 10 metres, and does have a winder to keep it tidy, though did find using this does seem to topple a bit with the weight, found if you stand behind the pressure wash and support against your body the winder works fine. The power cable is an ok length and can be wrapped on the side. Wheeling the unit around seems OK the wheels are big and solid so can go over uneven ground ok. Nilfisk models are typically more lightweight compared to Karcher models. They are constructed with light materials to make them easier to move around. Fewer owners of Karcher pressure washers experienced faults within the first seven years of owning it - 8% said they had (sample size: 2,271) versus 16% of Nilfisk owners (sample size: 185). If you just need a pressure washer for light cleaning, then most no-frills machines come with just one lance, which is a long tube with a nozzle on the end. The nozzle will usually provide variable pressure – when you twist the nozzle, you can adjust the spray from a powerful narrow jet to a more broad gentle fan.

Toolstation has electric and petrol pressure washers, some of which are bundled with a patio cleaner. Karcher were the first to introduce smart technology to pressure washers so you can connect them to your smartphone via an app. Motor noise is typically less intrusive with these machines but they can be a little overpowered for many domestic cleaning jobs. Make sure you know how to use them properly to avoid damaging your surfaces. Additional handles: some machines have a variety of handles that will make carrying it around while cleaning much easier.Although you have to be near a power outlet to use an electric washer, they are typically lighter, better for the environment, less noisy and will be powerful enough for the usual home and garden cleaning jobs.