The Pressure is on. (Karcher High Pressure Washer)

Member Name: LegendaryMrDude

Product:	Karcher High Pressure Washer
Date:	14/12/02 (12006 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You can write youor name on mucky concrete

Disadvantages: No good for cleaning cars

Washing the car has to rate as one of the most tedious jobs around the house. Ironing pips it at the post, but finishing a strong second is washing the car.

In a conversation about cars one day at work, a colleague started telling me how much easier it is to clean a car with a Karcher, 20 minutes and it's done. A quick check on DooYoo confirmed his rantings, so it was with great enthusiasim that I bought a Karcher pressure washer in a recent B&Q sale.

Purchased for about £80, this little yellow beastie promised to save me hours of valuable time and give me a cleaner car to boot. Boasting a pressure of 100PSI and pumping out 330 litres of water per hour it was sure to be just the ticket. Once at home it was assembled in under 5 minutes (the B202 comes with a built-in trolley type affair that needs to be bolted on to the main pump unit). I attached the supplied high-pressure hose (6m long!) to "out" nozzle, and my garden hose to the "in" nozzle (with a standard Hozelock connector). The supplied detergent tube was attached to the "detergent intake" nozzle and the end placed in the bottle of detergent. I was almost ready to go. I plugged the pump into my electrical extension lead, making sure it was well away from any water that may leak from the hose, and then, following the instructions, turned on the tap to start the water flowing. Once water was coming out of the main nozzle I attached the high-pressure nozzle (which connects in much the same way as a bayonet fitting light-bulb) and flipped the power switch on the pump. With a frantic buzzzz, the water stopped flowing and I was ready to give my car the cleaning of it's life.

Or so I thought. After 20 minutes (and the best part of 2 litres of detergent!!!), I had covered every inch of my car's body. Cobwebs had been blasted away, bird-muck was powerless to resist and my tyres were as clean as the day they were fitted. But aside from that, my car was
pretty much as dirty as it was before I'd started. The high-pressure jet of soapy water had done nothing against the grimy coating of muck that tarnished my paintwork.

Somewhat disheartened, but undeterred, I returned to B&Q and invested in a special rotary powered brush which showed pictures of people standing next to gleaming cars/boats/caravans. I got back to the flat, swapped my high-pressure nozzle for the new rotary brush and set about my car with renewed vigour. The brush whirred round, powered by the high-pressure water jet from the karcher. Detergent foamed all over the place, and I felt confident that this was what I had needed. Something with a positive physical action to scrub away the grime. After a further 15 minutes of washing (and another 2 litres of detergent!!!) I had covered my car for the second time that day. Rinsing off the suds, you can imagine my dismay whan I discovered that, sure enough, the grime was still there. Suffice to say I finished off the job by hand.

Feeling cheated, I wondered what else my karcher would be good for. Pointing it at the driveway to clear it of any detergent, I was shocked to see the concrete turn a much cleaner shade of, errrrmmm, "concrete" than I had ever thought possible. So the pressure-washer was good for something... Spurred on by my ability to write my name on concrete that had set may years previously, I went around the garden seeing what else it may be good for. Weeds are no match for it, cleaning in betweek crazy paving is a breeze (just be careful you don't blow away the cement too!). Barbecues come up fairly clean as well, especially with a bit of detergent. Patios, garden ornaments, walls and pretty much anything with a rough surface seemed to be an easy target. It was just no use on the car, which is a shame as that's the only reason I bought it.

Still, I can live safe with the knowledge that I can clean any patch of concrete I fancy. As long as I don&
#39;t mind cleaning my car the hard way.

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