Frequently Asked Questions

There are three questions you should ask yourself when determining what kind of pressure washer is right for you.

The first question is, Where do I intend to use the pressure washer? At home or at work? Typically, you don’t need as powerful of a pressure washer for your personal use at home as you might on a job site.

Household jobs for example, shouldn’t need a machine larger than 3000 PSI, whereas 3100 PSI would be minimal for job site usage.

Another helpful question to ask yourself is, What do I want to clean? If you are expecting to use your pressure washer for basic household jobs such as driveways, decks, patio furniture, etc. you can get by with a unit that offers relatively low pressure.

If your plans are a little bit more daring such as blasting mold or mildew off of concrete or prepping the house for painting you should consider a unit with higher pressure.

Lastly, how much cleaning will you be doing? Will you be cleaning large surface spaces? If the answer is yes, you should consider a unit offering a higher GPM.

More water means more cleaning power!

A higher GPM will get the job done quicker.

For water usage, yes, it is.

By pumping the water into a high-pressure stream, you greatly increase its cleaning power.

Using a pressure washer greatly reduces the time you will need to run the water when cleaning your car, boat, siding, or anything else.

Beyond pressure, the Gallons Per Minute (GPM) of a typical pressure washer at 2.5 to 3.5 gallons per minute is much less than an open garden hose, which averages 5 GPM.

This means less water is used for a given cleaning application versus using just a garden hose.

The answer is both.

PSI and GPM work together, and the right combination is important depending on your pressure washing needs.

PSI stands for Pounds per Square Inch and refers to the amount of pressure that the respective machine can produce.

GPM stands for Gallons per Minute and refers to the amount of water coming from the unit.

To clean productively, a pressure washer should be doing two things: stripping or scrubbing, and rinsing.

This is what sets a pressure washer apart from a regular garden hose.

PSI exerts the pressure to strip or scrub off the dirt, while GPM is the rinsing power that washes the dirt away.

The combination of PSI and GPM results in Cleaning Units or CU.

This is a way for you to measure the overall performance of the machine and compare efficiency of one to another.

Cleaning units is calculated by multiplying PSI and GPM.

OHV means overhead valve.

OHV pertains to the engines created for pressure washers.

The type of connector on your hose is made to match the connectors on your pump and spray gun assembly.

M22 connectors have a threaded end and are industry standard for all brands.

You connect and disconnect the hose by turning to tighten or loosen the collar on the hose.

A quick-connect (QC) hose utilizes a slip collar system.

Just like you would connect your nozzles, pull back on the collar and insert the male hose plug end into the female QC hose end onto the spray gun plug.

Release the collar and give a slight tug to make sure the connector is locked.

To release, make sure the pressure washer is turned off and the pressure is released by squeezing the gun trigger.

Pull back on the collar and remove the mating fitting.

Check your pressure washer pump and spray gun to match the proper fittings.

The water supply you use with the pressure washer needs to be a cold-water supply at a minimum of five gallons per minute (GPM) and twenty pounds per square inch (PSI).

When using the pressure washer with a well, your water supply hose should not be more than thirty feet in length to minimize pressure reduction.