We’ve talked about how we use our stress washer to revive varied issues round the home – like out of doors furnishings and even an indoor rug – however we nonetheless hear from individuals who worry that it’s sophisticated to arrange or costly to purchase or exhausting to regulate… and the excellent news is that it’s none of these issues. So this put up is a complete start-to-finish information for anybody who’s lastly able to get their stress washing toes moist (perhaps even actually).
Strain washing is a simple, reasonably priced, and TOTALLY AWESOME option to hold your out of doors areas trying recent. So I’m strolling you thru every thing from setting it up and turning it on, to the place and the way we use ours. It makes such an insane distinction each spring, I’d even name it a DIY VIP.
We have been a bit intimidated the first time we tried stress washing almost 10 years in the past. The cumbersome gas-powered machine we rented for a day was so large it didn’t even slot in our automotive! So I TOTALLY perceive anybody with PWH (stress washing hesitation).
However that every one modified once we discovered a GREAT stress washer that’s tremendous compact and simple to make use of – this $99 Electric Pressure Washer from Ryobi. Each Sherry and I exploit it commonly – and neither of us have any points controlling it or having sufficient energy to get each single activity on our checklist carried out. It’ll make a stress washing convert out of nearly anybody. We purchased it a few years in the past with our personal cash and like it – so nothing about this glowing assessment is sponsored in any approach.
A Newbie’s Video Information To Strain Washing
We’ll cowl all three of these matters in textual content & images under, however if you wish to see ALL of it in motion and in real-time, the video under is for you. Oh yeah and there’s a lot of that candy candy stress washing footage that everybody’s eyeballs can’t assist however love. And extra importantly, a number of cameos by our canine Penny.
Be aware: You may as well view this video on YouTube.
Setting Up Your Electrical Strain Washer
Once more, we at present personal this $99 Electric Pressure Washer from Ryobi. We purchased it for our seaside home in 2018, and once we moved we opted to convey it with us as an alternative of an older/bigger model we had earlier than – simply because this one is so compact and dependable and (most significantly) GOOD AT CLEANING. There are undoubtedly extra highly effective (and costlier) choices on the market, however this stress washer has all the time met our wants. All the time. The truth is, we don’t even apply it to it’s highest setting. That’s how adequately highly effective it’s. Plus it’s just about essentially the most reasonably priced choice on the market and we particularly love that it’s compact and simple to make use of. So until you have got a particular want for one thing extra intense, this can be a improbable choice.
The field contains every thing proven above, you simply want to produce water (through a backyard hose) and energy. And, as we present within the video, set-up is just about as simple as simply connecting these two issues!
Step 1: Assemble Your Wand
We usually retailer our wand and set off deal with assembled, however coming recent out of the field you’ll must lock these two items along with a easy twist.
Step 2: Join Your Excessive-Strain Hose
The high-pressure hose is what carries the pressurized water from the machine to the spray wand. Every finish has an an identical black threaded collar. One finish connects to your set off deal with, the opposite to the brass connection on the stress washer. Simply hand tighten till they’re each safe.
Step 3: Join Your Backyard Hose
On the other facet of the stress washer, there’s a black threaded connection that matches an everyday backyard hose. Connect your hose tightly similar to you’d screw it onto your house’s hose bib.
Step 4: Choose & Connect Your Nozzle
This stress washer comes with 3 nozzle choices that provide totally different ranges of stress for various functions (you may as well buy others as wanted). There’s a useful information on the highest of the gadget that explains the variations between the three, together with holes to retailer them in.
As we describe within the video, we nearly EXCLUSIVELY use the center (medium stress) orange nozzle. It’s sort of the Goldilocks of choices, giving us the “excellent” quantity of stress for cleansing patios, decking, out of doors materials, and extra. Plus, you may all the time regulate the stress you’re making use of by merely holding your wand nearer or farther from the floor you’re cleansing.
The gap issues – so attempt to watch the video above each time you may to see extra of what we imply. Held too near one thing, even the medium stress nozzle can strip paint or stain off of wooden – however spraying with sufficient distance can imply zero elimination of something however filth and dirt – which is SO satisfying, and leaves a lot of surfaces exterior trying like new.
To connect your chosen nozzle on the finish of the wand, you simply pull down on the brass collar and place the nozzle into the opening. Releasing the collar locks it into place.
This completes the entire water connections you want to make, which implies now you can…
Step 4: Flip On Your Hose
Together with your water connections safe, now you can activate the water at your hose bib. It’s a good suggestion to open that sucker ALLLLLLLL the best way to make sure you’re getting the fullest move attainable from the hose.
You additionally wish to test your hose for any kinks, leaks, or different knots that may forestall the water from flowing freely to your stress washer. It’s additionally a good suggestion to squeeze the set off in your stress washer for a number of seconds to ensure the water is popping out steadily earlier than continuing.
Chances are you’ll discover that we’re utilizing a type of expandable “pocket hoses” that shrink up when it’s not filled with water. We love these hoses as a result of they’re much less cumbersome and cumbersome than conventional hoses, however some could dissuade you from utilizing them with sure stress washers (we’ve personally by no means had any subject utilizing ours).
Step 5: Join Your Energy
Together with your water good to go, now you may plug in your stress washer. Ours comes with a SUPER lengthy wire, so that you most likely gained’t want an extension wire, however you may all the time use one if needed.
If you happen to are connecting an extension wire, simply you should definitely elevate the connection level of the 2 plugs (like on a desk, chair, or bucket) to stop water from dripping towards the plugs.
Step 6: Flip On Your Strain Washer
Activate the stress washer utilizing the black button on the highest of the machine. You’ll instantly hear the gadget interact and you may even see your high-pressure hose stiffen as pressurized water fills it up. If this doesn’t occur, attempt urgent the take a look at & reset buttons on the plug or in your GFI outlet. These could be frequent culprits on your energy not working.
Now your stress washer is ready up and prepared to be used!
Earlier than You Begin Cleansing With Your Strain Washer
We cowl a variety of ideas alongside the best way throughout the video (watching that’s actually one of the best ways to get a full primer on stress washing), however listed below are a handful of issues to bear in mind earlier than you begin your first stress washing journey.
- Put on close-toed sneakers and pants to assist defend your toes and decrease legs from any unintentional pressurized spray. A direct, close-range spray can sting and even break the pores and skin.
- Clear prime to backside. In case your to-do checklist contains a number of surfaces, begin with the upper ones (railings, patio umbrellas, and many others) and work all the way down to decrease ones (decks, patios).
- Begin gradual and take a look at in an not noticeable spot first. It’s all the time good to begin in a hidden spot (just like the again of a pillow or the world of your deck that’s beneath your out of doors couch). If it’s your first time stress washing a specific materials or floor, begin with low stress and progressively improve it as wanted (by bringing your wand nearer or altering nozzles) to be sure to’re not damaging the floor. Don’t begin by blasting one thing with the nozzle mere inches away ever.
- Watch out for delicate supplies like home windows, smooth woods, & vinyl siding that may be simply damaged or broken with an excessive amount of stress. We have a tendency to stay to cleansing concrete, out of doors stone or tile, Trex or wooden decking, brick paths or patios, wooden or metallic railings, and out of doors furnishings/pillows in addition to out of doors AND indoor rugs (extra on that right here). You clearly need the nozzle additional away from cloth than, say, concrete.
- Thoughts your cords. This stress washer is tremendous mild and moveable, however control your energy wire and water hoses as you progress it to be sure to’re not kinking something or creating tripping hazards.
What We Clear With Our Strain Washer
We usually escape our stress washer 2-3 occasions a 12 months to maintain our varied out of doors areas trying recent and clear. Between all of our bushes, our clay/sand street, and the salty seaside air, issues can get dirty – so we often do a reasonably thorough cleansing within the spring to clean off the filth, pollen, or mildew that collected on issues over the winter. Then we would do some faster “contact up” cleanings as wanted in the summertime and fall.
We apply it to quite a lot of surfaces, however listed below are the first ones that we’ll cowl at this time:
- Composite Decking
- Painted Railings
- Out of doors Materials
- Stone Patios
Composite Decking
We now have Trex decking on our porches and we’ve discovered the stress washer to be a good way to get filth, mud, and sand build-up off of them. The woodgrain texture on the Trex catches a variety of grime and we hadn’t cleaned our upstairs deck shortly, so it had fairly the layer of black tree filth. That made the job tremendous satisfying although…
Doing that enormous upstairs deck was fairly tedious as a result of we needed to be gradual & systematic so we didn’t miss any boards (generally it’s exhausting to see what’s nonetheless soiled as soon as every thing has gotten moist). So earlier than doing my downstairs decks I purchased this $40 surface cleaning attachment for electrical stress washers {that a} bunch of you have got really useful for doing bigger “ground” surfaces quicker. Boy was it a game-changer!
It attaches to my spray wand similar to another nozzle does, however supplies a a lot bigger 12″ cleansing floor, which made stress washing my decks SO. MUCH. FASTER.
Not solely was it quicker, however I didn’t fear as a lot about leaving “streaks” if I missed a spot or solely cleaned a part of a specific board. You possibly can see under that our decks can get a variety of sandy footprints and settled sand on them. However they give the impression of being a lot brisker now!
Railings
One other space that we hadn’t cleaned shortly was the upstairs deck railings, which had a build-up of tree filth on them similar to the Trex decking.
These railings are painted wooden, and you must all the time use a little bit of warning when stress washing painted surfaces as a result of the stress may cause the paint to chip or flake. Additionally, if any areas have began to rot beneath the paint, the stress washer could make the state of affairs worse.
We simply all the time hold an in depth eye on the floor as we clear, and reduce the stress (step again!) or skip a specific spot if the paint isn’t holding up. In case your largest nightmare is a few flaked paint, I’m additionally right here to guarantee you that a couple of paint touch-ups aren’t an enormous deal. We’ve carried out them and so they’re by no means detectible as soon as it’s dry.
Out of doors Materials
We’ve undoubtedly prolonged the lifetime of various out of doors pillows and cushions due to our stress washer. It’s simply particularly vital with materials to take it gradual as a result of an excessive amount of stress may cause the material to tear or fray. So begin on the again and with low stress, particularly if it’s the primary time you’re cleansing that materials.
Additionally, needless to say the method is probably not good. Some stains could solely get lighter, not disappear completely. So you could must assault sure spots with an outdoor cleaner or fabric cleaner to complete the job. However for us, we discover the stress washer does the majority of the work getting our out of doors materials prepared for spring. Scorching tip: put them within the solar to dry. That does an excellent job of flippantly bleaching some extra cussed stains than when you set them out to dry within the shade.
Stone Patio
Strain washing is a good way to get patios, driveways, sidewalks, and even some decking to look new once more. This was the primary season we used it to wash the stone patio round our pool, which had collected a variety of inexperienced scum in a number of the extra shaded areas of the yard (beneath and behind the lounge chairs for instance).
The video exhibits how satisfying this actually was, however the earlier than & afters under offer you an thought as effectively. It’s a bit exhausting to inform as a result of the stone itself has some darker shell “spots” in it (and the floor is moist within the after shot), however this entire space seems to be completely redeemed.
Such a distinction.
While you’re cleansing patios or different stone surfaces, simply be conscious of any polymeric sand (or common sand) that you will have between the cracks. The stress washer could blow that unfastened and also you’ll must refill it.
We additionally get requested fairly often about whether or not or not we add some form of cleaning soap or cleaner to our stress washer. Whereas the machine DOES include a option to wash with cleaning soap (it features a hose that you may connect and hook up with your bottle of cleaning soap), truthfully, we’ve by no means used it. We simply spray out of doors cleaners on sure gadgets (primarily cussed cloth stains – for instance, we use this fabric cleaner) by hand after which stress wash them to maneuver these suds throughout and rinse them away.
The very last thing to bear in mind when cleansing out of doors materials is to be sure to have a sunny spot to allow them to FULLY dry. In any other case, you could simply encourage extra mildew build-up.
Different Makes use of For Your Strain Washer
Whereas these are the ways in which we at present use our stress washer, there a TONS of different methods they are often helpful round the home. Listed below are some earlier posts we’ve written about different stress washing adventures:
Placing Your Strain Washer Away
When you’ve completed your cleansing, disconnecting and storing your stress washer is even simpler than setting it up. You’re principally reversing the steps:
- Flip it off and unplug it
- Flip off your water
- Spray the wand for a number of seconds to launch the water stress (it’ll make disconnecting the hoses simpler)
- Disconnect your backyard hose
- Disconnect your high-pressure hose from the stress washer (we depart it connected to our spray wand, however you may disconnect that finish too)
As soon as every thing is disconnected, there’s a useful velcro strap on the deal with of the machine that can assist you wrangle all your cords and hoses. It’s one among our favourite options as a result of it makes storing it a lot simpler! You possibly can see it in motion within the video 😉
So, there you have got it. All the information I can probably consider on the subject of stress washing. I hope it leaves you feeling assured that you may sort out this mission your self (you may!). I’m ridiculously glad that we tried one out a few years in the past and have by no means regretted proudly owning one since!
Sidenote: we lastly better-categorized and up to date our Amazon shop to incorporate a variety of the more moderen issues we now have been loving – like Sherry’s beloved robotic vacuum, some new favourite household board video games, our tried and true seaside gear, favourite current reads, and many others – in order that’s all right here.
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