A Beginner’s Guide to Buying a High Pressure Washer
Have you ever gazed enviously over your garden wall and watched your neighbour jet-washing their car or using the same device to clear the moss and leaves from their home’s gutters and drains? If so, it’s probably time you also invested in a high pressure washer. However, as a first-time buyer, you may not find it easy to decide which of the many available models might best meet your particular cleaning needs. Here are a few valuable tips that should help you make the right decision.
Let’s begin by assuming that you need a machine suitable for tackling the day-to-day cleaning tasks in your home. While some domestic jobs will require a more powerful water jet than others, all should need significantly less power than that of a typical industrial high pressure washer. To cater for the varying requirements in each case, one can adjust the speed of the motor or the diameter of the exit nozzle as necessary. 
Even in a decimalised society like South Africa, some pump manufacturers still use pounds per square inch (psi) as the unit of choice when rating the pressure output of their products. The relationship between this parameter and flow rate is inverse. In other words, as one value increases, the other will decrease. As a rough guide, a domestic high pressure washer with a range adjustable between around 1 300 and 1 900 psi, that’s roughly 90 to130 Bar in SI units, should satisfy most domestic needs with some power to spare.
The machine’s lower range should be quite adequate for those relatively light jobs, such as cleaning garden furniture and fences. Anything higher could damage these less robust items. The higher range will easily remove even the most deeply-ingrained dirt when used to clean cars, driveways, patios, and decking. For rinsing, dropping the pressure will provide the additional flow rate needed.
Perhaps you’re in construction and considering a high pressure washer for use at work. Naturally, you will require a more powerful device if you need to clean heavy equipment like backhoes and bulldozers. It’s also likely that you will often need to operate in areas with no electricity supply. Petrol- and diesel-driven models are available and may also be designed to deliver hot water, thus limiting the need for costly detergents. Unlike electric models, which invariably require long extension cables, their movements are not restricted by a power cable.
Jet washing is faster, more efficient, and cheaper than the alternatives at home and work. Contact Bestline Manufacturing for more advice about domestic, commercial and industrial high pressure washers and their many uses.