Is pressure washer detergent necessary ?

aj9648

Hi

What are people's views of pressure washer detergent? Is it needed it an expensive fad? Any experiences of using and not using it?

Silver-Surfer_2

What do you intend to wash?

aj9648

A filthy patio....I've borrowed a karcher for a few days to give the thing a proper clean

jbainbridge

aj9648 wrote: »

A filthy patio....I've borrowed a karcher for a few days to give the thing a proper clean

I wouldn't use any - you'll be fine.

shaun_from_Africa

I had to clean a rather dirty patio a couple of years ago (also using a Karcher) and I couldn't see the point of using the detergent input on the washer.
My reasoning was that as the detergent was only being applied with the high pressure water, it wouldn't be in contact with the dirt and grime for long enough to make any difference.
I followed the advice I found on a few websites and diluted the detergent in a few buckets of water and spread this over the patio about 30 minutes prior to pressure washing it to enable it to soak into the muck.

EssexExile

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

I followed the advice I found on a few websites and diluted the detergent in a few buckets of water and spread this over the patio about 30 minutes prior to pressure washing it to enable it to soak into the muck.

I tried that too but I'm not sure it made any difference. The rotary patio cleaner makes life a little easier.

aj9648

Ok thanks - no need I guess !!

Le_Kirk

I borrowed a Karcher to clean my patio and the rotary brush did a fantastic job. It thought it was down to the detergent until I realised the level in the bottle had not dropped after two hours use and when I checked, there was a problem with the plastic feed pipe and I had cleaned my whole patio without detergent!

getmore4less

depending on how dirty and what sort of muck you may want to consider some treatments.

probably best to see whats left after a first pass with nothing but water, moss/lichen can can be quite hard to clean out completely.

start with the patio attachment then move on to the variable spay** and if real tough the dirt blaster may be needed


Be very careful with the dirt blaster* jet that can damage the surface and can make a patio very patchy if not used all over.


* that attachment can go to a needle and again you need to be careful start with a wide jet and narrow till you get the cleaning power you need.






*pencil spinning jet, if you get close it can raly penitrace surfaces.