Choosing a pressure washer for daily trade work
A machine that earns its keep on commercial jobs is a different proposition to one that sits in a garage for odd jobs. The guides for this category are still being written; the welding guides are ready to read now.
Read the welding machine buying guides See the MIG welder buying guidePressure washer guides are on their way
Buying a pressure washer for trade use is not just about how much bar pressure is printed on the box. A machine that copes with an occasional driveway clean is not the same machine that stands up to a groundworker or a fleet manager washing kit down every evening, and the gap between the two only shows up after a year or two of real use.
What the guides will cover
- Bar rating versus flow rate: the two figures that actually decide how fast a machine shifts dirt, and why bar pressure on its own tells you very little.
- Domestic versus commercial pump duty: what separates a pump built for weekend jobs from one built to run for hours at a time, several days a week.
- Hot versus cold water machines: when the extra cost and complexity of a hot water unit earns its keep, and when it is more machine than the job needs.
- Running cost and serviceability: what seals, hoses and lances actually cost to replace, and how that adds up over several years of daily use.
These guides are still being put together. The welding buying guides are live now, covering the same kind of ground for MIG, TIG and stick machines: what the spec sheet actually means once the machine is on site, and where the money genuinely goes.