Originally published at: The joy of pressure washing | Boing Boing
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Someone clearly needs to play Power Wash Simulator
(No referral link, unlike others)
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That’s no pressurewasher.
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That’s no pressure washer…
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Pressure/power washing is genuinely useful but if you’re pressure washing concrete regularly you’ll end up damaging/degrading it. To avoid this please pay a professional to seal your concrete, the added advantage is that cleaning dirt off the sealed surface is easier and it also makes it less prone to wear and tear and from degradation from water.
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Just got a letter in the mail today from our Calif-based water company which read, in part, that using potable water for cleaning hardscape surfaces will be illegalized. I like my electric pressure washer too (a Ryobi model from Home Depot) but it will be on the reserve list for a while.
Not sure I knew this was a Thing. I’ll have to look into this, see what it’s all about. Thanks for mentioning it!
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I looked online and the recommendation is to power wash once a year, and when doing so to read the manual to ensure you’re using the appropriate settings, distance from surface and nozzles to minimize wear that comes from the water. If you’re cleaning concrete more often than that you can get pitting and other wear start to show up on your driveway, sidewalk or patio. Sealing it is a good investment as clean up is easier, better protection against water and even from oil leaks from a car, it looks attractive (you can even have tinted sealers put down), and can be a selling point if you were to put the house on the market.
Sounds like i’m pitching something but i lived in Vegas where it gets dusty as hell and have a friend that works in landscaping out there and i’ve helped him seal a driveway once. I’m no expert but if you have the disposable income to get it i would at least look into it.
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Yeah, as a lifelong resident of drought-prone California, I thought the restrictions against “hosing down your driveway” go back to at least the 1970s. I’m surprised pressure washers can be legally sold here.
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That’s not a pressure washer…
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Needs more @frauenfelder
So, Mark, hoovering your back yard bricks as well as washing them, eh?
(Link goes to a Bissell product.)
I’d recommend MATN’s particularly joyful playthrough of PowerWash Simulator. He has so much fun with it that I suspect that observing his joy is as or more enjoyable than playing yourself; unless you are equally enthusiastic about pressure washing things.
A warning, do not let an OCD person get a hold of a pressure washer, you will not get it back.
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Additional warning: Always make sure that your nozzle tip is firmly attached, you will not get it back.
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We got ourselves a cheap pressure washer after borrowing my uncle’s one to clean off some old paving slabs…
With hose and power extension reels, we can now blitz-clean the house windows, clean my brothers car and my bike in about half an hour, plus it’s lots of fun. “BRRRR” [stuff goes flying] 
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My daughter gave me one of these very toys last Christmas, at my request, and at BoingBoing’s recommendation. It takes forever, but it works really well. Very satisfying, very zen. Best of all, I didn’t electrocute myself. I love it, but I do wish they’d put the handle on the front instead of the back, though.
Here’s a mid-cleaning pic of my 60 year-old driveway, 29 years of which I have owned and never before cleaned.
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I have a different model of the Sun Joe washer, and it’s rarely at my house because my friends are always borrowing it. It’s actually the second one I’ve owned – the motor burned out on the first one and after searching fruitlessly for a replacement motor, I contacted the company and they sold me a new machine at cost. These washers (and gas powered ones) don’t use as much water as you think, because they are low-volume/high-pressure. Besides decks and driveways, I use it for all kinds of stuff: cleaning grills and grates; camper and car washing; siding; stripping paint; degreasing; and more!
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My electric pressure washer would melt down doing my current task, but I do prefer it for all of the other smaller ones.
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