Testing pressure washers isn't an exact science. Mostly I sprayed stuff. A lot of stuff.
The evaluation started when I opened each box. A couple of the pressure washers were packed so well you'd think they were solid gold, and for a couple of others, I'm surprised there weren't more broken pieces than I ended up with (which was just a couple of small plastic covers).
I then had to assemble each washer from the pressure hose to the wand nozzle tip. I like to assemble things so that part of the process wasn't so bad. There aren't too many surprises when it comes to pressure washer builds. It's either going to be an upright gas-powered pressure washer cart or a low and wide (and usually heavier) type of model. For the electric models, assembly was generally more complete out of the box. Usually just a couple of plastic covers or handles to attach.
I like the integrated hose reel on this unit. As well, I'm a fan of the spray wand dock with the additional tip support at the bottom of the unit.
Steve Conaway/CNETAll but a couple of the units made good use of current efficiencies in the assembly process, such as spring-loaded pins or other geometrically snapping pieces. The outlier, from the lesser-known brand Teande, still relied on bolts and lock nuts for everything. It came with a screwdriver and wrenches, but I still spent as long assembling that one washer as I did all the others combined. The Rock&Rocker electric unit also relied largely on physical screws for assembly.
My favorite thing about this unit is its ability to effectively store and transport all of its pieces. Shown here are the spray nozzle tips with integrated storage on the spray nozzle handle.
Steve Conaway/CNETThe next thing I looked for was how they handled the different pressure nozzle tip types. A big contention point for me is when a manufacturer decides to offer less than the five standard nozzle tips. It's often the yellow 15-degree tip that gets bumped, and for me, that's the money tip. I have lots of concrete outside of my house and using anything other than a yellow tip would take me forever to finish. The yellow tip is probably the one I use the most overall, not just for concrete. Yes, I'm aware you can buy one for a few bucks, but they probably only cost a few cents to make.
A major note on this topic: For electric pressure washers, the standard seems to be offering the turbo tip and two to three other tips, almost always excluding the red tip. This is likely due to the normally lower-than-gas-models' psi range, but I still like the options, even at the lower pressure ranges.
I was excited when I reached this point with the Ryobi gas-powered pressure washer and its five-in-one nozzle design. Imagine all five tips being available at all times. My excitement faded when I realized that Ryobi, like so many others, had neglected the 15-degree tip and in its place had a second soap and detergent surface cleaner nozzle. Plus one bonus point for a five-in-one. It lost one point for no 15-degree option, plus it lost 10 points for getting my hopes up. The Craftsman CMCPW250D1 comes with a five-in-one tip that includes the 0, 15, 25, 40 and soap tips.
Speaking of surface cleaner soap and detergents, they've gotta go somewhere, and the best place is an onboard reservoir. I don't often use detergents with my pressure washer. When I do, and when I need to move, it's annoying to deal with the hose (even when the washer has a hose reel), the spray nozzle wand, the bucket of detergent and the high-pressure washer itself. With an onboard reservoir, you can just move the gas pressure washer while still holding the wand, letting the pressure washer hose drag behind you. I love the simple efficiency of it. The Teande was on my bad side after the assembly process, but I did like that it tried including two detergent reservoirs, each separately controlled.
The Teande's double reservoir.
Steve Conaway/CNETHaving two separate reservoirs allows you to load two different types of detergent simultaneously. This is handy if you have varied hard surfaces you're trying to clean, and need to switch back and forth. Otherwise, with a single reservoir, you'd be forced to deplete the first detergent entirely before loading the second.
The rest is really just an inventory game. All the models have power washer hoses and spray wands. As previously mentioned, only the DeWalt stood out in those categories. They all have wheels, varying engine sizes, extra parts, oil and so on. The Craftsman did have one unique feature that I liked: a rope guide for the engine pull cord that moved the resting spot for the pull handle up above the engine on the frame closer to you if you were standing behind it. After so many hours of dealing with pressure washers, I was happy not to have to bend over quite as far to start this one.
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