Best Pressure Washer Surface Cleaners

What to Consider When Buying a Pressure Washer Surface Cleaner

1) Compatibility with your pressure washer

The first thing you need to narrow down your selection is to consider what types of surface cleaners your pressure washer is compatible with. Here are some of the specific things to look for:

PSI Range
The pressure generated by a pressure washer is a big factor in choosing your surface cleaner. Say you are using a large diameter surface cleaner (18”+). You naturally need more pressure to ensure that the pressure of the water distributed amongst the different nozzles is high enough and you are able to clean a surface thoroughly.

Similarly, if you are using a small diameter surface cleaner (say 10″) with a machine that falls under a higher PSI count than recommended, it might result in damage to the surface being cleaned or to the surface cleaner itself

The aim is to keep within the range recommended and get the best out of the surface cleaner.

GPM Range
Gallons per minute is a measurement of the amount of water that runs through the pressure washer. The higher the GPM, the faster the job can be accomplished. Similar to the PSI range, a surface cleaner has a defined GPM range and works best within it.

The larger the GPM of your pressure washer, the bigger the diameter of the surface cleaner you can use. This is because the water flows in enough quantity to ensure that a wider surface is cleaned.

Using a pressure washer with a lower GPM will result in an underwhelming performance, whereas one with a higher GPM than advised, might result in damage to the surface cleaner.

Connecting Mechanism
Most surface cleaners come with a ⅜” or ¼” quick-connect plug (or both). It is important to check the connections on your pressure washer before making a purchase. If you do not consider this factor, you might have to purchase an additional adapter.

Max water temperature
Like pressure washers, surface cleaners work with either hot or cold water. Hot water surface cleaners come with the benefit of deeper cleaning. However, most pressure washers (and therefore surface cleaners) operate within the cold water range.

Check what kind of water your pressure washer uses and make sure that is ok for the surface cleaners you are considering.

2) Width of the surface cleaner

Want to clean a large surface area in a shorter amount of time? The larger the diameter of your surface cleaner, the more ground you can cover with each swipe. But is bigger always better?

If you use an electric pressure washer—especially a light-duty one—it is best to go with a smaller diameter surface cleaner (10” to 15”). This is because an electric pressure washer will not generate enough pressure or provide enough water to clean a wider area effectively. Gas pressure washers are more powerful and can be effectively used with wider surface cleaners.

You must also take into consideration the size of the surface you want to clean. For example, using a big dome over a narrow path will result in obstructions and improper cleaning, as the dome cannot cover all the nooks and corners.

On the other hand, using a small diameter surface cleaner over a large surface will defeat the main purpose of the surface cleaner, to accomplish the job quickly. It is also possible that using a smaller surface cleaner can cause damage to property and over splash from the large amounts of water being released.

3) Integrated handles vs. non-integrated handles

Integrated handles are a good feature to have in a surface cleaner. They allow you to gain more control over the movement of your surface cleaner, with a much lesser amount of effort. These surface cleaners often come with trigger handles that can be connected to the pressure washer and squeezed to release the water.

Surface cleaners with non-integrated handles can be directly connected to the spray wand. Doing this turns the spray wand into your handle to guide the surface cleaner around. Many surface cleaners come with extension wands too to make the spray-handle longer.

Even though the integrated handles might sound like the clear choice, you have to consider that integrated handles are expensive, occupy a large chunk of space in storage, and are heavy. If you won’t be using the surface cleaner regularly, it might be best to go with a surface cleaner without integrated handles

4) Wheels vs. no wheels

Some pressure washers come with wheels that allow the surface cleaner to glide easily over the surface being cleaned. These wheels also provide additional support to the cleaning assembly. Some surface cleaners come with stainless steel castors, that make it sturdy and allow for 360° movement of the dome.

However, surface cleaners with wheels as supports are more expensive than their counterparts without wheels. Surface cleaners without wheels are stable as well and might be a better option if you are looking for something that costs less and your cleaning jobs are smaller.

5) Customer reviews

Customers that have used the product are a great source to learn about the hard realities of its performance. We have scanned through customer reviews to give you an idea of actual users’ experiences when it comes to all the surface cleaners mentioned in this guide.

You may be able to find out a lot more about the durability and the performance of the product by going through customer reviews. For example, one of the things we discovered was that lightweight and light-duty surface cleaners are often made with plastic and can feel cheap.

Additionally, some surface cleaner companies deliver good customer service whereas others can be a little more difficult to deal with.