The 7 Best Pressure Washers to Clean Your Outdoor Space

Buying one of the best pressure washers is the time-saving alternative to manually scrubbing your patios, driveways and garden furniture.  

The best pressure washers are a valuable addition to your tool shed to help you perfect your garden design. They will make light work of the grime and moss that's built up on decking and patios, and unlike using a hose, pressure washers provide immaculate results far easier and far quicker, and utilise more power. 

They can also be effective at cleaning your car (which is convenient if you own multiple vehicles) as well as bikes, garage doors and gutters. 

Pressure washers come in a range of sizes, prices and power options, and if they come with accessories then that's a bonus to be looking out for. For example, if you specifically want a pressure washer for patio cleaning then make sure you purchase a model that comes with a patio cleaner.

Not sure where to start in looking for one? Use this guide to the best pressure washers around to learn which model is best for your home. 

Best Pressure Washers

If you've never used a pressure washer and you're looking for a simple-to-use, affordable model to get you started, look no further than the Kärcher K2.

Kärcher is arguably the leading pressure washer brand, and the K2 is one of the best Kärcher pressure washers. This is a full control system, which means it will handily guide you through which pressure to use depending on your task of choice. It's lightweight too and easy to carry with you while cleaning - but if you don't fancy carrying it, just use its wheels. 

It comes with accessories including a high-pressure gun and hose, plus full control lances and a cable, which are great for cleaning large areas of patios and decking, and even cars and bikes.

There are four settings to choose from, and the application of detergent is as effective blasting dirt on patios and driveways as it is cleaning more delicate materials, such as wood. 

Once you've finished, simply collapse the telescopic handle down, and use the on-board storage to store your accessories. Easy. 

The Kärcher K4 Premium Power Control Pressure Washer is a mid-range washer aimed at domestic use yet powerful enough to tackle an extensive list of hardcore cleaning tasks.

Novices will find it easy to get the hand of, especially with the step-by-step washing instructions on the Kärcher Home & Garden app, which guides you through the stages required for your clean and how to adjust the pressure. As well as car washing, it also gives guidance on cleaning bikes, paving slabs and other projects around the home and garden. 

Its power is pleasantly surprising, and it can dirt-bust a wide range of surfaces with ease and will help keep your garden and motor looking shiny and new. 

Alongside the two main nozzles, this model is supplied with a Home Kit, which is a patio cleaning brush and stone detergent, plus Car Kit with foam nozzle, wash brush and car shampoo. 

Read our full Kärcher K4 Premium Power Control Pressure Washer review

The Worx Hydroshot WG630E.1 allows you to get to work without a plug-in power source and can draw its water supply from any body of water. 

While it doesn't pack the power of corded machines, it suits homes with a smaller garden or deck or properties with hard-to-access areas where power or water supply is difficult.

It comes with five pressure settings including a low-power soak option (ideal for vegetable beds) and the energy-efficient brushless motor means that even when it's on full power it's still surprisingly quiet. 

Another benefit is that it comes in parts, so it's very straightforward to store in its original box. 

It takes around 45 minutes to fully charge and runs for just shy of 25 minutes on full power. 

Read our full Worx Hydroshot WG630E.1 Pressure Washer 

The Kärcher K7 Premium Smart Control Pressure Washer is one of the best all-rounders thanks to its range of use, power and brilliant accessories.

Its power (courtesy of a 180 bar max pressure, the highest on this list) makes it well-suited for cleaning large patios and driveways. And one of the accessories, a 3-in-1 Multi Jet lance (Vario, dirt blaster and detergent), lets you select the perfect cleaning mode for your application, providing an efficient clean of a range of items including furniture, decking, windows and cars.

Its size is another noteworthy feature, boasting on-board storage for the accessories, which include a telescopic handle, the full control lances, and the T7 T-Racer Surface Cleaner to help you clean large surfaces. 

And like with the K4 it comes with the Kärcher Home & Garden app, which is brilliantly user-friendly and handy if you're not confident about cleaning with the K7 for the first time. 

The only reason this doesn't feature higher in this list is because of the price - and while it is certainly value for money, the Kärcher K2 and K4 are more budget-friendly models. 

For frequent washes this model from Nilfisk fits the bill, thanks to seven pressure levels which make it easy to do a variety of cleaning tasks. You can use higher pressure blasts to clean dirt and lower power jobs to clean decorative paving, for example. 

The PowerGrip control on the gun handle is an extra benefit, especially for those who are eco-conscious, because it controls the pressure remotely from the trigger, allowing you to save energy and water when you don’t need a higher pressure.

You get several accessories for your buck too, including a patio cleaner and a nozzle jet cleaning tool. It also comes with a telescopic handle and hose reel, so it's easy to store away once you've used it. 

This Ryobi pressure washer has a lot to offer for its inviting price tag. It features varying power levels meaning you can easily switch between cleaning jobs, and includes a durable and flexible steel-armed hose, which is great for cleaning hard-to-reach areas, such as removing dirt and moss from patios. 

Its design is strong too. Compact and upright and with a built-in handle, it is easy to manoeuvre - aided further by the wheels - and it is simple to store. 

The kit includes a trigger gun, Vario lance, turbo lance, and a 5m steel-armed hose, and there is on-board storage for the accessories. It also comes with an on-demand detergent function which is easily accessible during use. 

It's not as powerful as the Kärcher K7 or as user-friendly as the Kärcher K2, but it is an effective pressure washer that will return good results on a multitude of cleaning jobs. 

One of the best compact pressure washers around, the Bosch EasyAquatak 110 is great for cleaning awkward nooks and crannies and tackling smaller tasks around the garden. 

It's easy to work through push-fit connections, and it comes with multiple attachments: a high-pressure gun, a 3m high-pressure hose, a variable fan jet nozzle and rotary nozzle, and a high-pressure detergent nozzle for deeper cleaning. 

The high-pressure detergent nozzle is particularly impressive, helping you save time on cleaning through an auto-stop system. This means that it only delivers power when it's needed, which is energy-efficient too. 

It is lightweight and easy to move around the garden, but not the most powerful - if you're after something similar, but for bigger tasks, then check out the Bosch Universal Aquatak 135.

How to Choose the Best Pressure Washer

Arguably the two biggest considerations when buying the best pressure washer for you are your budget, and how often you will be using it. 

Naturally, if you only plan to use it once in a while on small jobs, like cleaning brickwork or bikes, then you can afford to pay less. But if you want a model that will last you a long time, and enable you to perform a variety of cleaning tasks through frequent uses, then you will need to pay a bit more.  

Additionally, keep an eye out for these factors when perusing for your item. 

Pressure

The bigger the pressure, the bigger the jobs your pressure washer can handle.

As a rough guide, smaller corded models tend to have a 100 bar pressure, which will be sufficient for cleaning bikes, furniture and decking; mid-range models will have a 120 bar pressure, which is more effective for tackling tasks such as guttering; and larger models will have more than a 130 bar pressure which is better for cleaning large patios and driveways. 

Hose length

Knowing how long the hose will be (and the lengths of any attachments) is key. If you want to clean the end of your drive, you'll need to go for a model that can reach (cordless options are available too). But if you just need to clean your bike in the back garden then a longer hose length isn't as essential.  

Accessories

Most pressure washers come with accessories, but it's prudent to explore whether these will offer a benefit to your cleaning needs. If you want to clean your patio then you'll want to ensure it comes with a patio cleaner, and while a rotating car brush can be handy, it's not going to be that useful if you don't plan on using it. 

How we Test Pressure Washers

There's a lot to consider when buying one of the best pressure washers, and the Homebuilding & Renovating team is getting hands-on experience with the products in this buying guide to help you feel confident in choosing the right model for you. 

In our ongoing independent reviews we are testing the cleaning power and ease of use to gauge each pressure washer's efficacy, and assessing key factors including the size of the patios or decking the washer was tested on, and value for money. 

We’re also reviewing everything in-between from included attachments to which households will most benefit from buying a specific pressure washer. 

Our team is passionate about DIY and home improvement (which probably won’t be a surprise) so we already have detailed knowledge about the brands that make these pressure washers. Moreover, we have taken into account user reviews when compiling this buying guide, and gleaned key information from our sister sites such as Real Homes and Ideal Home to help you find the best pressure washer for your home.

Find out more about how we test on our page. Here are a few of our Homebuilding & Renovating pressure washer testers:

Linda Clayton

Linda Clayton is an experienced journalist, specialising in home, interiors and fitness for more than two decades. She’s a fastidious product reviewer, design obsessive, serial renovator, and amateur runner. She has reviewed the Kärcher K4 Premium Power Control Pressure Washer for Homebuilding & Renovating.

Emma Downer

Emma is a UK-based DIY educator who guides people through home improvement tasks such as tiling a kitchen wall or fixing a leaky tap. She is testing new tools and appliances to help make these tasks easier, and has reviewed the Worx Hydroshot WG630E.1 Pressure Washer for Homebuilding & Renovating.