My Afternoon with the Karcher

Okay, so I finally bit the bullet and got one of those yellow Karcher pressure washers. Been meaning to get one for ages, the patio was looking seriously grim. Pulled the thing out of the box, wasn't too much fuss putting it together. Snapped the handle on, attached the hose holder bit, felt pretty straightforward. The main unit itself felt sturdy enough, not too heavy but not flimsy either.

Next up was hooking everything together. Grabbed my garden hose, clicked it onto the machine's inlet. That part was easy, standard hose connector. Then plugged the power cord in. Honestly, the cord could be longer. Had to fetch an extension lead to reach the far side of the garden, which is always a bit annoying, adds another connection to worry about.

Turned on the tap, checked for leaks – all good. Took a deep breath and switched the machine on. It hums to life, not crazy loud but you know it's running. Picked up the spray gun, felt decent in the hand. Gave it a first squeeze.

Whoa.

Yeah, that thing kicks. Started with the patio slabs. I used the nozzle that gives a more focused jet first. You could literally see the dirt lifting off in strips, like peeling paint. It was pretty satisfying, not gonna lie. Moved back and forth, trying to keep it even. You gotta keep moving, otherwise you can kinda etch lines into the stone if you stay in one spot too long, especially with the stronger nozzle.

After doing a test patch, I switched to the wider spray nozzle for the main area. Covered ground quicker and felt a bit safer for the slabs. It still cut through the green slime and general muck really well. Took me maybe an hour to do the whole patio area, which would have taken ages scrubbing by hand.

• Got quite a bit of splashback, definitely wear old clothes and boots.
• The high-pressure hose itself is pretty stiff, had to untangle it a couple of times.
• Moving the unit around was okay on the flat patio, wheels worked fine.

Then I thought, why not try the car? Swapped to the gentlest nozzle attachment Karcher provided. Started from the top, worked my way down. It’s great for getting mud off the wheel arches and rinsing off soap. Wouldn't use the high-power jet on the paintwork, obviously, but the fan spray was good for a pre-rinse and final rinse.

Finished up, switched it off, disconnected the hose. Let the pressure out of the gun like the instructions said. Rolled up the power cord and the high-pressure hose. Storage is decent, it has little slots and hooks for the attachments and cables.

Overall? Pretty pleased. Made a dirty job much faster and the results are spot on. The patio looks ten times better. Yeah, the cord could be longer and the hose is a bit stiff, but it does what it's supposed to do, and it does it well. Solid afternoon's work.