So, the patio. Let me tell you, it had seen better days. Years, actually. Looked like some sort of modern art experiment gone wrong with moss and who-knows-what-else. I’d been putting it off, you know how it is, but eventually, you just gotta tackle the beast.

Getting the Hoover Out

I’ve had this Hoover pressure washer sitting in the garage for a bit. Wasn't the fanciest model, not one of those gas-guzzling monsters, just a regular electric one. I remember unboxing it, all shiny and promising. Seemed straightforward enough – plug it in, connect the hose, and blast away. Or so I thought. The instructions were, well, pictures mostly. You know the type.

First job was getting it all hooked up. Water hose on, power cable unwound. Then came the nozzles. It came with a couple, and figuring out which one to start with was a bit of a guess. I went for what looked like a general-purpose one. Didn't want to accidentally strip paint off something on the first try, you know?

The Actual Grime Busting (or Attempting To)

Alright, moment of truth. Squeezed the trigger. The Hoover whirred to life, a bit louder than I expected indoors, but outside it was fine. Pointed it at the filthiest paving slab I could find. And here’s where the real fun began.

That first pass? It sort of… pushed the surface dirt around. It wasn’t that deeply satisfying, clean sweep you see in those videos. Nope. This was going to take some effort. I realized pretty quick that the angle and distance mattered. A lot. Too far, and you're just giving the patio a light shower. Too close with the wrong nozzle, and you risk gouging things out. I wasn't cleaning wood, thankfully, just old concrete and stone.

I spent a good chunk of time experimenting.

• Different sweep patterns.
• Adjusting how close I held the lance.
• Switching out the nozzles.

Found out the more focused, pinpoint nozzle was great for stubborn spots but incredibly slow for large areas. The wider fan nozzle covered more ground but needed more passes on the really caked-on grime. It was a trade-off, like most things in life, eh?

And the mess! Water and loosened muck flying everywhere. Definitely not a job for your Sunday best. I was soaked pretty quickly, mostly from the spray bouncing back off the walls and the ground. My shoes were squelching. It’s not glamorous, this pressure washing business, let me tell you.

Making Some Real Progress

After about an hour of faffing about and learning the machine's quirks, I started to get into a rhythm. Slow, steady sweeps. Overlapping each pass. It was tedious, I won’t lie. My back started to complain a bit. But then, you start seeing the original color of the stone peek through. That’s the payoff. That’s when you think, okay, this is actually working.

The Hoover itself, it just kept chugging along. No overheating, no weird noises, just did its job. For a basic home unit, I was pretty content with its performance. It wasn't blasting stuff to kingdom come like some industrial unit, but for shifting years of accumulated garden gunk, it was proving its worth. I didn’t even bother with detergent for this round, just pure water power.

The Aftermath and Thoughts

Took me a good few hours to do the whole patio area. It was knackering. But standing back and looking at it afterwards? Big difference. Not brand-spanking new, mind you, the years leave their mark. But clean. Respectably clean. You could actually see the patterns in the paving stones again, which I’d forgotten were even there.

So, the Hoover pressure washer. It’s a tool. It does what it’s supposed to do, provided you put in the effort and learn how to use it properly. It’s not magic. There’s no easy button for shifting stubborn dirt, not really. But it definitely beats scrubbing the whole thing by hand with a brush. I wouldn't want to do that, no sir.

Would I do it again? Yeah, probably next year when it all gets mucky again. But I’ll remember to wear proper waterproofs next time. And maybe stretch a bit first. Live and learn, right?