Okay, so I recently went down this rabbit hole trying to figure out the best PSI for pressure washing. You know, that sweet spot where you're actually cleaning stuff and not just blasting paint off the walls. It was a whole thing, let me tell you about it.

First off, I figured, "Eh, more pressure is better, right?" Wrong! I grabbed my buddy's super powerful gas-powered washer, thing was a BEAST. I started on my deck, and bam! Ripped a chunk right out of the wood. That was a quick lesson in "maybe not so much."

So, back to the drawing board. I started doing some digging online, watching videos, reading forums – you know, the usual. Found a ton of conflicting info, naturally. Some people swore by low pressure, others were all about the high-powered stuff. It was a mess.

Next, I decided to experiment a little. I started with the lower PSI settings on my own electric pressure washer (thankfully, I didn't ruin my buddy's!). Started around 1200 PSI on the driveway. It did okay on the surface dirt, but those stubborn oil stains? Barely budged.

Then, I bumped it up to around 1800 PSI. Much better! The surface dirt was gone in seconds, and even the oil stains started to lift with a little elbow grease (and the right nozzle, which is a whole other story!).

Here's what I learned through all this messing around:

• Different surfaces need different PSI. Soft wood like my deck? Keep it low, like under 800 PSI. Concrete? You can go higher.
• Nozzles matter! A wider nozzle spreads the pressure, a narrow one concentrates it. Use the right one for the job.
• Detergents are your friend. A good pressure washing detergent can make a huge difference, especially on tough stains.
• Start low and go higher. Always better to start with lower pressure and gradually increase until you find the sweet spot.

Ultimately, I found that around 1800-2200 PSI was the best all-around pressure for most of my needs – driveway, siding, fences. But, and this is a big but, you always need to be careful and test a small, inconspicuous area first.

Now, I'm no expert, but after nearly destroying my deck and spending way too much time researching pressure washers, I think I have a pretty good handle on the whole PSI thing. Hope this helps someone avoid the same mistakes I made!

A little bit extra info

Oh! I almost forgot, based on my experience for cars, I believe the best psi is 1200-1900 psi.