Pressure washers are a fantastic multi-purpose piece of equipment that can be used for a variety of tasks from cleaning sidewalks and gutters, to cleaning your car. But do you know what the best nozzle is to clean the exterior of your vehicle with?
In this article, we’re going to be looking into the best pressure washer tips for car cleaning and answering all the common questions that come with using a pressure washer for car cleaning.
Many car enthusiasts prefer to use pressure washers for a more efficient clean on their vehicle compared to the traditional bucket and sponge. The pressure from the water can lift surface dirt in a fraction of the time it would take to do so manually, but it can also damage your car just as fast!
Choosing the wrong nozzle can lead to your paint becoming damaged and causing a real eyesore on your vehicle. Let’s take a closer look at pressure washer nozzles to identify the best nozzles for vehicle cleaning and the ones to avoid.
Pressure washers usually feature color-coded nozzles to help you differentiate between the PSI levels of each variety. Knowing the difference can be the difference between a clean car, or a damaged one.
The 0° red nozzle is designed to deliver a direct stream to cut through extremely tough stains on hard surfaces such as concrete or metals.
This pressure can be an extreme safety risk when used incorrectly so it is advised you do not use this on your vehicle as it can cause damage. You can identify the nozzle as it has the smallest opening for the water to push through and has the strongest force.
The 15° yellow nozzle is designed to remove dirt from sidewalks and brick and concrete in an angled strip. It is extremely versatile and less dangerous than the red nozzle but isn’t recommended to clean most vehicles. It can be used at a distance on 4×4’s but at your own risk.
The 25° green nozzle can be used for washing dirt and debris from hard surfaces such as your car. It’s great for a pre-wash on wheels, emblems, mats, and grills that may have stubborn grime stuck in hard-to-clean places.
This nozzle isn’t the best for cleaning your entire car as it only sprays a smaller surface area at a time and would consume a lot of your day.
The 40° white nozzle is the best pressure washer tip for cars as it is gentle enough to be safe on windows, mirrors, and other delicate surfaces but can still clean large areas quickly on your vehicle with its wider spray.
Finally, a 65° black nozzle is typically too low in pressure to do any real cleaning or removal of dirt from your car, but it can be a great tool to wet a surface or even spray a cleaning solution across your vehicle ready to be used.
Now we have covered the best pressure washer nozzles to clean your car, you may be wondering what is the best way to clean your vehicle with a pressure washer?
There are several tips shared by insiders of the car industry that can help you to get that fresh out of the dealership shine, without having to pay for a brand new car. Here are some of the top tips for cleaning your vehicle when utilizing a pressure washer.
Before you start cleaning your car with a pressure washer, it’s important you choose a good location to prevent any difficulties.
You may not realize it at the time, but cleaning your car in an area with gravel and stones surrounding it can lead to chipped paintwork where the objects fly up onto your car and end up leaving an eye-sore.
You should also make sure your vehicle is not parked under direct hot sunlight as this can lead to your soaps and foams drying up quickly before you’ve had a chance to properly rinse them off. This is another key problem that leads to water spots forming after you’ve done a fresh cleaning job.
Many car owners are so eager to start using products and cleaning their vehicles that they forget the importance of pre-washing. Using your 25° nozzle you can spray the tires, wheels, and wells to remove as much dirt before you start the real cleaning jobs.
Then switch to the 40° before you start to rinse off the rest of the exterior and help remove as many layers of dirt beforehand so your products can work directly on your vehicle’s paint to enhance and give the best possible results.
When rinsing your cleaning products from your vehicle, start from the roof, windows, and windshield then work down onto the hood & trunk before doing the side and lower panels to ensure you’re removing all the soap effectively.
You may think rinsing is the easiest bit, but commonly there are many areas which we forget to rinse which can leave annoying marks on our fresh clean car. Windows and door seals are often forgotten about and this is a key area for soaps and foams to collect and build up.
You can usually go up to 2500 PSI before it becomes damaging to your vehicle. 2000 PSI or less is the preferred range to clean your vehicle, but as long as you are using pressure washer tips that spread out the spray of water this can reduce the high-pressure impact that can ruin your car’s paint job.
Using 3000 PSI can cause serious damage to your vehicle. The intense high pressure would damage your car unless you stood some distance away, but even then it is very risky. Most machines have the option to lower the output pressure so it is safer to do this.
Pressure washers are fantastic and time-saving when it comes to car cleaning. You can get the specific amount of pressure you want to go from cleaning dirt from your wheels to spraying large areas of your vehicle in seconds with the interchangeable heads.
Some car washes can go up to 2200 PSI. but the average is 1000-1200 PSI at car washes. Getting too close with a DIY car cleaning pressure washer can be just as dangerous as using them at home.
Without pressure washers, it can seem hard to get a good clean on your vehicle. But luckily, you can get attachments for garden hoses that work similarly to the effects of a pressure washer to spray foams and provide a better clean.
Using a pressure washer can feel like a daunting task, especially with the prospect of damaging your paint job and doing more harm than good. We hope our helpful article about the best pressure washer nozzles to clean your car has given you all the knowledge you need alongside our handy tips to give your vehicle a facelift with just a few tools!
