The manual advises that once you've turned off the main switch, you should then operate the trigger to drain any remaining water from inside the high pressure hose. For cleaning our patio and the car we didn't need to use this as the water on its own was enough to get rid of the dirt. I'd also be mindful of using detergent on our patio as I wouldn't want the run-off water to soak into the soil and damage our plants. Plus with a puppy that likes to drink/eat anything in sight, detergent-filled water all over the patio is far from ideal! I can imagine that over winter when the car is really muddy and dirty, however, that the detergent attachment could be a useful addition. A pressure washer can be used for a whole host of cleaning tasks and this will affect which attachments and settings you use.

The higher the power, the harder the machine will be able to work on tough areas, but some surfaces may require a lighter touch. If you haven't used a pressure washer a great deal, then it's quite easy to get the hang of it. However, there are a few things I learned the hard way about how to use a pressure washer. The Bosch Aquatak 135 pressure washer is a well-built and relatively powerful machine with good cleaning effectiveness. It was efficient at removing dirt and grime on any given surface. It's a good mid-range machine and the three pressure settings mean you select the right pressure for the job at hand. The compact design of the pressure washer means it fits neatly into a corner of our garden shed and it doesn't take up much space. Handy when the shed feels like its bursting at the seams with garden tools, garden furniture cushions, the best pizza oven and a mass of children's garden toys.The handle folds down so it takes up less room and there’s also on-board storage for the power cable, lance and sprayer so it's easy to store everything together in one spot.It's easy to move the pressure washer to where you need it by lifting it using the large handle on top of the machine. It has large wheels so you can also pull it along. The handle is extendable for complete ease of use, so even if you're tall like I am, it's easy to reach down for the handle and pull it along behind you. Don't try and pull it by the hose as you could risk damaging the attachment, plus it could topple over and damage the main body of the machine. When cleaning vertical surfaces, apply the detergent from bottom to top. When rinsing off, work from top to bottom. It easily washed any of the mud splatter off the surfaces, and I was careful not to aim the jet at any of the window or door seals in case it caused any water ingress.

In our video guide, we outline all of the above points and demonstrate how to use a pressure washer on both vulnerable, easily damaged surfaces and larger areas, such as paths and patios. Electricity is by far the best way to power pressure washers for cars. This is because gas-powered devices are much more powerful and likely to cause damage to paintwork. Gas-powered pressure washers are mainly used in industrial applications. These pressure washers are ideal for most households. Machines in this range should be able to cope with cleaning paving and garden furniture as well as cars. Versatile Cleaning– The Aquatak 135 includes a trio Nozzle with fan, rotary, and pencil jet settings. Perfect for a variety of cleaning tasks around the home. What we love about Bosch’s new addition to its power wash range is the thought put into all of the features. There is even an IoT cloud so that its customers can access all of its services across Bosch from a single cloud, similar to Google or the I-Cloud!That being said, this spring they were in a particularly bad state after a very wet and muddy winter where the garden and patio often resembled a paddling pool rather than a welcoming spot to sit outside. The weather had taken its toll on the paving slabs and the patio and garden path were in serious need of a good clean. These mistakes are definitely down to user error, however, and not the pressure washer. I found the Bosch Universal Aquatak 135 pressure washer pretty simple to use. It's easy to set up, switch between modes and cleans a wide range of surfaces with ease. Additional features of the Bosch Universal Aquatak 135 pressure washer For a standard car, a mid-range pressure washer should do the job. 4x4s that see a lot of heavy duty use, caravans or commercial vehicles may need a higher end model. All the pressure cleaners we tested are designed to clean cars and camper vans, as well as bikes when you’re out and about. You will need to keep in mind the run time and possibly charge more than once for larger vehicles. Handling. Looked at comfort, weight, balance and grip, including features like a safety button, the runtime, and noise.

It's also possible to buy extra attachments for the Bosch Universal Aquatak 135 pressure washer. These include things like a wash brush, car cleaning kit, a range of nozzles and an extension hose. Specific car cleaning attachments are also available, including angled tools for reaching beneath the body of the car and brushes to softly clean the bodywork. I'll be upfront here and say that our patio has certainly seen better days! It's on the list to be replaced when we extend our house in the coming months, so the pavers are quite old and we haven't been the best at keeping on top of cleaning them. The paving is a chequerboard design of alternating red and yellow-toned slabs so having them covered with a slight layer of dirt actually helps to mask this awful colour combination! In the past we've used the good old-fashioned method of scrubbing the patio with a broom and water to give it a refresh after winter. We tested a range of pressure washers and pressure cleaners, putting them through their paces on a range of surfaces. They were assessed according to the following criteria with equal marks attributed to each:Bosch also has these tips for storing your pressure washer away for several months if you're not going to be using it over winter: The Sealey pressure washer has a low centre of gravity and can sit uprigiht on two bigger wheels or go down onto its other two smaller wheels, so it’s really easy to pull it around behind you. It doesn’t have as high a power output as some of the others here, but the cleaning performance is still perfectly good. There’s nowhere to rest the lance mid-wash, though, and then it has to be split up to be stored. Fan-, turbo- and angled nozzles are included, but we’d expect more attachments at this price. When storing the Bosch Universal Aquatak 135 pressure washer, you need to make sure that you don't place the main body of the pressure washer on top of any of the cables, or twist the high pressure hose either as this could permanently damage it. There are a couple of excellent reasons why the Bosch tops our pressure washer test. First, it’s well priced despite delivering really excellent, high-pressure performance and a good selection of accessories. Secondly, it’s a neat design that feels really well made and is also compact, with a hinged and foldable rear handle. High Pressure– Boasting a 135bar pressure capability, high pressure gun and reliable 3 cylinder pump, the Aquatak 135 is the ultimate cleaning accessory.