Pressure washers, salt and rust

J

JHZR2

New member
Hello,



Im looking into buying a small electric pressure washer, potentially, to help with protection of the car from salt.



But after searching here and on the interweb all over, I am unable to determine if there is any real utility gained from such a device.



So, my question is, if you have salt on a car, in the wheelwells, undercarriage, etc., does a pressure washer provide any benefit, such as superior removal of salt residues or whatnot?



Id be comparing to, say, a jet setting on a standard residential supply, which is about 60 psi.



Any thoughts on pressure washers and salt residue removal? Id assume they are better with getting junk out of the wheelwells and reaching more places, but a wand on a hose is cheaper and easier, so if it works nearly as well... what is the point? It seems like most electric pressure washers are fairly unreliable...



Thanks!



JMH
 
for reference, I have a good honda, with a cat pump. Id be looking for an electric - Id love to buy a Kranzle, as they seem like the best electrics, but are $$$.



Id prefer to just get an $89 karcher that is just a hand-carry item, not even on wheels...



But only if it makes sense, and does a real nice job so Ill want to use it a lot in the winter. Right now, I have a hand-pressurized fertilizer sprayer that I use to spray salt-away into the wheelwells...
 
JHZR2- Welcome to Autopia!



IMO the pressure washer will provide greater *convenience*, but that's about it.



I can no longer use a pw as my current shop is too packed with cars/etc. and I can't risk overspray going everywhere, and I have *zero* problems cleaning all the salt/etc. off. It *does* take longer though.



It's not like you really *need* the higher pressure to get to/dissolve the salt IME.



But if the overspray issue doesn't apply in your case, you might still consider getting one. It can be a nice way to do an initial pre-wash without touching the vehicle; little risk of marring and an effective way of getting the worst of the gritty winter [stuff] off the paint before doing your regular wash routine.



You mentioned using a wand- I have an undercar wand from American Waterbroom (expensive thing :eek: ) that I've used for maybe 20 years. It's good for an initial/final rinse and will even do a so-so (or better) job if used without a true nook-and-cranny, by-hand cleanup (which I do with brushes/etc. between those two rinses). It worked well for me even before I got my current boosted water pressure
 
I have found that most pressure washers use very little water, but make good use of it. But if you have a normal hose with good pressure I think that works pretty well also. I almost never use my PW since I got a faucet with hot/cold water for my hose. It seems to rinse the winter dirt away very effectively, before I even touch anything=less marring. For the undercarriage I just get down on my knees and point it under there and try to do as good as I can. Sometimes I use an APC mix in a pesticide sprayer before I hose it.

And like Accumulator said, it gives more overspray and sometimes I feel the wand is more in my way than helping me.
 
Mark77 said:
I..and sometimes I feel the wand is more in my way than helping me.
Click to expand...



Yeah, the last time I *had* to use a pw in wheelwells (really nasty, never-cleaned ones on an old Jag) it was a PIA getting the nozzle in there. Even with a flex attachment that shoulda made it easy, well...it just *wasn't* all that easy.



For normal wheelwell rinsing, I put a plastic female quick disconnect fitting on the end of the hose (downstream from a shutoff). Said fitting looks kinda like a plastic mushroom, and is easy to manipulate inside the wheelwells. Between adjusting the shutoff on this fitting, and the shutoff before it, it's possible to get a pretty good selection of spray patterns and pressures. And being plastic you can get away with a little bumping/etc. of stuff you wouldn't want to hit with metal.
 
I would be a little worried that the pressure washer will wash off some of the underbody rust protection the put on some cars. My Subaru has this gooey, tacky substance they sprayed all over the underbody, I wonder if pressure washing it to remove salt would compromise it. Maybe a regular hose & nozzle would be preferable.
 
Yal said:
I would be a little worried that the pressure washer will wash off some of the underbody rust protection the put on some cars..
Click to expand...



IMO that'll depend on both the rustproofing and how the pressure washer is employed.
 
They both have advantages, i like a normal hose because you can reach inside the wheel well lip, which most PW nozzles can not reach.
 
I used my craftsman power washer a few times this winter. I connect it to the sink in my garage that has both hot and cold water and use it with the lower pressure nozzle to clean up under the car and in the wheel wells. (not an issue fitting it with an SUV). I can also use it with the soap dispensing nozzle to clean even better. A regular hose is fine but I have well water so saving water is a must. Keep in mind that I use it for the major dirt/salt. I still put the car in the garage and wash it via ONR afterwards.



Cheers



Nick
 
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