When you do use a powerwasher - use the widest possible nozzle and DO NOT put it close to the paint. If you want to see what a powerwasher can do, wash a board with it. First get it wet, then put the tip closer and closer as you wash. Then put it only a couple of inches away and wash.
You can drill a hole in soft materials and even concrete with a powerwasher. So you can imagine what it will do to your paint.
IF you get too close.
It is a handy tool to help accelerate the focus of water on a spot or dirt, but you should NOT be letting the high pressure water clean a spot that should be done by physical contact. It will damage the surface.
LifeTech is right, you are in effect sand blasting your paint. But like anything, a little can be good, even a little too much can be very, very bad.
As paint ages and gets more brittle/and or metal starts to pit underneath, you absolutely can and probably will lift paint with a powerwasher. If you get lazy and try to speed things up too much, you will eventually be sorry. And you'll probably know when you're doing it so you won't be surprised by the results.
By lazy, I mean letting the tip get close and "do the work" rather than letting time of contact do the work - or multiple passes to let material soften.
That being said, a pressure washer that can draw soap is a good tool to wash your car using less water than a hose. But if it was so good, why wouldn't professional car washes use it? It costs too much in damage.....
I
do use a powerwasher, but you have to make sure that you keep the tips a safe distance from the paint and always keep it moving. The way I use it though is almost blasting a mist of water at the paint to move dirt vs. a blast of water at paint. The former won't do damage, the later can and eventually will - let the paint/surface age enough and it becomes less stable.
Use one that has at least 2.5 gallon per minutes - pressure won't matter so much. If you have less water flow, you'll try to put the tip too close to do the work that a volume of water should be doing and again - you'll be sorry. Again, damage is directly proportional to how close you let that tip get to the surface.
I can say this from having vehicles that are 35 plus years old. You learn things from seeing the feedback on things you do over time. Both good and bad. If you only lease cars and turn them in every two years, have at it with a pressure washer but don't get too close. No one will never know the difference. But if you keep your vehicles a long time, be ginger with the usage of that tip to do something that a wash mitt should be doing!
Again, never, never be temped to put that tip closer to clean a tougher spot that just doesn't seem to be lifting off. You will eventually be sorry with your results. Try cleaning a sidewalk with a heavy duty sprayer for while and you see what what they can do. (And for the record, the heavy duty 3800 psi plus sprayers are the way to go, but you have to be very careful with them. They're like fire. ...Can warm your house or burn it down. You get the volume of water to do the work but you don't have to get so close.)
And NEVER, NEVER, NEVER let one of those tips get within inches of your skin while it's running. It will inject water right into your body.
The only thing more dangerous in that regard is an airless paint sprayer, then your practically commiting suicide. You're "vaccinating" yourself with paint then.
Alan
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Originally Posted by TUNDRA786
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Re: What kind of Pressure washer for car wash?
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