This week I amazed myself when I actually enjoyed washing the car. I have to be honest this is normally something I avoid with all my might but the arrival of my new Karcher K4 Compact Pressure washer for review meant I had to try it out. Having received the SC2500 Steam Cleaner a couple of months ago from Karcher and this quickly establishing itself as my cleaning equipment of choice I did have an inkling I might like the pressure washer too!
The
rumour really does seem to be true, German engineering and products are very
high quality and work exceptionally well. I first received the Karcher K4 Compact
Home pressure washer, but sadly it appeared to have been damaged in transit as
one of the plastic wheels was smashed in the box. I got in touch with the PR
company and then Karcher and once I spoke to someone at Karcher they quickly
arranged for a courier to come and collect my product on a day that suited me.
Even
before my old product had been collected they made sure I was sent a new
replacement; the one I received this time was a different model, the Karcher K4
Compact and this meant it did not have the T-racer head, long arm and hard
surface cleaner so I was not able to try those out. As a reviewer I obviously did
not mind which model I received but I am sure as a paying customer I would have
received the exact same model I was sending back. Karcher do seem to care about
their customer service as I received a couple of emails from one of their
customer service team leaders to make sure my problem had been sorted.
The
model I received retails for £189.99 from Karcher but if you shop around I saw
it on the web for as low as £149.99 and this is a really good price as this is
not the basic entry level pressure washer. It has a 130 bar pressure which means
it can really blast some dirt off whatever it is you are cleaning and it is 1.8
watts which again will indicate a high level of performance.
Pressure
washers are becoming more popular nowadays as there are so many jobs that they
make light work of – clearing out the guttering, washing the car or bike, freshening
up garden furniture or children’s plastic toys ready for the summer and cleaning
your patio, steps, conservatory roof, window sills or anything else you fancy!
My
K4 compact pressure washer came with a vario flow attachment and a dirtbuster.
I used the vario flow for cleaning my car and it sure had some power in it, I
used it on high and every now and then turned the nozzle just a little more
towards high and it gave it a kind of extra blast which was able to get grease
marks and ground in dirt off my car and wheels. The main use for me will be
cleaning my car as it took hardly any time at all and once I buy the brush attachment it will become even easier.
I loved the fact that my Karcher pressure washer has wheels and a lift up handle, this means I can wheel it down to my car rather than have to carry the 14.1kg equipment. It is also good that the arm and the 2 attachments can be stored in the back of the washer itself. I was not sure where the high pressure hose and electric wire are supposed to go though as there was no clear area for these to be able to be wound around nicely, I think that is an opportunity missed.
As
I’m lucky and I live in an estate where I do not have to do any maintenance work
to my home or the 220 acres of gardens that we live in (except window cleaning,
yawn) I have limited need to use my pressure washer for much else right now but
my parents have already eyed it up as their patio is very dirty and mossy and
they want to give that a blast. We were a little unsure at first if they could
use it as they do not have an outside tap with hosepipe attachment but actually
the pressure washer can be fed from a water butt or anything else that holds
lots of water and you can put a syphon hose in, clever stuff! The dirtbuster
attachment is the one they will use as this gives about 50% extra power to the normal
high pressure spray, this means their patio will get a real good clean when I
take it down to them.
I
am very happy with my pressure washer and I know it will get lots of use. I would
certainly buy Karcher products again and I am happy to recommend the K4
compact. If you want to see the K4 in
action then have a look at the excellent
videos over on Mummy of
Two’s blog.
Here
are my list of plus Points –
·
My Karcher pressure washer comes with a 3 year warranty, which is
pretty darn impressive as most things nowadays just seem to be a 1 or 2 year warranty.
·
It works really well and does what it is supposed to do in minimal
time, with the 2 different attachments for varied types of jobs.
·
For the power it has the pressure washer is compact and the wheels
and long handle make it easy to move about.
·
It has a detergent suction hose with filter so I can connect
shampoo or patio cleaning detergents etc for use with the high pressure
washing.
·
It
has an innovative water-cooled induction motor for enhanced performance and
longer life.
·
The
6 metre high pressure hose is really easy to connect and remove, as are the
attachments.
·
An
impact-resistant recyclable plastic casing and fine mesh water filter prevent
dirt particles from damaging the motor
·
It
has a three-piston axial-flow pump and a safety valve to prevent pressure
overload.
·
I like the fact that you can buy all different accessories for your
Karcher products, this means you can add things on as you require or as money
becomes available.
·
It is also good that there is a Karcher pressure washer to suit every
pocket, the basic model can be picked up for less than £100 and the real high
performance models come in at anywhere from about £500.
Could improve
–
·
In
my opinion the washer needs somewhere to be able to store the electric wire and
high pressure hose pipe.
·
The
instructions could be better but actually the machine was pretty intuitive to
put together and took me about 2 minutes
Disclosure: Many thanks to Karcher
for sending me this pressure washer to review, I am enjoying being a Karcher
Ambassador and honesty reviewing your products. I can confirm I have not been
instructed what to write and I remain honest.
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