A new pressure washer, out of the box, with the stock nozzle and the stock 20-foot hose, is a mildly frustrating tool. The gap between that and a genuinely satisfying one costs less than a hundred dollars, and almost all of it is in four items. Here they are in the order I would buy them.
1. A full nozzle set
A pressure washer has no power dial. The nozzle is the setting, and swapping tips changes the tool far more than any difference between two machines in the same price band. Most units ship with a few tips; a complete color set costs about the same as lunch and covers every job you will have.
Two things to check: the flow rating stamped on the set must roughly match your machine (a 2.5 GPM set on a 1.2 GPM electric wastes pressure), and you want the black soap tip in there, because detergent will not draw without it. Start with the color chart.
2. A longer hose
Stock hoses are 20 to 25 feet, which means the job becomes an exercise in relocating the machine. Fifty feet means one tap position covers most of a house. The cost is a small pressure loss over the length and a hose that takes more room to store, and it is still the single best quality-of-life upgrade in this category.
Check the fitting before ordering: M22-14mm and M22-15mm look identical and do not seal against each other. The quick connect guide covers how to tell.
3. Detergent
The least glamorous item and the one that changes results most. Most of what looks like dirt on a wall, a fence or a shaded patio is living growth, and pressure alone removes the top of it while chemistry removes all of it. One all-purpose outdoor concentrate covers siding, concrete, wood and furniture for a first season.
How it gets onto the surface is the other half — either an onboard tank or a downstream injector, and either way the black soap tip from item 1.
4. An inlet water filter
A few dollars, screws onto the garden hose, catches the grit that chews pump valves. Pump failure is how most pressure washers die, and supply grit is a common cause. Rinse it every few uses or it restricts your flow, which creates a different problem.
Buy before you need it: a swivel connector
A 360-degree swivel between the hose and the gun stops the hose twisting itself into loops behind you while you work. It costs very little, fits in a minute, and also reduces strain on the hose crimp so hoses last longer. Nobody buys this first. Everybody wishes they had.
What to skip at the start
A turbo nozzle, until you have tried the green tip on your concrete and decided it is too slow. Turbo nozzles are excellent and worth owning eventually, and they will also damage wood, siding and soft concrete if that is your first tool.
A surface cleaner, for about a week. Not because you do not need one — anyone with flat concrete does — but because the right size depends on your machine’s measured flow, and a head that is too big is worse than no head at all. Check will a surface cleaner work on my pressure washer first, then buy the right one.
A pressure washer gun. The stock one is fine until it starts weeping, which takes a season or three. Replace it then.
Before the first use
Read the setup sequence and the safety page. Two minutes each, and they prevent the two expensive mistakes: running the pump dry, and pointing a capable machine at something delicate.
