Before buying a machine, it is worth asking honestly whether you need one. Plenty of outdoor cleaning gets done perfectly well with a hose and a brush, and a pressure washer is a tool with storage requirements, maintenance and the ability to damage your house.
The numbers
Mains water pressure at a domestic tap is typically in the region of 40 to 60 PSI. A trigger nozzle restricts the opening, which raises velocity but not the underlying pressure much. A pressure washer uses a pump to multiply it: an entry electric gives you around 1,600 PSI, a mid-range one 2,000 to 2,500.
So the difference is roughly fifty-fold, and the practical effect is that a hose moves loose dirt while a pressure washer removes bonded dirt. Dust on a car is loose. Algae in the pores of a paving slab is bonded. That distinction decides which tool you need.
Jobs a hose does fine
Rinsing dust off a car between proper washes. Watering down a dusty patio. Rinsing garden tools, bins, bikes and boots. Topping up a pond. Washing windows with a brush and a bucket. Pollen off outdoor furniture in spring.
A hose plus a garden-hose foam gun also gets you a surprisingly good car wash. The foam is thinner than a pressure washer cannon produces, but it is enough to lift grit off the paint before you touch it, which is the main safety benefit. That comparison is in foam cannon vs foam gun.
Jobs a hose will never do
Concrete. Grime and algae sit in the surface texture, and only pressure or a stiff brush with a lot of time will get them out. This is the single most common reason people buy a machine, and the gap is enormous — see how to pressure wash a driveway.
Gray, weathered decking. Hose water runs straight off.
Mildew-streaked siding. Though here the honest answer is that the cleaner does the work, not the pressure — a pump sprayer and a hose rinse will do a decent job, which is essentially soft washing. A pressure washer makes it faster and lets you reach upper walls.
Anything involving reach. You cannot direct hose water accurately at a second-story wall or into a gutter.
The honest verdict
If you have flat concrete, a deck, or a two-story house, buy a machine — the gap is not marginal and no amount of brushing closes it. If you have a small balcony, a car and some furniture, a hose, a foam gun and a brush will genuinely do, and the money is better spent elsewhere.
The in-between case — a small patio, a car, some furniture — is where an entry 1,600 PSI electric makes most sense: cheap, stores in a closet, hard to damage anything with. That is covered in do I need a pressure washer.
