5 Easy Ways To Boost Your Pressure Washer's Cleaning Performance

Providing a professional quality clean isn't easy, but these quick upgrades are.

Here are our top tips for squeezing the most out of your pressure washer.

Clean Your Inlet Filter

Let's start with the cheapest and easiest step: cleaning your inlet filter. As this filter catches particulates in the water, the screen will gum up and your flow rate will be reduced. Since this is one of the most common causes of decreased performance, you will need to regularly inspect and clean this filter.

Likewise, if the filter is damaged or missing, you'll need to replace it asap. Without sufficient protection, debris from your water source will go directly to your pump and quickly damage it.

Find the right replacement inlet filter in minutes with help from one of our expert part advisors.

Throw Out Your Old Spray Tip 

If your pressure washer seems to weaken over time, it might not be the machine itself. It may actually be your spray tip.

Why?

Bruce Lee put it best: “Water can flow, and it can crash.” In your pressure washer, water is crashing into more than just your cleaning surface, it's also crashing into the inside of your nozzle, slowly widening it out over time.

Consider that water at a high enough PSI can cut through metal. A steel-slicing machine your pressure washer is not, but the formation of the Grand Canyon demonstrates the slow carving force even low PSI water has over time.

As the hole of your nozzle widens, the same amount of water now exits through a larger hole, reducing the pressure, and therefore your cleaning force.

Because of this, nozzles are wear items that should be regularly replaced. 

Highly worn nozzles can have an orifice the equivalent of an entire size larger than they were new, so if you've put a lot of wear on your spray tip, you’ll benefit from a significant performance boost with a new nozzle.

Don’t forget, this is true for the nozzle on your surface cleaner as well!

Make sure you get the correct size nozzle for your pressure washer. You can use our calculator to find the right size, or let one of our part advisors assist you.

Use Quick Connect Couplers At Connection Points

Adding pressure washer quick connects (QCs) is a great option to speed up your cleaning workflow. These cost-effective fittings make it easy to connect hoses and swap accessories while providing a secure seal.

Make sure to invest in a quality coupler. Cheap consumer-grade QCs tend to be quicker to corrode after exposure to water, and fiddling with a crummy quick connector is a less-than-ideal experience. This can also lead to inadequate seals and leaks, reducing your cleaning pressure.

Since even the best quick connectors won't break the bank, it's worth investing in quality couplers. Most cleaners will pick stainless steel for strength and longevity, especially if they are using chemicals. Brass QCs are a bit cheaper, but won't last as long. 

If you are looking for a solid option, check out the brass and stainless couplers from Legacy. Made for commercial grade applications, these will last several years if properly maintained, and come in multiple sizes to fit most all units. You can check them out here.

Add Swivels To Your Hose

Your machine should work with you, not against you, but maneuvering yards and yards of water-filled hose can be the most frustrating about pressure washing. Swivels can be a game changer here- they eliminate the rotational resistance of your hose, making it smoother to get around corners and obstacles, especially for residential cleaning and automotive detailing.

Swivels are a cheat code for uncoiling a hose. Just grab your gun, pull the hose while walking away, and watch the swivel unravel everything for you. 

If your hose or gun doesn't come with a swivel already integrated, you can easily thread one on.

It’s worth investing in quality here as well. Cheap swivels tend to leak and corrode, becoming difficult to swivel, which defeats their purpose.  If you want tested swivels that last, check out commercial-grade options here.

Use A Turbo Nozzle

Need to tackle exceptionally difficult cleaning tasks?

Turbo nozzles can be a lifesaver when standard spray tips won't cut it. These nozzles work by taking a standard 0° spray nozzle and spinning it at a high rate, giving you the penetrating power of a pencil jet with the spray coverage of a 25° nozzle.

This makes it a powerful option for durable surfaces like concrete, masonry, heavy equipment, and more.

That said, turbo nozzles are too aggressive for painted surfaces, vinyl siding, wood, and other sensitive surfaces. Treat it like you would any 0° nozzle, and test in an inconspicuous area first to make sure you don't damage the surface you are trying to clean.

Side note - Always start your turbo nozzle in the downward direction!

Our favorite option is the Legacy Revolution Turbo Nozzle. Designed for industrial applications, the Revolution can handle 185°F water at up to 4350 PSI and features a durable rubber jacket rather than a plastic shell to handle abuse without cracking.

Clean On!

And those are our 5 top tips to easily bump up the performance of your pressure washer! Have any other quick upgrades you swear by? Let us know!

Ready to take your cleaning game to the next level? It’s time to tap into the guidance one of our local experts can provide. They know all the best upgrades to get you the most bang for your buck, and their advice is tailored to your machine and the specific cleaning challenges based on your region. Get in touch with one of our experts here!