Are cordless pressure washers worth it? This is the one we're obsessed with at Ideal Home
A cordless pressure washer might just be the key to freshening up your garden this summer - here are our thoughts after trying one
We're moving closer to that time of the year when we can all finally spend more time outside. But the start of spring also comes with the responsibility of a few jobs we all put off - namely, sorting out your outside space, something that can be sped along with the help of one of the best pressure washers.
The onslaught of winter can leave paths, walls and sets of the best garden furniture looking a little bit worse for wear, which is where a reliable pressure washer can usually step in to save the day.
One pressure washer that we recently tried out in our Karcher K4 Premium High Pressure Washer review showed impressive results on wood, concrete and when cleaning a car, but even with a five-metre cord, there is some limit to how far you can go with it if you don't have an outside tap or plug socket.
The solution? A cordless pressure washer, with a lightweight design that you can carry to any spot in your garden. Powered by a 20 volt battery, these portable pressure washers give you the power to sort out your outdoor space without the faff. It's a favourite of one of Ideal Home's team members too, who had 'ruled out' the possibility of a pressure washer before this star buy came long.
WORX WG620E.2 18V (20V Max) Cordless Hydroshot Portable Pressure Cleaner
The Worx Hydroshot WG629E.2 is a favourite buy of our Ecommerce Content Director Lindsey Davis, who tried it out in her garden at home. With five different pressure settings and a super lightweight design (at just 1.7kg!), this Worx buy stands out thanks to just how convenient it is to use. Lindsey says that 'in short, it does more than enough to ease the effort of cleaning patios, garden furniture and even the car.'
Our tried and tested favourite, we think this cordless pressure washer is excellent for all sorts of outdoor cleaning tasks, especially if you're lacking an outdoor plug and/or tap.
The KHB 4-18 is a battery-operated medium-pressure washer for fast cleaning of everything from flower pots to bicycles, with a water pressure of 22 bar. Connect it up to your garden hose or even a bucket of water and you are ready to go.
At just under £150, this super portable handheld pressure washer from Karcher is a star for smaller jobs in your garden. It can be stowed away really easily to save space at home too.
The main draw of the WORX WG620E.2 is its portability, which was perfect for Lindsey's space. 'The patio is about 75 feet from the house where the nearest power point and tap are. So, when I was sent the Worx Hydroshot to test I was skeptical about whether a pressure washer could have enough oomph for garden cleaning jobs, without being attached to the mains.'
You don't need a tap to attach this Worx cleaner either, as you can draw water from anywhere into the hose, such as from a bucket or a two-litre bottle. Though, if you do need that extra power and you can reach a tap, then your cleaning will be all the more powerful for it.
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Lindsey is our e-commerce content director. When she isn't researching products for work, she is testing them in her home – a small Victorian cottage with a very long narrow garden. Her outdoor space is a mix of paving, lawn, shrub-lined borders and gravelled areas (and weeds...) so she has lots of different landscaping types to put the latest garden tools to the test.
She prefers gardening with a low environmental impact, so seeks out products that reduce the need for nasty toxins, without meaning extra elbow grease.
''It is not as powerful as the Karchers I have tested, but Worx is open that for the portability of this device there are some compromises. It does pack more punch when attached it to a mains-fed hose, too,' says Lindsey.
'That added water pressure really ups the performance and if you have mobility issues and would find it hard to manoeuvre a big pressure washer, this battery-powered one is a winner.
You can see the results on my patio, but it is worth noting this is from the highest pressure (and thus smallest) jet, so it did take a long time.'
It's the perfect time to get prepared for the summer months, which is why we think the Worx WG620E.2 18V Cordless Hydroshot Portable Pressure Cleaner is such a great buy for right now.
We're not the only ones who think so either, with a 4.3-star rating out of five on amazon from over 3,000 reviews, which is pretty good going. Reviewers record their good results on all sort of things stored outside that occasionally need a clean, from bikes to a garden patio set.
One savvy customer even suggests collecting rainwater so that you can wash your space in a more sustainable way too. If you're looking for a way to freshen up before summer, we think you can't go wrong with this cordless buy.
Molly is Ideal Home’s Kitchen Appliances Editor, the Ideal Home Certified Expert on Appliances and an all-around baking and cooking enthusiast. She joined the team in September 2022 as an Ecommerce Editor after working across Real Homes, Homes & Gardens and Livingetc. She's been reviewing products for 4 years and now specialises in weighing up kitchen essentials' pros and cons, from air fryers to bean-to-cup coffee machines.
She's always been a keen reader, so after graduating from the University of Exeter in 2020 she was thrilled to find a way to write as a full-time job. Nowadays, she spends her days at home or the Ideal Home test facility trying out new kitchen innovations to see if they’re worth a space on your worktop. Her most beloved and hard-working appliance is her Sage coffee machine though she also takes the title of Ideal Home’s in-house air fryer expert after writing about them religiously over the past few years.
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