You may only be just beginning your research into the world of pressure washers, but I will venture a guess and say that you’re already familiar with the Karcher brand.
The iconic yellow and black appliances are easy to identify and hard to miss.
It isn’t just the colour scheme that makes Karcher a household name, it’s the fact that they have a reputation of being one of the best brands of power washers for home use on the market today.
Check out the quick overview of the Karcher Pressures Washers I reviewed
Why Should You Consider Buying a Karcher Pressure Washer?
To give you some points to consider when looking for the best Karcher power washer, I will break the argument down by category.
Price
This is likely the jumping off point when you start doing your research. Before you dive into the details, you need to know if the machine will fit into your budget.
One of the selling points of Karcher is the price. Sure, you can spend less on a power washer, but to get the same level of performance and the accessories that come with it, you can certainly spend much more.
For value, you definitely get more than you pay for when it comes to Karcher power washers. They do range in price according to model, so finding one that fits in your budget is not an issue.
Accessories
Which accessories come standard will depend on the model that you buy. Make sure you read the reviews below to see if the model that you are interested in comes with the right tools.
That said, Karcher makes sure that you have everything you need to get started for the job that needs cleaning.
They think of all the little details which makes it easy to use. From adjustable nozzles that go from 0 degrees to over 40 degrees, you don’t need a collection of nozzles to switch from laser-focused jet spray to gentle cleaning in seconds, to surface cleaners that can make quick work of large areas.
You can find an accessory for just about every job. A deluxe soft brush for windows or painted surfaces, an alloy wheel brush for cleaning rims, rotary wash brush for cleaning the car or house siding, even a snow foam lance for presoaking. And that is the tip of the iceberg.
Engineering and Design
It should come as no surprise that a German home appliance company has well engineered products.
Karcher is certainly no exception.
Karcher pressure washers are built with quality in mind. Without cutting corners, Karcher is able to bring you features that make for high performance and long life for a great price. Air or water cooled motors, for example. Keeping moving parts cool makes them last longer and perform at a consistently high level.
Ease of use is also considered when they design a model. The design is such that it won’t tip over when you are moving around. The centre of gravity is low so wheeling it around is easy. Not to mention the wheels themselves are large and wide to cover ground quickly and with little effort.
Many models offer a hose reel and onboard accessory storage to make storage easier and faster setting up and breaking down to spend less time in prep mode and more time cleaning.
Power
Karcher makes sure there is a model available for whatever type of work needs to be done. From a respectable 110 bars of pressure on the low end to 160 bars for the more difficult to tackle jobs. Point is, they’re not a one-trick pony.
When their compact pressure washer has 110 bars and most other brands have the same bar pressure reserved for their mid-size models, then that says a lot about what kind of performance to expect from all the various units they produce.
Water flow rate is usually higher on Karcher models than other brands in the same price point. How much you get depends on which model, with the bigger models offering higher water flow. Even the compact K2 gives you 360 litres per hour of water flow.
The Best Karcher Pressure Washer Models Reviewed
Here’s a review of all the best Karcher pressure washers you can buy. Hope it helps!
Best Karcher Compact Pressure Washer
Karcher K2 Compact
Pros:
- Lightweight at 4.1 kg
- 110 bars pressure
- 360 litres per hour water flow rate
- Air cooled 1400 Watt motor
- Integrated water filter
- Ergonomic carry handle
- Ergonomic pistol grip trigger handle
- Includes: Dirtblaster Rotary spray lance, one way spray lance, quick connect to water source, garden hose adaptor
- Connects to water butt
- Auto disconnect
Cons
- Loud for its size
- Assembly is not intuitive
- Connector to mains water supply bought separately
The compact Karcher K2 can be considered an entry-level machine to get you into using a pressure washer. Let’s not consider it a pressure washer for beginners though.
The way I look at it, if you can have a good quality pressure washer that is easy to use and can handle many jobs around the house, then that means you will use it often.
If it is easy enough to use on a weekly basis, then even if you are a pro, you will indeed get some big benefits out of using a compact, yet powerful power washer like this one.
The K2 Compact can be used to wash your car or bicycle, barbecue, patio, windows or any other common job.
The compact size means it can go anywhere you need it to, but you still get 110 bars of pressure. That’s enough for most applications. 360 litres of water per hour also packs a nice punch for your typical weekend tidying up.
Accessories include a Dirt Blaster nozzle that gives a tight spray to direct the full pressure into a focused area. This can take care of most grime and build up on your deck or patio, but not so tight that it will damage the concrete or wood.
The one-way spray lance emits a constant stream of water that makes it great for cleaning up the car or bike. If you need to soak the surface with a detergent then there is a handy suction hose to attach to your detergent of choice.
Expect a long life from this unit thanks to the air cooled 1400 Watt motor. Keeping the motor cool helps keeps moving parts from wearing out too quickly which happens when they heat up. A filter for use on a water butt also keeps debris from entering the pump which can cause damage.
A major downside is that although it has a quick connect to attach to the mains water supply, it doesn’t come with the actual adaptor. With all the other accessories it comes with, and all the attention to detail, this seems like something that could have been included.
Best All Around Karcher Pressure Washer
K4 Full Control Home
Pros:
- 130 bars pressure
- 420 litres per hour water flow rate
- Reasonably lightweight at 11.6 kg
- Water cooled motor
- Integrated water filter
- Can plug into mains or water butt
- LED display
- Pistol grip trigger handle
- 6 m hose length
- Integrated detergent bottle system
- Includes: Vario lance, Dirtblaster lance, T350 T-Racer surface cleaner
- On board hose and lance storage
Cons
- Assembly is not intuitive
When you have a small job like blasting stuck on grease from your barbecue, but then you also need to scrub years of algae off of your concrete patio, then you need a powerhouse like the K4 Full Control Home power washer.
You have, as the name implies, a lot of control over how much pressure you want to use the various tools you can use for excellent results.
For starters the accessories.
Included is one of the best attachments for cleaning your patio, the T350 T-Racer Surface cleaner. It feels just like a vacuum and leaves a sparkling cleaned area in its wake. You can cover a lot of ground with this scrubber. It also gives you control with an adjustable knob to adjust the power, plus another to adjust the jet nozzle fan angle.
The pistol grip handle is equipped with an LED control centre that lets you know what kind of power to expect from the tool you are using.
A Vario lance lets you adjust the fan of the water to either blast off debris or gently rinse off some soap from the surface you are cleaning. A Dirtblaster lance will give you a pencil-thin stream of water to knock out hard to clean grime.
You might expect storage to be an issue with a unit that gives you as much as the K4. But, the reality is that it is fairly compact, the accessories are stowed on board and the hose can be wound up tightly.
Overall: The K4 Full Control Home is the ideal power washer to have in your arsenal. No job is too big or too small.
Best Karcher Power Washer for Big Jobs
K7 Premium Full Control
Pros:
- 180 bars pressure
- 550 litres per hour water flow
- Water cooled 2800 Watt motor
- 10 m long hose
- LED display
- Includes: 3 in 1 multi jet lance, full control plus trigger gun, T450 patio cleaner.
- Integrated water filter
- Hose reel and onboard storage for accessories
- Telescopic handle
- Can plug into mains or water butt
- Integrated detergent bottle system
Cons
- None I can think of!
When you have a big job around the house then you don’t want to come up short with a power washer that can’t handle the work. Should you buy a professional one in the thousands of pounds range? No. All you need is the K7 Premium Full Control power washer.
There are few home pressure washer that’ll get you as close to professional results as the K7. And for less of a price tag than other models that promise a lot but fail to deliver.
With a powerful water-cooled motor, this is built to last.
And even with all that power, it is incredibly easy to use. There is no learning curve associated with it like you would need if you were to use a more professional pressure washer for your home.
180 bars of pressure is the top end of water pressure that you can get from a home pressure washer. And 550 litres per hour of water flow assure that all of that pressure is used to its fullest. Water pressure and water flow go hand in hand so it is nice to have both perform at a high level.
The overall design has so much going for it. It is compact and has a low centre of gravity to make sure it stores and moves easily. The telescopic handle is comfortable. The trigger gun is lightweight and ergonomic. A hose reel and onboard accessory storage keeps it low profile. And the plug and clean system for detergent is as simple as dropping the bottle into its dedicated slot.
The accessories steal the show. You get a top of the line patio cleaner in the T450 Racer Patio Cleaner with adjustable power and jet angle. It can clean 12 inches of surface at a time to really power through even the biggest areas. The 3 in 1 Vario jet lance puts total control in your hand without needing to change nozzles depending on the job.
Overall: There is a lot more to this pressure washer that can be fit into a primer review. Let me just say that if you have frequent bigger jobs or just like having more power for when you need it, then I don’t think you can find a better power washer than the K7.
Best Karcher Pressure Washer Under £100
Kärcher K2 Full Control Pressure Washer
Pros:
- 110 bars pressure
- 360 litres per hour water flow rate
- 1400 Watt air cooled motor
- Lightweight at 4.4 kg
- Twin wheels on base
- Telescopic handle
- Integrated water filter
- Includes: Dirtblaster Rotary spray lance, Vario adjustable spray lance, quick connect to water source
- Auto disconnect
- 5 meter hose
Cons
- Doesn’t come with connector to mains water
If you are looking for a budget power washer but want a little more oomph than you could get with the Karcher K2 Compact, then you may like the upgrades on the K2 Compact Full Home version. It is a cheap pressure washer that over delivers.
You will get all the same benefits from the K2 Compact but with the added portability of a telescopic handle and two sturdy twin wheels on the base.
It is still lightweight enough to carry by hand, but if you don’t wish to carry it then it smoothly will move around. Good news for the elderly among us.
You also get an extra meter for hose length.
In addition, you get an upgrade on the included accessories. Instead of the simpler one-way spray lance, you get the adjustable spray Vario lance. This gives you more control by offering four different power settings without needing to change nozzles.
You get a low power mix spray for detergent application, soft offers a wider fan spray for a more gentle clean on surfaces like wood, medium power gives you a bit more muscle for surfaces like windows or patios, and lastly, hard which focuses the fan and gives a pencil wide flow to really blast off hard to remove debris.
This makes the K2 Full Control Home pressure washer best for cleaning bicycles, cars, barbecues and decking. For just a few pounds more than the K2 Compact, you may want to add more control to your clean up without sacrificing much space.