Pressure Washer + Degreaser = Clean wheel wells?

I

imported_fishbonezken

New member
hi there,

firstly many thanks to the forummers on autopia and the pros here that give good advice to help newbies like me out, appreciate them.



I was looking into getting a pressure washer to get wheel wells 100% clean.

I have Meguiar's Super Degreaser and a brush, still, the dirtiest vehicle I couldn't manage to get them as clean as I want.



Will a pressure washer help?

is 100bar sufficient pressure?



For wheel wells like this,





If I just sprayed on some Super Degreaser, let it sit, and then pressure wash off, do you think it will be as clean as it can be? or agitation with a brush is still required.



thank you
 
id use degreaser and the jet wash to get the worst off



then use some old sponges and brushes to aggitate whats left and hit it again...



ideal time to have the wheels off and clean up the back face of the rims
 
Heat is the key. Cold water will help that a little bit but to really get all that crap off your going to need a lot of heat. My PW goes up to 220* at 1450 psi. It will basically just melt all that crud and grime right off. I think that's why you see cold water PW going up in the 3000psi + range to compensate. I myself would be extreamly leary (in fact I just wouldn't do it) putting anything close to 3000 psi's anywhere near my paint.
 
With non-heated pressure washers (which I hook up to a hot water tap), I always ended up doing some agitation with a brush to get things as nice as I wanted them. Last few undercarriage I did I didn't use a pressure washer..just brushes, the steamer, and a hose.
 
I use a can of Gunk spray foam degreaser on the wheel wells usually at the local stall car wash before I use their pressure washer wand. I let it dwell a bit before I blast them with the spray wand. Its worth the trouble and the few dollars as its keeps the really grimely debris from the front of the house and my driveway. :)
 
Thank you for the inputs, appreciate them much:)



Jakerooni said:
Heat is the key. Cold water will help that a little bit but to really get all that crap off your going to need a lot of heat. My PW goes up to 220* at 1450 psi. It will basically just melt all that crud and grime right off. I think that's why you see cold water PW going up in the 3000psi + range to compensate. I myself would be extreamly leary (in fact I just wouldn't do it) putting anything close to 3000 psi's anywhere near my paint.
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I understand, unfortunately heated pressure washers are bit too expensive. thanks though.



Accumulator said:
With non-heated pressure washers (which I hook up to a hot water tap), I always ended up doing some agitation with a brush to get things as nice as I wanted them. Last few undercarriage I did I didn't use a pressure washer..just brushes, the steamer, and a hose.
Click to expand...



okay, is there a significant difference using a pressure washer compared to a hose with a nozzle?
 
I never felt a pressure washer (2000 psi) helped me with wells very much. The only exception was if there was caked mud. It knocked off the mud pretty fast but I still had to go over them. If you plan on cleaning well with a pressure washer make sure to set it up so that the nozzle is on the grip or you have a flexable lance. I never bought one myself and always use my regular hose set up to do much of the well cleaning. Without one it's nearly impossilbe to reach the top of the well or to get the dirt that collects in the lip. I hadn't used a pressure washer in my mobile business for many years and when I got a new one at first I used it a lot. After a while it got used less and less. Now it sits in my garage.
 
Pharo- Yeah, that's about the same way things went with me, and I do have the flexible lance for my Karcher.



fishbonezken said:
.. is there a significant difference using a pressure washer



compared to a hose with a nozzle?
Click to expand...



The pressure washer will clean better by itself, but it's harder to get complete control. I'd always end up doing things with the regular hose and some brushes after using the pressure washer to do the initial cleanup.



I dunno...I used the pressure washers around the house a *LOT* more than I used them on vehicles. Might make things a lot easier on you but it might not :nixweiss How about calling around to some tool-rental places, see if you could get one for a weekend.
 
I always first pressure wash off as much crud as I can, pressure wash with 1800 psi Karcher, degrease, agitate if needed, then pressure wash again.



Greg
 
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