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Looking for a pressure washer? We've worked hard to help you find one. After researching over 50 models, we bought and tested the 9 most promising options. We rated each machine based on a battery of stringent tests to determine which is the champion of high-pressure spraying power. To do so, we devised multiple challenges to scrutinize each model's cleaning power, portability, ease of use, and accessory organizational systems. Check out our in-depth review to discover which models best suit your needs. We've found the best bargains, top electric options, and washers that blasted away the competition.
Editor's Note: On September 18, 2024, we added more testing photos and videos to our pressure washer review. We've also recently added new charts, specs, and testing data.
If you're looking for a capable pressure washer ready to tackle any job, the Westinghouse WPX3200 is the one for you. Although bulky in appearance, our testers found this machine is actually surprisingly easy to move around thanks to its large, quality wheels. We also loved the convenient built-in storage for its twenty-five-foot hose. But it's the WPX3200's cleaning power that really shines. Our testers' first reaction when firing it up remained consistent throughout the test — “this machine is a beast”. No job was too demanding for this pressure washer during our tests.
Despite the amazing cleaning prowess, the Westinghouse WPX3200 has a few downsides. It's heavy, large, and, our testers note, “the gas engine is LOUD”. The engine also comes with fumes, smoke, potential oil leaks, and maintenance. An electric pressure washer would relieve you of many of these headaches, but they just aren't as powerful. All in all, this machine is one of the best washers out there, scouring circles around the competition. For example, the Generac 8874 we tested next to it is louder, more expensive, and less effective at cleaning. From tough jobs to quick, light-duty rinses, we recommend the Westinghouse WPX3200.
We performed a series of tests on each pressure washer. We measured 2600 PSI of pressure from the Westinghouse WPX3200 - it was powerful enough to cut an aluminum can!
For an effective pressure washer without the gasoline and fumes, check out the Sun Joe SPX3500. This is our favorite electric model in the test, forgoing the need for gas cans, choke levers, or pull cords. You'll also save money on gas in the long term and have the option of charging your washer with renewable electricity. For an electric machine, our tests showed this model to have quite powerful cleaning abilities, with a measured PSI of 1,650 and the ability to blast the bocce ball 3 feet up our ramp in the bocce ball test — still lower than the gas products, but impressive for an electric washer. The Craftsman CMEPW2400 is another electric model that scored nearly on par with the SPX3500 overall (and actually bested it in several of our cleaning tests), but the Sun Joe has a slightly higher flow rate.
We also love the Sun Joe's handy storage slots for its five included nozzles, hooks to hold the power cord and hose, and hard plastic wheels that roll easily over grass and pavement. One of our favorite aspects of the Sun Joe is how quiet it is. If you're looking for a powerful pressure washer that won't annoy your neighbors, this is the one.
Like all other contenders, the SPX3500 isn't flawless. If your project requires raw power, our tests proved that electric models have a more challenging time competing with the pressure produced by a gas-powered washer like the Westinghouse WPX3200. It's also rather bulky compared to the other electric models we tested. Even so, the Sun Joe SPX3500 is a terrific pick for those who want an electric pressure washer with the best possible performance.
The Wholesun 3000PSI is one of the most affordable models in our test fleet. Despite its low price tag, it offered impressive results in our cleaning tests. Though it provides a relatively low pressure per square inch (1200 PSI in our measured tests), this washer moves a lot of water. It cleans faster and more thoroughly thanks to its 1.21 gallons per minute flow rate (more than the pricier Sun Joe SPX3500, at 1.08 gpm). We observed this firsthand when we timed it washing activated charcoal out of a carpet, where it was able to tackle this task in 4 minutes and 42 seconds — faster than many other machines in our test that took 5 to 7 minutes to complete the same task. This washer is also easy to move around at 16.3 pounds and has one of the most compact dimensions in the test. We appreciate how much less maintenance an electric engine requires as compared to a gas option.
The small plastic wheels of the Wholesun don't fare well over rough terrain, and at only 27 inches tall, we found it too short to push or pull comfortably. Fortunately, this model is easy to carry since it only weighs around 16 pounds. However, it tends to tip over easily and does not offer built-in storage options for its five nozzle options. Four of the nozzles provide a 0, 15, 25, and 40-degree spray angle. A fifth dispenses soap, but you have to screw a detergent bottle into the spray gun, which is a little clunky. The garden hose attachment point can also be challenging to access. Despite these minor issues, we believe the Wholesun is an excellent value for an electric washer that packs a powerful cleaning punch. The only other model in a similar price range is the electric SunJoe SPX3000, but that model is louder, heavier, and bulkier.
We used each pressure washer in a number of real-world scenarios before running them through a rigorous testing obstacle course.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
How We Test Pressure Washers
We spend hundreds of hours testing these products, jetting, soaping, and washing an array of different objects and surfaces until we determine which of these tools displays the highest performance and functionality. We measure data ranging from weight, dimensions, noise levels, gallons per minute (GPM), and pressure per square inch (PSI). To take things a step further, we evaluate washer performance with visual and quantitive measurements using a bocce ball and an apparatus we call the “Testing Trough”. We cleaned gutters, driveways, trucks, and more to evaluate cleaning performance. We also hauled and pushed each unit around to assess portability, measured their decibel level with a sound meter, and paid particular attention to the location and operation of the hose and soap dispenser to evaluate the ease of use. For more on our testing, see our How We Test article.
Our pressure washer testing is divided across four different metrics:
Cleaning (45% of overall score weighting)
Portability (30% weighting)
Noise (15% weighting)
Ease of Use (10% weighting)
Why Trust GearLab
To prevent bias, we purchase all the products we test at full price from the same websites as our readers. Our review editor Matt Spencer knows his tech. As an avid gamer and tech enthusiast, he consistently researches industry updates. Matt has also tested drills and many other tech products for GearLab. The other members of our review team, include senior research analyst Austin Palmer, who has extensive experience using these tools on oil rigs in West and South Texas. Together, they have created and implemented a no-holds-barred series of tests to analyze these products with true side-by-side comparisons.
At GearLab, we always go the extra mile to provide the most in-depth product reviews in the world.
Analysis and Test Results
We judge these machines according to cleaning power, portability, noise, and ease of use. When considering your purchase, it's essential to contemplate the types of tasks you will be using these machines for and how tough those tasks may be. One feature or function of a pressure washer could be essential to you, while the rest are far less important.
What's the Best Value?
When it comes to getting the most value out of a pressure washer, there are a few things to consider. If you know you're hard on your tools and require the highest performance level, the Westinghouse WPX3200 offers long-term value. Though more expensive than many models tested here, its cleaning power is much closer to a professional tool than any consumer model we've tested. The electric model with the most power from our testing is the Sun Joe SPX3500, which is worth every dime considering its high level of effectiveness.
If you don't need professional-level performance but would still like a powerful, effective washer at a reasonable price, check out the Wholesun 3000PSI or SunJoe SPX3000.
The Wholesun's high rate of gallons per minute makes it a fast and effective electric pressure washer.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Cleaning
The primary purpose of a pressure washer is to clean, so testing results in this metric account for 45% of the overall score. We began by getting a feel for each unit's effectiveness at various tasks — cleaning gutters, fence boards, driveways, wheelbarrows, and dirty trucks.
Because these jobs are very subjective and difficult to recreate, we also devised a series of repeatable, more objective tests. We timed how long it took each model to remove a standard amount of activated charcoal from a piece of carpet. We measured each model's pounds per square inch of pressure and the measured flow (GPM, or gallons per minute). We also created a test that measures how far up a ramp each machine could blast a bocce ball. The chart below shows each washer's results in our measured pressure test, which we measured with an inline gauge.
The best in the test here was the Westinghouse WPX3200, with a measured PSI of 2,600. The Simpson, Generac, and Crafstman all boasted PSI measurements above 2,000. These models, except for the electric Craftsman, are all gas powered models. The PSI measurements of these top models were nearly double that of the lowest performers in this measurement, the SunJoe SPX3000 and Wholesun, which are both electric models.
The Simpson CM61083 is no slouch in the power department, blasting a bocce ball seven feet up a 25-degree ramp.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Our bocce ball test was devised to get a tangible sense of spraying power. In perhaps the most fun test in our evaluation, we built a wooden trough and placed it at a 25-degree angle. We then tested each washer to see how high it could spray a standard bocce ball up the trough.
Unsurprising given their high PSI measurements, the Simpson and Westinghouse again topped the charts, spraying the bocce ball 7 and 6.5 feet up our ramp, respectively. Many of the electric models (the Stanley, Wholesun, and SunJoe) could only blast the ball around 3 feet.
The Westinghouse could keep a bocce ball suspended at 6.5 feet, one of the top performers in this test.
Credit: Austin Palmer
We also took flow measurements. Each machine's GPM (gallons per minute) measurements are charted below. The Westinghouse had the highest flow at 2.30 gallons per minute, followed by the Simpson and Generac, both with flow rates above 2 gpm.
Many pressure washer manufacturers list a measurement called “cleaning units”. This number is calculated by multiplying GPM by PSI. Instead of going by a company's stated measurements from their own listed specs, we calculated our own cleaning units based on our test measurements, which are charted below.
This chart shows each machine's measured cleaning units from our testing. Cleaning units = PSI x GPM.
The Westinghouse again reigned with a registered whopping 5980, which is over a thousand points higher than the next best, the Simpson, at 4968. Again, the trend here shows the powerful gas models at the top of the heap, with the electric models showing lower performances.
We embedded charcoal into a white rug and used each of our pressure washers to see how effectively they were able to clean.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Finally, we timed each pressure washer's cleaning time for our test carpet. We took a white piece of carpet and coated it with measured amount of activated charcoal, and timed how long it took each model to spray it clean. The results of this time test are shown in the chart below.
Many of the gas generators, especially the powerful top models like the Westinghouse, Simpson, and Generac, were able to clean the carpet up the fastest. The electric Stanley model took the longest, at 7.3 minutes, well over double the time of the top gas models.
We used a combination of all of the above tests, variables, and observations to determine each model's overall cleaning score.
The Westinghouse WPX3200 and the Simpson CM61083 knocked it out of the park, both earning the highest scores in this metric. Our professional tool testing team described these machines as “beastly” when it came to their performance in our cleaning assessments. Both are exceptionally impressive at tackling real-world household chores, cleaning gutters, sidewalks, and fences with ease, and both floored us by deep cleaning a completely stained carpet in under three minutes.
You may not need the most powerful option available. The electric Craftsman washer is great for tasks like cleaning first-floor windows and washing cars.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
This top-performing electric models here are the Sun Joe SPX3500 and the Craftsman CMEPW2400. Boasting respectable cleaning units of 1782 and 1992, respectively. Both hold their own with their gas-powered competition when it comes to household tasks, and are able to hold the bocce ball at a sustained distance of 3 and 3.75 feet up the testing trough, respectively. However, both lagged behind the top gas-powered models.
The SPX3500 was able to sustainably hold the bocce ball 3 feet up our testing apparatus.
Credit: Laura Casner
Portability
One of the primary conveniences that attract people to pressure washers is their mobility, which is why we made it worth 30% of the final score. We determined that there are two ways to look at pressure washer portability — how easily the washers are to load up and drive between work sites and how easy they are to push around once they're on site. Models that can fit in a smaller vehicle or be loaded and unloaded by one person scored higher in this metric than heavier models.
That said, some of the heaviest models earned respectable scores because they feature the biggest wheels, hardiest tires, and handiest handles. The models that scored the lowest fell in between — versions with medium weight and undersized wheels. This type is a pain to get in and out of a vehicle by yourself and difficult to roll around rough surfaces like dirt, grass, or gravel. Finally, we looked at their dimensions and considered how easy they are to store.
Large wheels and well-balanced weight make options like the Craftsman CMEPW2400 easy to roll around.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Hand-Carry Models
Hand-carry models lack wheels altogether, which works out since they have handles and are painless to pick up.
Wheeled Models
In the world of pressure washers, you must often choose between a model that's light with no wheels or a heavy machine with very large wheels.
The SunJoe SPX3000 is lightweight enough to lift when you need to, but also easy to wheel to your destination.
Credit: Ian Pearman
The Sun Joe SPX3000 offers the best of both worlds — it's reasonably light yet still has decent-sized wheels. In fact, both Sun Joe models tackle terrain better than most because the handle location and the balance of these machines make them easy to push and pull around. The Craftsman CMEPW2400 is similarly easy to maneuver.
Then there's the Wholesun 3000PSI. While it has wheels, they are small and plastic and don't work very well. Still, at just 16.3 pounds, we consider it highly portable. It's nearly as easy to move around as the handheld models.
16-pound curls with the Wholesun. Rolling is inconvenient, but it's easy to pick up and move.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
The Westinghouse WPX3200, Generac 8874, and DeWalt DWPW2400 don't quite top the leaderboard in portability. Although they're big and bulky, we still credit them points for their burly handles and large wheels that allow them to be pushed and pulled over rugged terrain.
As far as storage goes, the DeWalt is small and easy to tuck away, but the spray gun often falls out of its holder. The Generac is impressively compact for a gas-powered option.
The Westinghouse has excellent hose and wand storage, and since it has a gasoline engine, there is no power cord to fiddle with. This model is heavy, but it makes up for the extra bit of girth with large wheels that allow it to maneuver just fine over most surfaces (except for tall grass).
While heavy, the Westinghouse was surprisingly easy to move around thanks to its large wheels.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
Noise
To assess noise levels, we ran each machine at full power and full throttle, using a sound meter to take decibel readings beside each machine. Then, we backed 25 feet away and took the readings again. Because a sound meter can't determine pitch, we used our best judgment to determine whether there were any particularly annoying or bothersome noises. The chart below shows each pressure washer's measured decibels at the machine while running.
The quietest machine in the test, the Sun Joe SPX3500, emits a mere 70 decibels to the user standing beside it and drops to only 65.2 decibels at a distance of 25 feet.
The SunJoe SPX3500 provides one of the lowest decibel counts.
At 73.3 decibels, the electric Stanley SHP2150 offers a relatively quiet experience.
The Sun Joe SPX3500 and the Stanley SHP2150 were some of the least loud models in our test group.
Standing immediately next to the Stanley SHP2150 and Wholesun 3000PSI is relatively comfortable, as our sound meter recorded 73.3 decibels. However, they missed the mark because from twenty-five feet away, the Stanley was putting out a reading of 65.5 decibels and the Wholesun 67.3 decibels. That's somewhere between a group conversation and a dishwasher. It won't damage your ears, but it's not quiet. Below we chart our final noise scores for each machine we tested.
Once you reach levels over 70 decibels, you'll want to wear some ear protection. If you hit 91 decibels, your safe listening time drops to two hours.
Ease of Use
Although most pressure washers are straightforward to use, there are enough subtle differences to discuss here. To score this metric, we compared each unit's hose connections, hose and cord storage, and stability while in use. We also noted whether each machine has a soap dispenser, if it is in a convenient location on the unit, and if it is intuitive.
The Craftsman CMEPW2400 earned the highest score. Its thoughtful design across the board makes every task just a bit smoother than the other machines. There's plenty of room around the water input portal to access it with minimal fuss. There is dedicated storage for the five included nozzles in a caddy beneath the handle. They are clearly labeled, helping you choose the right one for the job.
The 35'6" power cord wraps around a molded depression in the back of the washer and there is a hook above it for the 25'8" hose to coil around. The wand slides into a secure slot by the handle, and a detachable soap dispenser pops easily in and out of the main washer for filling and cleaning.
Electric washers are limited by the length of their electric cords. At 35'6", the Craftsman gives you one of the largest ranges in our tests, and it's easy to manage.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Hose Connections
When testing out these pressure washers, one of the key features we examined was the hose connections. The Sun Joe SPX3000 comes equipped with a garden hose hookup that is front and center on the machine, making it a simple task to attach. The Stanley and DeWALT options also have roomy designs that make attaching your water hose a cinch.
Hose and Cord Storage
Although it doesn't interfere with getting a job done, a frustrating hose and cord situation can definitely affect your peace of mind. The Wholesun really stands out here. It has a built-in reel with a foldable handle to retract the hose and a wrap-around storage compartment for its cord.
Having dedicated spaces for all of your cords and accessories goes a long way to improve your experience.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
For the electric corded models, we have charted the cord length below. A longer cord can help you get farther reach with your machine. The cords spanned a range of 30-35.5 feet.
The Stanley SHP2150 also offers a hook on the back for the hose and a dual hook situation for the power cord, one of which rotated to help unwind it. The Craftsman has a sturdy hook for its hose and a section of its body is molded to wrap the power cord around, keeping both tucked out of your way.
The Sun Joe SPX3000 has three hooks — one on either side for the cord and the wand and one on the front for the high-pressure hose.
This chart shows the length of each model's hose.
Soap Dispenser
Almost every pressure washer came equipped with some form of soap dispenser — whether integrated into the body or as a separate accessory. The Stanley SHP2150 and Craftsman CMEPW2400 both come equipped with onboard soap dispensers. The Stanley's cap is a little small and the Craftsman's dispenser pops out for easy use.
These washers dispense soap using an array of techniques. The Wholesun includes a separate bottle that screws onto the spray gun.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
The Sun Joe SPX3000 has two onboard dispensers, and there's a convenient knob near the handle to select which tank you'd like to draw from. The Sun Joe SPX3500 has the same basic features as its little cousin, but it has a massive soap tank to ensure you won't have to refill while washing those extra-large vehicles and toys.
The SunJoe SPX3000 has two soap tanks with a selector knob so the user can have a detergent and a rinsing agent both readily available.
Credit: Ian Pearman
Some models lack a soap dispenser altogether. Instead, they use a siphon hose you put directly into a soap container. Examples include the Generac 8874 and Simpson CM61083. This is good for folks who don't want to constantly stop to fill up an onboard tank or a small bottle on the wand like the Wholesun 3000PSI.
The Craftsman's removable soap dispenser makes for easy clean up.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Conclusion
We hope you now have the knowledge and confidence to purchase the pressure washer that best suits your needs. Whether you're looking for a light-duty washer for easy jobs, a burly machine for tougher projects, or a versatile model that falls somewhere in between, we are here to get you headed in the right direction.
