The VAX Big Spring Clean

There’s a guy that lives near me. Every Sunday without fail you will see him out on the street with a pressure washer, cleaning his car.

For months I’ve witnessed this spectacle. I’ll be entirely honest, I’ve felt pangs of jealousy because I could see a million and one uses for such a machine around my family home. Garden furniture, the kids’ outdoor toys, the patio, the windows; all needed a thorough cleaning and a pressure washer would do it in seconds.

You can probably imagine how delighted I was when cleaning appliance specialist Vax asked me to participate in its Big Spring Clean campaign. Vax would supply a PowerWash 2200W Complete pressure washer and I’d need to find things around our family home to clean with it.

Was I up for this? Oh I most certainly was. Top of the list of things to clean was the roof of our conservatory. This used to get cleaned with a yard brush and a hose pipe but it didn’t happen at all last year. As these before and after photos show, the Vax did a brilliant job.

Before…

After…

I also used it to clear off a side panel on an outbuilding of ours. Again, these before and after shots reveal what a good job the Vax did.

Before…

After…

The Vax Power Wash is very light and manoeuvrable. To state the obvious, you have to plug it into the mains and also connect it up to a hosepipe to get it to work. It comes with several easy to use push fittings that you attach to a gun-like device. Pull the trigger on the gun and the water will flow to whatever attachment you are using.

In terms of attachments, there’s a simple multi-purpose Jet nozzle that you can use on a car if you wish, plus a detergent nozzle. As the name suggests, you use this attachment when using the Vax with detergent cleaner. There’s also a car cleaning brush, a patio cleaning brush and a rotary brush that spins as you use it. I’ve no idea what you do with this one, but it looks great.

The most fearsome attachment, however, is the Turbo nozzle. This one is mightily powerful and fantastic for cleaning stonework. It’s not for use on cars as it can strip paintwork and I confess I accidentally allowed my hand to drift in front of the jet at one point. Let me assure you; it hurt.

Talking of safety, It’s important to stress this thing is not a big water pistol. The water is pumped out at between 110bar and 160bar (trust me, that’s a lot). In other words, keep the kids away from the pressure washer as you would any other power tool.

While on my cleaning rampage, I also cleaned off the kids’ trampoline (see picture below), the car, some of the patio and several windows and window frames. Wherever there was a build-up of algae or stonework / brickwork looked tired or stained, the Vax excelled.

I’ve been like a big kid with this machine. It’s a definite favourite of mine. Not that one should get so attached to a mechanical object, but it has become a major part of my life.

The Vax PowerWash 2200W Complete pressure is available direct from Vax (follow this link). Expect to pay around £120.

Disclosure; I was provided with a Vax pressure washer for the purposes of carrying out a review and participating in this campaign. Views and opinions are my own.

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