Starting out soft washing-choosing equipment

Soft Washing
1

I am just getting started out with residential only soft washing until I get my feet on the ground and gain some experience in the field. This is something that will be doing hopefully three to four days a week during my off time from my full time job. I have done some extensive reading and youtube watching on the topic but want to get a little advice from some seasoned people in the industry before I purchase a new pressure washer. I am leaning towards a 4gpm, 4000psi, belt driven, Honda pressure washer for $1,700 from a local distributer. My question is would I be wasting my money buying that unit to do residential soft washing or should I upgrade to a 5.5gpm machine starting out?

I will be working with a 150 feet of hose and using tips to reduce pressure and a down stream injector from pressuretek to make my system work.

2

For roughly the same price you can get a 5.5 gpm 2500 psi.

1 Like
3

I got a 4gpm 4200psi from home depot for my 1st machine to softwash for around 1000 bucks. It has an awesome honda engine but the pump is AAA brand or something but it has lasted multiple seasons. I always run a water filter before my pump and treat it like a baby. They come with a 2 year warranty on the pump and 3 year for the honda motor. If you have the money I would just go with a better GPM option with a better pump that is going to last you… If you are tight on funds and need a machine that will last you a few years check out the dewalt machine at home depot. I would not suggest going under 4GPM tho.

4

Thanks for info guys. I hate to sound basic but will a 5.5 gpm machine just increase the quickness of completing jobs or will it also improve the results of the cleaning?

5

It will improve the quickness of the job, because it will apply more mix to the houses in a shorter period of time and allow you to rinse it faster after it dwells. There are tons of topics on downstreaming, and machine information if you use the search bar. Try looking for other topics of people starting as well.

6

Thanks for the info man

7

That is a great little machine. Once you go to a 5.5 you’re going to need at least a small (50 gal) buffer tank and the related expenses. A 4 gpm is a little slower rinsing however.