Pressure Washing Guide

Midwestpro · Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 5:05 pm Post subject: Cement Cleaning Tool

Anyone with enough time and patience can clean small areas of concrete like sidewalks and patios with a small pressure washer and a wand, but cleaning an entire driveway is a much larger and difficult task. With so much surface area it is very hard to clean with a wand and not end up with a bunch of uneven wand marks not to mention, it would take many hours to complete.

The tool for this job is called a surface cleaner or spinner. A surface cleaner is similar to a floor buffer having a main body that rides on wheels or casters and a handle for the operator to maneuver the unit with. It has a spinning bar underneath the frame like a lawn mower blade, this bar sprays water applied by your pressure washer. After attaching your pressure hose to the unit you pull the trigger just like on your wand to start the unit. The unit is then pushed back and forth across the cement, cleaning in rows. The bigger the unit the bigger path it cleans in one pass but the bigger pressure washer you need to run it. Most consumer grade small pressure washers do not put out enough gallon per minute to run a surface cleaner effectively. A 3-4 gpm pressure washer is recommended to operate a small 16-19" surface cleaner. Surface cleaners come in sizes clear up to 36" or more and can be used to clean entire parking lots.