Clean your deck with a pressure washer

Clean your deck with a pressure washer

Cleaning your deck can be fast and easy with your pressure washer.  Pressure washers are very powerful and can easily etch the wood of your deck.  Choose the correct nozzle and lower pressure to prevent etching.  Here are some tips to effectively clean your deck with your pressure washer.

  • As mentioned previously, you will most usually use a fan tip on the power washer. Fan tip size is measured in degrees, with a 40 to 60-degree tip size being the norm for deck cleaning.
  • Set your pressure to 600 psi to see if that will work for you. Increase the pressure incrementally as needed to clean the deck but not damage or etch the wood surface.
  • Engage the trigger a couple of feet away from the deck surface and then lower the wand to about 12″ off the surface and clean the deck using a sweeping motion.
  • As you sweep you will have a tendency to pivot with your arm but that will create ​an inconsistent distance of the tip from the deck surface. Try to keep a consistent distance as you sweep. You can do this by moving your arm laterally back and forth.
  • Work from the house outward.
  • Work with the grain by feathering your spraying lengthwise with the deck boards and overlapping each area slightly. The key is you want an even cleaning with no hot spots or visible “cleaning edges.”