Cheap electric pressure washer at HF?

Got a coupon sheet from Harbor Freight in last weekend's newspaper and noticed that one of them was for $50 off this cheap Pacific Hydrostar electric pressure washer (the $50 is off the retail price, so the price with coupon is $79.99):

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I don't really have a need for a pressure washer frequently enough to justify one of the bigger gas-powered units. I do have a medium-sized (3' x 4') motor oil stain on my concrete driveway that I need to clean up.

Has anyone used one of these particular pressure washers before? Think it would be sufficiently powerful to scrape a couple of years' worth of slow oil leaks off concrete? For $79.99, I figure I'll get my money's worth even if I only wind up using it a few times.

Reply to
Dave Garrett
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I had a similar stain and had excelllent results from sprinkling Tide powder (unscented...) on it, dampened it into a slurry, and left it for a couple of days until the rain came and washed it off.

Got rid of 90 plus percent of the discoloration.

Did it a second time and unless you knew there had been a problem, there's no there, there.

- used the Tide because we've got dogs and didn't want to use anything harsher. I'd have preferred Ivory Snow "soap", but it ain't soap anymore but detergent, too.

Reply to
danny burstein

I didn't find a listing on HF Reviews:

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It's very possible that a power washer is the wrong tool for the job. Please call two or three auto parts stores near you, and describe the situation. They may have a chemical (I see someone mentioned Tide) that will help. Push broom and garden hose, after that?

Or, see what's on the web:

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(They do mention Tide.)

BTW, do you know why Eskimos wash their laundry in Tide?

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

What!

I guess it's a good thing I have the half-box my mother left me when she died. Now i'll have to ration its use.

Maybe soap wouldn't work on some synthetics?

Reply to
micky

The really old Tide had phosphates. Since they work to get clothes cleaner, the govt outlawed phosphates.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Don't know if that's the right way to get your oil stain up but I bought a 1400 psi pressure washer at HF for about that price on sale and used it to get out the algae stains in my pool and it worked good for that. I also have used it to get out dirt staining on concrete and it worked for that.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

I got an electric pressure washer from Lowes a couple of years ago that was maybe about $100. Rated at 2,000 psi but did little to remove oil stains in garage.

I was impressed with my neighbor using his motorized washer to wash his siding with an extension and talking to him found that mine would be practically useless as volume of water is important along with pressure.

Concrete is tough to clean as stains penetrate deep into it and you can't remove a layer of concrete.

Reply to
Frank

This is a cement pond, right? Not a pool with a liner, that a pressure washer would rip to shreds iiuc.

Reply to
micky

Thanks, I'll give this a try first. A box of Tide is obviously a lot cheaper than even a cheap pressure washer.

Reply to
Dave Garrett

I'm going to try the Tide first and see what happens. I'm not aiming for

100% stain-free - if I can get the surface cleaned up and minimize the stain, I'll be satisfied.

FWIW, the last time this happened, I was having my house painted, and the contractor doing the work had a big, gas-powered pressure washer he was using to clean the brick exterior and do a first-pass paint removal on the wood siding. While he was at it, I had him pressure wash the affected part of the driveway, and it cleaned up pretty well (with a bit of residual discoloration where the oil had been). I stupidly failed to put down a drip tray with some Oil-Dri in it before the problem reoccurred, a mistake I won't make again.

And before anyone says "why don't you just fix the oil leak?", it's coming from a bad rear main seal on the car in question, which means the transmission has to be pulled to fix it. I'm not going to spend $1000 in labor to replace a $2 seal when I can just top off with half a quart of oil or so in between oil changes.

Because it's too cold out Tide?

Reply to
Dave Garrett

Drumroll pleased...

Hey, Dave, why don't you fix the leak?

. Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus

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Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Its better that you find one on amazon because there are variety of products with really cheap price. And most of the companies which are selling on amazon are trusted companies. 'What your stock broker doesn’t want you to see'

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Reply to
stockbrokers

Yes, an in ground swimming pool with plaster finish.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

How it is working because mostly companies which offering cheap products don't work properly after few months because they due to low cast they are also less reliable. 'What your stock broker doesn’t want you to see'

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Reply to
stockbrokers

Why don't you fill a box with cat litter or oil-sucker-upper and park your car over the box. So the spot doesn't get bigger.

I think it's funny that they sell ultrasonic distance detectors to help a person park at the same spot in the garage every time.

My mother just tied a string to the ceiling of the garage and tied a little toy to the bottom of the string, right where her side of the windshield hit it, when she was parked where she wanted to. It cost nothing and has no batteries to replace.

Better than ultrasonic, because that comes on all of sudden. The toy you can see from 6 feet away or more, and slow down unitl you have it perfect.

P&M

Reply to
micky

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