The Karcher Power Washer-- A Girls Best Friend

The world of power tools has traditionally been a man's world. They've been holding out on us. The front of our house has white painted wrought iron grill work. It gets dirty, even moldy in shady areas and is a pain to clean. I have scrubbed it in the past with a brush and soapy water. It is hard, dirty, cold, wet work and no fun.

My son bought the Karcher power washer at Costco. It has opened up a whole new world of outdoor cleaning. That wrought iron can be blasted clean in a fraction of the time it took to scrub it -- and it looks better in the end.

Washing the exterior of the house can do a lot for its appearance. A friend asked me if we simply didn't have spiders, or if we did something to get rid of the cobwebs. We do. The washer is great for paint prep, or general exterior cleaning. It powers the crud off window screens, and prepares the exterior windows for squeegee cleaning. Patio furniture, cushions and frames alike, benefit from the concentrated powerful spray. Cleaning the driveway, the patio, walkway, even car tires becomes a manageable task.

The machine is pretty simple to operate. It can siphon a soap mixture into the spray if you want to add detergent, then turn off the soap to rinse. It has a variable strength to the spray for more or less sturdy surfaces. It must be attached to a hose and plugged into a power outlet, but can move a good distance before changing the hookups. The Karcher power washer is most fun to use on a warm day, because you will get wet from overspray and overhead use.

Most importantly, it can be operated easily by someone who has average upper body strength, women and girls included. I would rank this machine up there in usefulness with a power drill and a glue gun. Perhaps I will start investigating chainsaws.