The average American washes their car around 13 times a year. If you take your vehicle to a carwash, you spend hundreds of dollars a year to keep your car clean. Keeping your car clean is not only essential to keep it looking nice, but it helps extend the car’s life. Using a pressure washer at home is a more economical option to keep your car clean, but you must use the correct pressure washer nozzle to maintain the integrity of your car’s finish.
To safely wash your car at home, you should use a 40 degree nozzle for the vehicle’s body and a 25 degree nozzle for the tires and rims. There are benefits to using these nozzles, the most important being that they protect your car.
Read on to learn more about the nozzles you can use to wash your car safely and effectively at home.
Contents
40 Degree Nozzle
The best nozzle to use when washing your car at home is a 40 degree nozzle. This nozzle is recommended because it is gentle yet powerful enough to clean the dirt and grime from your vehicle. Typically, this nozzle is denoted as the white nozzle in the set.
You will notice the water sprays out in a broad pattern, so the pressure is evenly distributed. This even distribution allows for easy and safe cleaning of various surfaces, namely the body and windows of your car.
Can I Use a Nozzle Less Than 40 Degrees for My Car?
Your car is coated in caked-on mud or oil from a newly finished road. You think you need more intense pressure to get the job done. DO NOT use a nozzle with higher pressure than 40 degrees on the body of your car! Yes, it will remove the dirt, but it is also likely to remove the top finish and some paint. This will leave you with an expensive auto bill.
25 Degree Nozzle
It is recommended that you switch to a 25 degree nozzle when you are cleaning the tires and wheels of your car. This nozzle is typically green and produces a wide high-pressure spray. Because the wheels and tires of your vehicle are more durable than the finish of the body, you will need higher pressure to remove residue and dirt.
What Will I Need to Pressure Wash My Car?
There are several methods for pressure washing a car, but first you’ll need to gather the proper materials.
Nozzles
To avoid any mistakes, it is best only to have the pressure wash nozzle you need to use for your car available. For example, if you are working on the tires, use the 25 degree nozzle first, remove it and place it out of reach while switching to the 40 degree nozzle. Do the same thing when working on the wheels again.
While this may seem silly and time-consuming, this extra step could save your paint job. If you do not have time to switch between the nozzles, it is best to stick to the 40 degree nozzle. This will ensure you do not accidentally damage the paint of your car.
Materials
Always gather all your materials before beginning the process of washing your car. This will help make sure you are focused on the task you are completing and are not getting sidetracked and making unnecessary mistakes.
Space
Always pressure wash your car at a safe distance away from other objects. While the 40 degree nozzle is gentle, it could cause damage to some items if they are accidentally sprayed with it.
It is best to avoid washing your car on a surface with loose stone. Although the pressure from the 40 degree nozzle is limited, it could easily kick rocks up onto the vehicle and damage your paint. Not to mention the frustration of having pieces of grass attached to your newly cleaned car.
What is the Best Method to Pressure Wash My Car?
Washing a car is standard and does not require much guidance, but here is the process you should follow if using a pressure washer. No matter which steps you are on, you should work from the top down. This avoids dirty water running over the surface you have cleaned.
Rinse
Even if you cannot see it, there is a thin layer of dust that has accumulated on the surface of your car. You will want to use the 40 degree nozzle to do this. You can even use this nozzle to rinse the dirt off the wheels and tires.
If the wheels are extra grimy, this would be an excellent time to switch to the higher-pressure nozzle to help loosen it up a bit. Switch back to the 40 degree nozzle as soon as you are done.
Detergent
After you have adequately rinsed your car, you will want to apply a coat of detergent. You may use your pressure washer to do this, or you may have an external car wash sprayer to apply the detergent.
Once the detergent has been applied, it is best to let it sit on the car for several minutes to allow it to work. You do not want to let it sit too long, though, because dried detergent can be challenging to remove.
Scrub
You will likely want to use a car brush to scrub the detergent around your car and wheels before you begin the final steps. Be sure to use a brush that is specifically designed for car finish. If you use a brush that is too abrasive, you run the risk of scratching the paint on your car.
Rinse
Beginning at the top of your car, you will use the 40 degree nozzle to start rinsing your vehicle. The final thing you will rinse is the tires and wheels. When rinsing the tires and wheels, you will want to switch back to a 25 degree nozzle.
If you follow each of these steps when washing your car with a pressure washer, it will be an easy process and save you both time and money.
Additional Tips When Pressure Washing Your Car
Pressure washing your car can save you a lot of time and money, but it is not something that you can do haphazardly. If you do not know using a pressure washer and the appropriate nozzles, it is best to stick to hand washing.
Keep these things in mind before you begin to pressure wash your car:
- Use the correct nozzles.
- Check to make sure the brush you use is car safe.
- Do not allow water to hit any electrical components of your car.
- Keep your car off loose gravel and grass if possible.
- Make sure no children are around when using the pressure washer.
A pressure washer is a powerful tool that you should not treat like anything less. It is not safe to allow your children or pets to be around the area you are washing your car. If they must be around the vehicle, put pressure washer away and resort to hand washing.
What is PSI, and Does it Matter?
You will notice all the nozzles included with a pressure washer are labeled with Pound Per Square Inch (PSI). You will also see this concerning tires or other inflated objects. When looking at PSI for a pressure washer, it is used to determine the amount of pressure the water exerts when coming out of the nozzle and hitting the surface being washed.
It is important to remember the lower the number of degrees on your nozzle, the greater the force of the water. Here is the PSI rating for each of the nozzles:
| 0 Degree (Red) | 4,000 PSI |
| 15 Degree (Yellow) | 3,100 PSI |
| 25 Degree (Green) | 2,800 PSI |
| 40 Degree (White) | 1,300 PSI |
These are the average PSI levels of each color nozzle. Within each color or degree option, you may be able to find a higher level of PSI, depending on your needs. Be very aware of the PSI before using any nozzle. This awareness will help prevent injury and damage.
What Damage Can Occur?
You may be wondering what could happen if you use a nozzle with a higher degree of PSI to wash your car. It is best not to experiment to see what could happen. Instead, look at the things that could happen to your vehicle if you use a too powerful nozzle.
If you choose to use a 0-degree nozzle to clean your car, you run the risk of cutting through your car’s paint. These cuts will expose the metal, which allows your vehicle to rust quickly. Not only can it become more susceptible to rust, but it will also negatively impact the appearance of your car before it even has a chance to rust.
How Can I Get Caked-On Dirt Off?
Let us say you have taken your beloved vehicle for some off-road driving. Chances are it is heavily caked in mud and muck, depending on where you were and the conditions you were in. You have a couple of options when it comes to cleaning your vehicle with a pressure washer.
Elbow Grease
You can easily use a pressure washer with 25 and 40 degree nozzles, but you will need to invest a little bit of hard work. While the spray will loosen some of the dirt, you will need a brush or cloth to remove it.
To make this process easier, you may wish to allow the vehicle to go through multiple rinses, wash, and soak sessions. This, combined with scrubbing, will remove all the caked-on dirt. Be aware this will take you several hours.
Higher Pressure
So, you do not have a lot of time to spare on washing your vehicle, making multiple rinses and soak sessions impossible. If this is the case, you may wish to use a higher-pressure nozzle. Moving to the 15-degree nozzle can be an option, but it needs to be done with extreme care.
Using a 15-degree nozzle on a car is not recommended because of the damage it can cause, but with extreme caution, you can use it within reason. If you need to use a higher-pressure nozzle to remove dirt, you will want to adjust the position of your body and the pressure washer wand. You cannot be close to the car with the nozzle. Taking a few steps back will increase the pressure but keep your paint safe.
Can I Pressure Wash the Engine of My Car?
You may have been to car shows where hundreds of cars with the hoods popped open reveal a gleaming engine. When you open the hood of your car, unless you have spent hours cleaning it, you are looking at a dingy engine. This may make you wonder if you can pressure wash the engine to get rid of the grime.
The short answer to this question is that you can pressure wash your car’s engine, but several precautions must be taken first. If you do not know anything about what is under your vehicle’s hood, DO NOT attempt to pressure wash the engine because it will not end well for you.
If you want to pressure wash the engine of your car, here are the things you need to do first:
- Securely cover all electrical parts.
- Protect any filters.
- Protect the fuse box.
- Cover the distributor.
Once these items are safe from getting water on them, you are ready to begin washing the engine of your car. It is best to use the 40 degree nozzle, keeping at least three feet from the vehicle. This will provide enough pressure to clean the engine while avoiding damage.
Final Thoughts
You can easily use a pressure washer to clean your car, but you need to educate yourself first. Never use a nozzle of less than 40 degrees for the body of your vehicle, and always maintain a safe distance from the car when washing it. If you do not fully understand how a pressure washer works, stick to hand washing or ask someone to help you.