Customer Reviews

Kärcher K2 Home Air-Cooled Pressure Washer

This has been on my wish-list for twenty years and, now that I've got one, I wonder why on earth I waited so long. It's an excellent machine!
What you get is a big box containing the jet washer, spray lance, lance extender, the T-Racer floor-cleaning attachment, and a 500ml pack of detergent. It's all packed in simply, which means you can actually get the bits back in the box without much bother. This makes storage a bit easier. You can dis-assemble the handle and remove the wheels, too. They just snap together. Actually, it's no more difficult to store than a vacuum cleaner.
The main unit is about the size and weight of an upright vacuum cleaner. It stands 783mm high, and weighs about 5.6Kg. It is plasticky (isn't everything these days) but feels very solid. You'll need a high-pressure water hose (my Gardena hose worked fine), which you connect to the back of the unit. You screw the lance hose to the front, and plug the unit into mains power. Turn on the water, and switch on the main unit, and you are ready to go. The water pressure is adjusted via a twist control on the lance. The lance trigger also has a safety catch. It makes sense to wear safety goggles when using jet washer, but none are supplied. Glasses are not expensive but, given that being smacked in the eye by flying debris is a real risk, I am amazed that they are not included. Then again, other manufacturers don't seem to include them either.
The lance produces an impressive, flat fan-shaped jet of water. I tried it out by cleaning a concrete yard at full pressure. It blasted away to clean concrete in a single sweep of the lance. I did the same with the T-Racer, which worked even better, cleaning in one sweep, but cleaning a broader area at a time. For a set aimed at home users, it's a pity it doesn't include any car-cleaning add-ons, such as the foam nozzle, wheel-washing brush, or any other brush. (There are eight brushes in the range from Kärcher.) Actually, given that I clean the driveway once a year, and clean the car every month, I would have happily swapped the T-Racer for a car-cleaning brush.

The unit's mobility is inevitably hampered by its power cord and water hose, but the lance hose is a decent length. As the connections are all low-down on the unit, it doesn't topple over when a cable or hose is pulled. If you are using detergent, there is a pull-out hose at the back, which you simply dip into the detergent container. The detergent and water are mixed in the machine. It is simple, though it does make the machine awkward to move. It would much better if it had a small built-in reservoir, or a snap-on container, for detergents.

The assembly instructions are mainly step-by-step pictures, and are easy to do. The operating instructions are wordy and thorough, but the lack of pictures makes them a bit more difficult to follow. However, when you've been through it once, set-up and usage are very easy.

Overall then, it's every bit the jet washer I expected from a name like Kärcher. It is solidly made, and is easy to use, but the set's lack of brush is lamentable. Official Kärcher attachments are also pricy, so it may be tempting to look at some of the many cheaper non-official attachments on the market. It's not perfect, but it's hard to fault its core features for quality, ease of use, and performance.

When researching gadgets one is always aware that what might be great for one person might not be so great for another. In the case of this kit not so. Bought it specifically to clean Indian stone patio flags, which have not been cleaned since they were laid for years ago. Utterly amazing result from such a small and light machine. The minimal use of water is achieved by the design of the dirt buster attachment- the jet comes out in a spiral to effect a circular scouring action, which is highly efficient. It took about 3 hours work to clean a patio area of 125 sq mtrs. The jet with this attachment should be used with care on mortar joints as if the are not rock solid, it will blast them away. Accidentally caught the base of a stained log store and stripped the stain off down to clean bare wood. So don,'t use the dirt buster attachment on a car.
The jet wash gun trigger switches the motor on and off. This is not made crystal clear in the manual and took a bit of figuring out. Have given only four stars as yet, will follow up later when I have used it more fully, but so far an excellent purchase.

We had 250 sq m of block paving laid more than ten years ago. It became dirty, lichen stained, with moss and weeds between the cracks. I bought this Karcher to clean the paving. It did an outstanding job and the paving now looks as bright and pristine as when it was first laid. However, three comments
- I bought the package with the patio cleaning head. This rotating head barely works effectively. It does remove some surface dirt but does not remove all moss, lichen and weeds. The effective tool to do a proper job was the normal lance spray attachment which comes as standard anyway. I should have saved money and not bought the optional patio cleaner head.
- it is a long cleaning job but very satisfying to see the results. Each block has to be cleaned individually and all the cracks need to be flushed out with the lance at close proximity. The 250 sq m paving took me three half-days to clean. Then, when dry, you have to refill the cracks with kiln dried sand. A therapeutic exercise.
- as this machine is air cooled, Karcher recommended not to use the equipment continuously for "too long". The operating manual does not specify what "too long" means. I contacted Karcher and they recommended no longer than 25 minutes continous operation.

Couldn't believe how good this product is never expected it to work as well as it did now patio is as good as new

We bought this pressure washer to replace a cheap RAC one that we have had for about 12months but didn't make it through the winter. Always wanted a karcher and this hasn't disappointed. Cleaned our patio this weekend to clear a winter of grime and really happy with the results in hardly any time at all. Also used it on our front wall to blast away the moss and it did a really good job. It's small enough that it doesn't take up too much room in the garage but plenty of power so very pleased.

I find the Karcher K2 Home Air-cooled Pressure Washer a very good machine to use. The dirt blaster is particularly good at removing dirt and weeds in block paving. The T-racer and the spray lance I found very useful.
I gave this machine 4 stars and I would have given 5 stars had the handle been a more solid fit. I think this method of fitting the handle has been used in order to fit it into a smaller box for dispatch.
It is very annoying when pulling the machine along and the handle comes off. My previous pressure washer was a Champion purchased from Focus, a much more solid body but not as good as the Karcher k2 at cleaning. Its a great pity that Karcher has let themselves down with this handle.

I would recomend this product as I have had one before lasted 20 years.
It is only a pity that the plastic handle is not of a stronger material, I have thrown the handle out as everytime I held it it came out, I can still use it without the handle otherwise excellent product. good value

Bought this at the request of the my Gardener, what a difference to the back patio. Can't wait for the warmer weather so we can get all that moss and dirt off the drive

Although I have used a machine of this type before, I was astonished at how quick and effective this was at patio cleaning. I had assumed that the patio cleaning attachment would be a bit of a gimick and I would use the wand/lance thingy. But in fact the patio attachment made the job possible in less than a quarter of the time - brilliant, well done Karcher.

This is the second system I have owned and wow what a difference this one is over the Bosch. Top quality yet light, the spinning head is a little weak but does a cracking job. Been used on my patio, drive, car and conservatory. Really pleased with the purchase.