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A surface cleaner is the single best accessory you can buy for your pressure washer. It replaces the wand with a spinning bar under a shroud, keeping the spray at a consistent height and angle so you don't leave zebra stripes on your concrete. I tested four models across two months on a 1,200 sq ft concrete patio, a brick walkway, and a wooden deck. Here's what I learned.
Simpson 15-Inch Surface Cleaner ($90): This is the one I recommend to most people. The 15-inch size is the sweet spot — wide enough to cover ground fast but not so wide that your pressure washer struggles to drive it. The dual-rotor design keeps it balanced, and the shroud doesn't lift at the edges like cheaper models. It works best with 3000+ PSI gas washers but performs decently on 2000+ PSI electrics. I cleaned my entire patio in about 25 minutes with a 3200 PSI gas unit. No streaks, no skipping.
Karcher T5 ($130): Karcher's surface cleaner is overpriced for what it is. The build quality is good — metal housing, brass fittings — but the 10-inch cleaning path is small. It took me 40 minutes to do the same 1,200 sq ft patio. The edge-cleaning feature (lets you clean right up to walls) is nice, but not $40-nice over the Simpson. Only worth buying if you already own Karcher's click-connect system and want tool-free attachment.
Budget 12-Inch models ($30-50): I tried a no-name Amazon special at $31. It worked for about 20 minutes before one of the spray arms stopped spinning — a piece of grit jammed the bearing. These cheap units are tempting at the price, but they're disposable. You'll buy 2-3 of them in the time a Simpson or Karcher lasts. If you only need to clean a small patio once a year, the budget option works. For anything more, invest in the Simpson.
Pro tip: A surface cleaner needs about 2.0 GPM minimum to spin properly. If your electric washer has 1.2-1.6 GPM, get a 10-inch or 12-inch model. A 15-inch model on a low-GPM washer will spin slowly and leave streaks. Also, always start the spray before the cleaner touches the ground — otherwise you'll etch a circle pattern into your concrete that's nearly impossible to remove.