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- Very cheap
- Simple to use
- Respectable cleaning power
- Feels like a budget option
- Poor assembly instructions
- Not much real control
How much pressure washer do you think you can get for under £60? If it’s from Toolstation store brand, Hawksmoor, the answer seems to be “more than you’d think”. Not only do you get a 1400W compact pressure washer with a maximum 108bar of pressure, but a choice of two nozzles and even a foam spray gun for car cleaning. Not bad for a unit that undercuts budget favourites like the Bosch EasyAquatak 110 and Kärcher K2 Horizontal on price.
All the same, cheap doesn’t always mean great value, and a tempting bundle soon falls apart if the machine isn’t built to last or the performance isn’t where it needs to be. Having put the Hawksmoor High Pressure Washer 108bar through its paces on my car and around my garden, I’m in a good position to tell you how well it holds up.
What do you get for the money?
The Hawksmoor pressure washer is a compact unit clad in green and black plastic, measuring 32.5cm wide and 47cm high from base to handle. It’s rated for a maximum 108 bar pressure and 420l/hour flow rate, putting it behind the Bosch Aquatak 110 on pressure but ahead on flow rate, with the Bosch topping out at 330l/hour. The Karcher K2 also has a higher 110 bar pressure but a lower 360l/hour flow rate.
The Hawksmoor ships with a two-part spray lance plus two nozzles. One gives you a variable spray, moving from an intense high-pressure jet to a wider, less powerful blast.The other is a non-adjustable rotary jet that’s not particularly fierce, but good for clearing larger areas. Both push and twist on to the end of the lance, and gave no trouble attaching or detaching.
There’s some attempt at cable management for the power cord in the shape of a hook on the right-hand side that you can loop it over. There’s nothing for the 6m high-pressure hose, however, so you might want to remove it and stow it separately to keep things neat. The spray lance stores neatly in a holder on the left-hand side, while the nozzles have their own space on the rear of the unit.
How easy is it to use?
There’s just one power setting, so you connect it to the water, rotate the switch onto the on position, attach your nozzle of choice and blast away. The harder bit is putting it together.
The handle and the different storage elements all need to be attached to the main body, but the instructions are vague or entirely missing on some parts of the process, with no pictures and no details on what screw goes where. It’s not rocket science and I’ve assembled enough pressure washers to know what I’m doing, but the likes of Kärcher, Bosch and Black + Decker make it much, much easier.
How I tested the Hawksmoor High Pressure Washer 108 bar
I follow the same basic process when testing all pressure washers to compare ease of use and performance. I assemble the pressure washer according to the manufacturer’s instructions, then use it in a range of tasks around my home and garden, cleaning areas of tarmac, paving, plastic and timber.
That way, I can see how well each model handles different surfaces and different types and grades of grime. I’ll also clean my car, paying special attention to the pressure washer’s ability to remove dirt and debris around the bodywork and wheels.
While doing so, I’ll use any accessories provided, including foam spray bottles, additional nozzles, driveway brushes and car kits, to see if they make the job easier.
How well does it clean?
Given the small size and relatively low max pressure, it cleans pretty well. The variable jet can handle most jobs, from cleaning dried-on dirt and algae on paving to removing splodges of spilled Weathershield paint, a task that I’ve found has flummoxed some compact pressure washers in the past.
I used the spray foam gun to spread shampoo across my car, then sprayed off the loosened grime with the variable lance in its wider pattern. Hard mud and seagull droppings on the bonnet came off nicely, and the jet from the variable lance did a nice job of sticky, black grime around the wheels.
I’d usually expect the rotary nozzle to be something of a bruiser, but here it’s better at shifting dirt from the surface than blasting away near-immovable deposits. You’ll want something bigger and more powerful if you’ve got a lot of hard landscaping or vehicles to keep clean, but for a car and a small driveway, patio or deck it’s fine.
My only slight grumble about the cleaning is that there’s not much variation in force or nuance. The variable nozzle can be a bit too rough for softwood or crumbling tarmac and you can only adjust it by widening the jet or increasing the distance between nozzle and surface.
What could be improved?
The build quality isn’t brilliant. The plastics feel cheap and the section where the cable hook is meant to fit was misaligned on our sample, making the hook harder than it should have been to fit.
The high pressure hose screws on to a metal pipe with thread, but it’s a bit rough and needs to be approached carefully for fear of misthreading. I was also a bit baffled about the wheels – or the absence of them. There are clearly points on either side where you might attach some, but no wheels to attach there.
This isn’t a problem given it’s a 5kg unit and no hassle to carry around, but it leaves you feeling it’s a less than polished product. It’s also pretty noisy, putting out a raucous 83dBA to 87dBA while in use.
Should you buy the Hawksmoor High Pressure Washer 108bar?
That’s a bit tricky. On the one hand, it’s not as well-built or well-designed as the Bosch and Karcher competition. There’s more than a hint of the budget supermarket middle aisle about it.
On the other hand, it is incredibly affordable, and it actually cleans better than you might expect given the specs. Overall, it’s a decent option for occasional car and outdoor surface cleaning, but I’d spend a little extra on the Bosch Aquatak 110 if I were going to use it more.
