Tips and tricks on how to make the most of home-use pressure washers

Pressure washers are widely used for their efficiency in blowing away years-long-gathered dust. But did you know there are secret uses of home use pressure washers that go beyond traditional objects like patios, fence, or driveways? And did you know that you’re not supposed to clean windows with high pressure?

That’s right! There are certain rules as well as secret tips that only long-term users know on how to make the best use of pressure washers. This article will crack some of those secrets, and share with you 7 tips and tricks that we find most helpful!

➭➭➭ For More Information:  Best pressure washer brands

Don’t use high pressure on windows

This is one rule that all experienced users of pressure washers agree on. The reason is that windows are delicate, and when pressure washers are fixed with great force, it runs the risk of breaking the window.

Better yet, don’t even get near windows with your washer on high pressure. What you can do, instead, is put a wide-angle nozzle on - usually a 40-degree - so that it expands the angle and reduces the force. Start delicate, you don’t want to turn a good intention into a disaster.

Be aware of delicate plants

Along the same line as windows, plants and flowers are other candidates for delicate objects that you need to be careful around when using powerful pressure. Especially if you’re cleaning the fence in the garden, you can put plastic bags on the flowers to avoid damage.

With that said, did you know that pressure washers can also clean fences?

Other use of pressure washers

Fences, furniture, toys, and garbage bins are all possible objects to be washed. Good pressure washer brands  can blow away years of grime and dirt, leaving your grandma’s favorite rocking chair spotless like new.

Do remember though, with painted furniture (that are not painted by their producers) the high pressure can damage the paint. You therefore might have to hand wash these objects.

Wear safety gears

Some people go as far as wearing protecting suits as they fear the high water pressure can accidentally incur damages. Others only wear protection glasses, which indeed are necessary in case the water gets into your eyes.

Be aware of electricity

Electricity and water are never best friends. When cleaning, be sure to remove lights or any objects that are connected to electricity to avoid getting electrified. Some people remove their light bulbs completely, or wrap them with plastic bags.

Add soap to increase efficiency

While just water is enough to bust dust away, adding some soap makes the job more efficient.

Most pressure washers have a reservoir for spraying soap, but not all of them have removable nozzles. Smaller machines usually only allow for one nozzle that adjusts the spray, while professional machines let you remove the nozzles and insert the suitable ones. Spraying soap needs a special soap nozzle, so be sure to know what machine you have before practicing this tip.

Save the environment

Water is essential for our daily use, but you would also want to make sure your pressure washer makes the most effective use of water. On average, pressure washers use around eight gallons of water per minute. However, the rule is the higher the pressure, the less washer is used to create the necessary force for your cleaning projects.  Highest rated pressure washers are therefore more efficient than normal garden hoses, and look out for those that have high pressure to help saving water.

We hope that we’ve made your life somewhat easier with the above tips and tricks. Please do not hesitate to like and share if you find it useful!

You'd want to use an attribute to count how many times you talked to the guy. So the speak to/talk to verb script would look something like this:

if (not HasInt (this, "times_talked")) {
  msg ("This is the first thing the guy says.")
  this.times_talked = 1
}
else if (this.times_talked = 1) {
  msg ("This is the second thing the guy says.")
  this.times_talked = 2
}
else {
  msg ("This is the last thing the guy says.")
  this.times_talked = null
}

The first time, there is no times_talked attribute, so we check for not HasInt. For the others, we check the number. If there were more than 3 options to cycle through, you would put extra else if cases before the final else. For example:

if (not HasInt (this, "times_talked")) {
  msg ("This is the first thing the guy says.")
  this.times_talked = 1
}
else if (this.times_talked = 1) {
  msg ("This is the second thing the guy says.")
  this.times_talked = 2
}
else if (this.times_talked = 2) {
  msg ("This is the third thing the guy says.")
  this.times_talked = 3
}
else if (this.times_talked = 3) {
  msg ("This is the fourth thing the guy says.")
  this.times_talked = 4
}
else {
  msg ("This is the last thing the guy says.")
  this.times_talked = null
}

Or if you have a lot of options, it might be easier to use 'switch'.

if (HasInt (this, "times_talked")) {
  this.times_talked = (this.times_talked % 3) + 1
}
else {
  this.times_talked = 1
}

switch (this.times_talked) {
  case (1) {
    msg ("This is the first thing the guy says.")
  }
  case (2) {
    msg ("This is the second thing the guy says.")
  }
  case (3) {
    msg ("This is the third thing the guy says.")
  }
}

In this case, the else clause sets the attribute to 1 the first time, and % 3 causes the attribute to cycle through the numbers 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3…

Another alternative method would be to give the NPC a stringlist attribute containing all his dialogue; but that's likely more than you need, unless you're going to be adding and removing lines from the cycle in response to other events.

(If you'd prefer explanations using the script-editing GUI, just click code view for the verb and paste the code in, then you can see what it looks like in the GUI)

These are the scripts I use.
On the character you want to speak to, add an attribute called, 'thingstosay' and make it a stringlist.
Then add the responses to the stringlist one at a time.

Then your verb script of 'talk to or speak to looks like this. (My example is for an Orc guard)

if (ListCount(orc_guard.thingstosay) = 0) {
  msg ("<br>Org says,<br>\"<i>That's all I have for now.\"")
}
else {
  line = PickOneString(orc_guard.thingstosay)
  msg ("<br>Org says, <br><i>" + line)
  list remove (orc_guard.thingstosay, line)
}

This will randomly select one of the strings and print it out.
It also deletes it from the stringlist so it will not show again. It feeds pertinent information to the player. Until all lines are removed and then it tells the player. "That's all I have for now".
You can add additional lines using:

list add (orc_guard.thingstosay, "Whatever text you want to add")

What if you have certain flags that you want to add into the conversation?
Let's say the guard can tell the player about a prisoner being held in the dungeon.
Then the verb would look like this.

if (ListCount(orc_guard.thingstosay) = 0) {
  msg ("<br>Org says,<br>\"<i>That's all I have for now.\"")
}
else if (orc_guard.toldaboutvivian = True) {
  line = PickOneString(orc_guard.thingstosay)
  msg ("<br>Org says, <br><i>" + line)
  list remove (orc_guard.thingstosay, line)
}
if (orc_guard.toldaboutvivian = False) {
  orc_guard.toldaboutvivian = True
  vivian.alias = "Vivian"
  msg ("<br>Org says,<br><i>\"In the town of Carn, Lord Talbert sent for his daughter, Vivian, but we stopped her coach and kidnapped her just north of here by the foothills of Shankspur Mountains, she is being held here in the prison hall.\"<br><br/><i>He gives you a blank look.<i/>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        ")
}

Just add a boolean attribute to the orc guard called 'toldaboutvivian' and set it to False.
The alias of the woman being held was 'woman' but now if the orc tells the player about her when the player finds her, she will be shown as 'Vivian' instead of 'woman'.
Just a simple example.