Wesco WS88oo Cordless Portable Pressure Washer Review

The Wesco WS8800 pressure washer arrived in a black box with an image of the washer printed on top.

On opening the box, it looked like a basic pressure washer. No frills, just a dark green gun, clear hose, a battery with battery charger, and a net carry bag.

It has an 18-volt lithium-ion battery which is a lower voltage that that of the Hydroshot, Yard Force and Norse batteries on this page. However, the hose is 6 metres which is pretty long, giving more manoeuvrability compared to most other power washers I tested.

Its maximum pressure is 320 psi which is about 22 bar and the same as the Hydroshot and Yard Force models.

The nozzle has a multi-setting twist function with a 0° pencil jet and then options for angles of 15°, 25° and 40°, and a flat spray.

In terms of durability, it’s pretty robust. After doing all the other tests I went and ‘drop tested’ it (dropping it from shoulder height) and everything remained intact.

However, if I may be momentarily shallow, I’d say this is not an attractive piece of kit. If you enjoy sleek design, this isn’t going to tickle your taste buds – it’s pretty basic and quite ugly.

But, of course, we mustn’t judge a book by its cover, and this did perform well. Although, I will say that the gun has some vibration and feels heavy. The trigger is also hard to keep in place, so those with weaker grip may struggle.

Putting it Together

This is simple to put together and there were no real problems. Once the battery is charged, the nozzle simply connects to the extension lance, and the lance clips onto the gun.

There is a buoy on the hose to stop the pipe from sinking, and a plastic clip to attach it to the bucket, which aren’t always included.

Getting the water flowing is a case of adjusting the nozzle, pushing the safety button and squeezing the trigger. All very simple. The water comes out after about 45 seconds.

Battery: 1 hour 20 mins charging time for 15 minutes continuous run time.

Here’s a list of the different items I cleaned using the Wesco WS8800 and how the washer performed:

Bike: The pencil jet nozzle is very powerful indeed. It blasted dirt from the bike and I was even a bit worried that it had removed paint (it hadn’t).

The other settings were just as good. The flat nozzle did a great job of reaching the chain and under the mudguards.

Muddy Boots: Blasted clean no problems at all. The 25° spray rebounded so hard it felt like a tidal wave had engulfed the patio.

Garden Tools: It did a great job of blasting away tough bits of mud. Some of the rebounds were enough to get you pretty drenched!

The flatter settings washed residue from the wheelbarrow and it was easy to remove the soil.

Pets: The water jet is powerful and stings a bare hand. It’s not suitable for pets.

Car: Good for cleaning the car but anything below the 40° setting shouldn’t be used on paintwork as the water jet is really powerful.

I used the 40° setting on the glass windows and the flat setting to clean the wheel arches and paintwork.

It worked well in general, but it was tricky getting to some parts of the wheel arches as the lance is quite long and difficult to angle.

Patio Furniture: Goodbye bird poo! This blasted the dried-on pigeon poo to outer space.

The flatter nozzles did a good job of cleaning off tomato ketchup and removing soap.

Patio Algae: This isn’t a machine that will clean your patio’s ground-in dirt and mould, but the pencil jet is powerful enough to remove small amounts of algae. Once again, I graffitied my initials into the ground.

Windows: Perfect on a 40° setting to wash down glass and plastic.

The machine feels heavy to hold over waist height compared to some others (although it doesn’t actually weigh more) which I think must be due to poor ergonomics. Therefore, it’s not the most comfortable to use for cleaning high windows.

Wheelie Bin: Blasted out all the filth and removed smells with a squirt of washing up liquid. However, it took ages to wash out the soap suds. Be really, really wary of water rebound!

18 Volts and 320 PSI makes this a powerful cordless jet washer. As you can see above, the jet is powerful enough to remove algae in concentrated areas, and would strip paint off the car if you’re not careful.

It has the force to propel water out to around 3 metres. This is less distance than the Norse SK25i, but isn’t bad at all.

This is neither the noisiest nor the quietest washer featured here. It’s not overpowering, but you wouldn’t want to use it early morning or into the evening.

There’s a safety button to depress before the trigger handle will release which is standard.

The water filter came off after a fight – I found the struggle to remove it a little off-putting. Seeing as it’s important to clean the filter regularly to avoid anything getting stuck, it’s not ideal that it’s difficult to detach.

Finally, the battery gets hot. I stopped using it after 10 mins to let it cool down. The instruction manual says if the battery gets hot, leave it to cool before re-charging so I guess this is something Wesco know about.

I would describe this as quite average in terms of value for money. There are no specific claims on the box or in the instructions about what it should be capable of. But it does do more or less everything you’d expect from a basic battery-powered jet washer.

The jets have the are quite strong, so lack of power isn’t an issue. However, it’s a similar price to other cordless pressure washers that I tested, yet doesn’t come with as many accessories or a sleek design.

• Good power for a budget option
• Basic in design, but quite efficient at cleaning jobs
• Great for windows, garden furniture, car washing etc