Product Review: Dewalt 20V Max Cordless Power Cleaner

A Power Cleaner or Pressure Washer is an essential piece of equipment for any homeowner. Power cleaners come in many different types and sizes. I’ve owned a small, corded pressure washer for many years, and it’s been great. Its biggest limit has been size, portability, and requirement for and electric and water source. Gas powered pressure washers offer a bit more freedom, but still are quite large and cumbersome to haul around. Lightweight and easily portable has not been something typically associated with power cleaners until recently with improvements in cordless tools. The Dewalt 20V Max Cordless Power Cleaner attempts to fit that description.

The Dewalt 20V Max Cordless Power Cleaner is one of several recent entries of cordless power cleaners on the market. When I saw it, I thought ins portability would be great. I was, however, skeptical about how it would perform compared to traditional power cleaners. After several weeks of consideration, I decided to go ahead and buy one to try out. Below you’ll see what I thought of it.

Description

The Dewalt 20V Max Cordless Power Cleaner is advertised as being the ideal tool to clean at the jobsite and home, providing 10x the power of a standard garden hose. Taking a closer look at the tool it has a sleek appearance. It weighs in just under 5 pounds making it easy to handle for any job. It comes with a turbo nozzle and 15, 25, and 40 degree nozzles. As an added feature it also includes a soap bottle and sprayer for cleaning your vehicles. A unique feature is the syphon hose which allows the power cleaner to use any fresh water as a source. These features make the Dewalt 20V Max Cordless Power Cleaner a very versatile tool to add to your kit bag.

A more in-depth description of the features and specifications can be found on the Dewalt website at the following link. Dewalt 20V Max 550psi Cordless Power Cleaner.

Testing and Review

For my review of the Dewalt 20V Max Cordless Power Cleaner I had three things I wanted to test. These were the ease of use, cleaning power, and battery life. Testing ease of use, focused on how simple it was to setup, employ, and handle the power cleaner. Cleaning power focused on how effective the power cleaner removed dirt or grime off of surfaces, both when connected to a hose and using the syphon attachment. Battery life was a straightforward test of how long the battery would last during a period of continuous use.

Ease of Use

Bottom line, the power cleaner is very easy to set up and use. Out of the box this cleaner is simple to assemble. Simply attach the quick connect wand, insert a nozzle and a standard Dewalt 20V battery and you’re ready to go. Using the power cleaner proved easy as well. The compact size and light weight of the unit make it very easy to handle. The option to use a standard garden hose or the syphon hose for the water supply also made using the power cleaner easy to use in many situations with or without a standard water supply. Overall, the Dewalt 20V Max Pressure Washer is very easy to use.

Cleaning Power

It was no surprise the power cleaner didn’t have as much power as a traditional electric or gas power cleaners. So, if you’re looking for a power cleaner that can take off hardened grime or paint of surfaces this is not the tool for you. If you’re looking for a power cleaner for home siding, or wash your car or boat, this will work nicely.

As I mentioned, I was interested in how effective the power cleaner was using a garden hose and the syphon hose. Again, it was no surprise the water pressure and cleaning efficiency was considerably better when using the garden hose. Initially, testing the syphon hose I used a small bucket for the water supply, but discovered using a larger container provided a more consistent water flow. Even then the supply was inconsistent, and pressure was much less the garden hose supplied.

To test the cleaning power, I first used the power cleaner to remove mold and mildew from composite decking steps. Overall, the cleaner did a decent job of cleaning the decking. However, it did a significantly better job when using the garden hose for a water supply.

Next, I tested it on retaining wall blocks surrounding a plant bed. The cleaner while still effective cleaning the bricks, did have a more difficult time with the more porous materials. The difference in cleaning power between the garden hose and syphon hose was more significant as well.

In general, the power cleaner was effective, but does not compare to a traditional electric or gas power cleaner. Additionally, while the syphon hose provides versatility and utility to the tool, it does not provide nearly as much cleaning power as the garden hose to supply water to the unit.

Battery Life

Knowing how long a battery will last when using a cordless tool is important to know when deciding if it will meet your needs as compared to its corded version. I expected the Dewalt 20V Max cordless power washer would have a short battery life. To test the battery life, I used the power washer to clean vinyl siding with normal dust and grime on it using the garden hose as a water supply. The battery I used for the test was a Dewalt 20V Max 8Ah battery.

I ran the power washer nearly non-stop for the duration of the test. After 28 minutes the power washer began to slow and finally stopped just short of 30 minutes of run time. Honestly, I felt for a cordless tool of this kind that was a pretty good battery life. However, compared to a traditional power washer it’s clear this tool is limited to smaller jobs.

Conclusions

Overall, the Dewalt 20V Max Cordless Power Cleaner is a good tool, it’s easy to use and versatile. Out of the box it is simple to set up and put to use. The options to use a standard garden hose or the syphon hose to supply water to the unit is handy. However, when comparing it to traditional power cleaners it does not have nearly the same cleaning power. The battery life also limits the power cleaner’s ability to tackle heavier cleaning jobs. While I do think the Dewalt 20V Max Cordless Power Cleaner is useful there really is no substitute for a traditional electric or gas power cleaner.

Shameless Plug

If you liked this review and are interested in purchasing the Dewalt 20V Max Power Cleaner, you can get it at any of your local home improvement stores. However, if you want to support my blog you can purchase it at Amazon at https://amzn.to/3LAijbo

I hope you’ve found this product review helpful, and until the next time.

Happy Building!

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