Why we like it
- The setup is easy, and its use is intuitive.
- The onboard detergent tank helps clean stubborn messes.
- The onboard storage keeps every part and accessory organised.
What we don’t like
- It only comes with three tips, but you can purchase additional ones separately.
- It isn’t powerful enough to handle really tough messes.
- The hose can be stiff and unruly.
The 60-second scoop
The Karcher K1700 comes with a turbo nozzle for when you need more power.
Product Specifications
Maximum Pressure: 2,125 psi | Dimensions: 17.25” L x 16.5” W x 33” H | Weight: 20.7 lb | Hose Length: 20’ | Gallons per Minute: 1.2
The Kärcher K1700 is an electric pressure washer designed to help a homeowner clean around their property with ease. Because it is electric, it doesn’t have the power to handle really tough jobs like stripping paint or removing years of grime. We did find it effective for almost everything else, including stripping dried mud off a motorcycle and cleaning a driveway of everything except an old oil stain.
Price and where to buy
The Kärcher K1700 Pressure Washer retails for $189.99. You can find it on Amazon, Kaercher.com, and Walmart.
Setup
Setting up this pressure washer is easy; it’s essentially plug and play.
Setting up the pressure washer was quick and almost effortless. Once unpacked, it was only a matter of hooking everything together. The parts screwed or snapped on easily and didn’t require the use of tools.
Cleaning performance
When it came to caked-on dirt, the testing team needed to do extra blasting with the Karcher K1700 to fully remove it.
We thought the cleaning performance of the K1700 pressure washer was excellent, though a little weak. It had no trouble removing average grime like dust or dirt, but it did struggle to remove dried, caked-on grime. For example, we needed two rounds of blasting with detergent to remove the road grime from a motorcycle.
Design
The kink-resistant water hose is stiff enough to be hard to manoeuvre at times.
We liked the design because of its simplicity and how easy it is to use. The wheels eliminate most of the hassle of moving it around, and it has onboard storage for every piece and part that comes with it. The only thing we didn’t like was the bright yellow colour.
How does it compare to other pressure washers we tested?
The testing team found that the Kärcher K1700 wasn’t as powerful as some others we tested.
It was quieter than most of the other pressure washers we tested, such as the Sun Joe SPX3000 Pressure Washer. It was also one of the easiest to set up. It isn’t as powerful as some others, though, and we wish it came with more spraying tips.
Features and accessories
The onboard storage is large enough for all the attachments and more.
The Kärcher has several worthwhile features and accessories.
Quick Connect
The Quick Connect feature made it easy to swap between the three included nozzles. All you do is pull down on the Quick Connect section of the spray arm, slide in the nozzle, and push the nozzle down until the Quick Connect section pops up, locking the nozzle in place.
15-degree nozzle
We thought this nozzle worked great for most of our power-washing tasks, from cleaning a driveway to washing cars to removing accumulated dirt from brick walls. We found it worked best when the tip of the nozzle was positioned a few inches from the target.
Turbo nozzle
In contrast to the 15-degree nozzle, we found this nozzle worked best when used at a distance for a broader spray. It was perfect for rinsing soap off cars, for example, and other general-purpose cleaning tasks.
Other features and attachments
Other worthwhile features are the detergent tank and matching soap nozzle. We used these to clean cars and were impressed by the way the pressure washer automatically pulls detergent from the tank and mixes it with the stream. You do need to clean the lines thoroughly after each use to avoid clogs.
How we tested the Kärcher K1700 Pressure Washer
The testing team used the Kärcher K1700 on cars, the side of a house, and a driveway.
Testing the Kärcher 1700 meant spraying down various dirty surfaces around a home.
Surfaces cleaned
We mainly cleaned three surfaces.
- Driveway: We used the 15-degree nozzle to wash grime off concrete. It was effective on dirt but less so on an oil stain.
- Cars: We used the detergent and turbo nozzles to clean two cars, and the performance was excellent.
- Side of house: We used the 15-degree nozzle for this task. It removed dirt well enough, though we noted that a brush would be needed to remove the really caked-on grime.
Navigating around obstacles
One thing we noted in our tests was that all the hoses and lines attached to the power washer sometimes made it difficult to manoeuvre, especially when we were cleaning two cars side by side in the driveway.
The final verdict
Though it’s not the most powerful option, the testing team found that the Kärcher K1700 can handle the average cleaning task with ease.
The Kärcher K1700 is an excellent pressure washer for homeowners who want more cleaning power than the average garden hose can provide. It is not the best for removing deeply embedded grime, but it’s perfect for maintaining homes to prevent that grime from accumulating in the first place.
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