No stripes, no splashback
A surface cleaner is a housing with two spinning jets under it, and it turns the striped, splattered mess of a lance into an even pass. It also halves the time. What separates them is the bearing — cheap units seize within a season — plus the skirt that keeps the dirt off the wall, and the fitting that decides whether it works on your machine at all.
465 mm · stainless · 4 wheels · up to 4 000 PSI · 3/8" quick connect
Four hundred and sixty-five millimetres on four wheels — the widest surface cleaner here, and it fits trade machines.
Best for: A long drive or a yard, behind a machine with 500 l/h or more
≈ $150 / 120 €
280 mm · swivel joint · for Bosch AQT and Aquatak machines
Bosch's own surface cleaner, and the fitting list on the box is the specification that matters.
Best for: Owners of Bosch UniversalAquatak, AdvancedAquatak or AQT machines with a patio to clean
≈ £39 / 43 €
Three jets and a bristle ring · swivelling side nozzle · 360° head
A surface cleaner for the places a T-Racer cannot go — steps, edges and small areas.
Best for: Steps, thresholds, edges, small courtyards and vertical surfaces
≈ £41 / 42 €
28 cm spray arm · wide footprint · for Nilfisk machines
A 28 cm spray arm on a wide base, for decking, brick, stone, tile and concrete.
Best for: Nilfisk owners with decking, brick or paved areas
≈ £78 / 74 €
Two rotating flat jets · adjustable height · splash guard and bristle ring
Two flat jets under a hood, with adjustable distance to the surface — the difference between clean and scarred.
Best for: Kärcher owners with a terrace, a drive or a patio of any size
≈ £49 / 73 €
That is the whole point of the accessory: the housing contains the spray. The most affordable model in the aisle already fulfils that function.
The working width decides the number of passes. On a whole patio, that is the only figure that changes how long the job takes.
A round housing leaves a dirty strip along the walls. Models with a straight edge or a lifting skirt are the only ones that finish a corner without going back over it with the lance.
No. You must check the lance connector and above all the permitted pressure. An accessory rated for 130 bar on a machine delivering 160 degrades quickly.
On wood in good condition, at reduced pressure and without lingering. On greyed or soft wood, the pressure raises the fibres and leaves it rough for years.
Insufficient overlap between passes, or an uneven forward speed. The housing stops you seeing the result as you go, which makes the mistake easy.
Not for ordinary dirt. On established moss, a product applied beforehand and left to work halves the number of passes needed.
Do not linger, keep a constant forward speed and reduce the pressure. On sand joints, a patio cleaner is safer than a lance but not harmless.
The rotary nozzles and the edge brushes are wear parts. A worn nozzle unbalances the rotating arm and leaves circular marks.
A wide head spreads the same flow over more surface, so it presses less hard. On an entry-level machine, a thirty-centimetre head cleans better than a forty.
No: the jet tears out the infill and flattens the fibres for good. These accessories are for hard surfaces only — slabs, concrete and stone.
A patio cleaner is chosen first on compatibility with your machine, then on width. It does not clean better than a lance — it cleans more evenly, without splashing, and that is exactly what is asked of it.
A figure has to be published by four machines in five to earn its column. Below that, we would be comparing empty cells.
| Model | Price | Amazon reference |
|---|---|---|
| Bosch AquaSurf 280 | 39 £ | B01BU0GO1M |
| Kärcher PS 30 Plus Power Scrubber | 41 £ | B08WYLH9JT |
| Kärcher T-Racer T 5 | 49 £ | B0854Z2CK4 |
| Nilfisk Power Patio | 78 £ | B06VT7ND6W |
| VEVOR Surface Cleaner 465 mm | 150 £ | B0DYDQZ3N7 |
Specifications: manufacturer sheets for cleaning machines and the matching Amazon product pages. Prices and availability: Keepa. Every figure in this table names its source.
Most recent revision in this category: August 16, 2026.
Prices quoted in these summaries are dated readings. The live price is shown next to each product.
