By Al Carrell and Kelly Carrell/Super Handyman: Blast off with these pressure-washer tips

Al and Kelly Carrell

A lot of our readers resolve each year to clean their homes, inside and out. That’s a great idea, and with a pressure washer, the outside cleaning can be fairly quick and easy.

Here is some basic info you need to know before you get started.

There are a lot of different pressure washers on the market, so we are going to give you general information about using them. Get more specific information from your owner’s manual. If you don’t have the manual, call the manufacturer or go to its website and get the information you need.

Wear protective gloves, goggles and other gear, maybe even a bathing suit!

A pressure washer has a lot of pressure (hence the name), and precautions need to be taken to prevent damage to delicate parts of the house before you start washing it. Stay clear of windows, lamps, shrubs and any loose material in the area, or your cleanup might be more extensive!

Cover any electrical outlets in the area with plastic and tape to prevent water from getting into the circuit. It’s a good idea to go ahead and turn off the power to these circuits if you can and turn them back on after you are sure that it is safe.

A pressure washer can remove any loose paint and even damage vulnerable wood. Don’t use it if you have lead-based paint on your home. (If you are planning on repainting, this is a super way to get started on removing that loose paint.)

Practice with your pressure washer to see which nozzle will work best for your needs. If you can adjust the pressure, practice with that as well.

Most pressure washers have some great cleaning compounds designed for them to use. Choose the ones that will take care of the specific problems you are working on. Use only the ones recommended by your manufacturer, as other cleaners may cause damage to the washer.

Now you can blast off!

Handy light source

Those small, battery-operated lights for closets are super for lots of other areas, especially a garage or small workshop. The ones that use LED bulbs will last a super-long time, and most come with a stick-on backing so you can put them just about anywhere. Put them in your garage closet. You probably already have a light there, but you might not be able to get to the switch. Put one in your utility shed, basement or even a dark cabinet. They are great for the attic or crawl space. If you haven’t installed it, you can take it with you when you are working in dark spots. Unlike most flashlights, you don’t have to hold it or prop it up somehow. They let off quite a bit of light, too, and most are inexpensive.

Basement detective

A damp, musty basement can mean real problems. But until you know where the moisture is coming from, it’s hard to know what to do about it. There’s an easy way to determine whether the moisture is coming from inside the room or outside. Clean off a spot on the damp wall or floor, and tape a piece of plastic onto the surface. Seal all the way around the edges. Then wait until the next day and check it. If the moisture is on the outside of the plastic, then the excess moisture is coming from inside the house. If the moisture has collected behind the plastic, then you need to check outside the home for the leak. Now you can go from there and make your repairs.

Super hints

Ÿ Don’t tell your housekeeper, but you can clean lots of your tools in the dishwasher. Hand tools, safety glasses, saw blades and lots of other things can benefit from the hot water and soap bath.

Ÿ I use the pump soap dispensers around my house. It seems more sanitary than using cakes of soap. I have found that I can reuse these pump dispensers for lots of other things. I keep one on my workbench with waterless hand cleaner in it. It’s very convenient and much less of a mess to use. You even can put oil, dog shampoo, honey and other things in them. Just don’t forget to relabel them!

Ÿ Cleaning out a vacuum’s air filter usually is easy, but for those of us with allergies, there’s a better way. Put it in a plastic bag and shake out the dirt and dust. Then pull it out and replace it, and toss the plastic bag.

Q. This winter, we have had a lot of gnats in our kitchen. I can’t figure out where they are coming from, and I can’t get rid of them. What can I do to locate and eradicate them?

A. These gnats usually are present where there is a constant, excess moisture source. Do you have plants in the room? Check for leaks under your dishwasher and sink. If you have a drain that you rarely use, they might be hanging out in there. Don’t overwater plants, and use bleach in your rarely used sink drains. If you find a leak, get it repaired and dry out the area.

Q. Our neighbors had the most beautiful metal luminaries down their front walk during the holidays. They were punched tin cans with candles in them. I want to make some but have tried and found that the cans dent too easily. Do you have any suggestions for how I can do this?

A. We did a little checking around, and did come up with a smart solution: Fill the empty tin cans with water and freeze them. Then, with the ice still inside the can, you can use a drill or an awl to punch the patterns into the metal can without denting it.

Q. I have an outdoor shower that is lined with wood. I want to try to find a way to keep the wood from mildewing so often. What would you recommend?

A. Woods like teak are less apt to mildew. You also can use a water seal on the wood. If you plan to replace any of the wood, check out the new synthetic woods. They look really good and will last a very long time. They don’t warp, mold or even fade.

Reader tips

Ÿ I’ve seen some great anti-stress mats that you can use in your workshop. My shop is rather large, and that would be too costly for me, so I came up with a super alternative. I bought some carpet-padding remnants from the carpet store and cut them to fit in the places I needed them. I’m sure they won’t last as long, but I can replace them when they start wearing out. They really do help.

Ÿ I have been diligent in keeping records for my appliances and tools throughout the years. I keep them all in a three-ring binder that is stored in our home office. After repairing the holes so many times, I had to come up with a new plan. I put a strip of clear tape down the side of these pages now. The holes last a lot longer before tearing. Some pages I put into clear covers that have the holes punched in them. This protects the papers from fading any more.

Ÿ My wife kept telling me that we had a leak between the toilet tank and the bowl, but I never heard or saw anything, so I wasn’t sure what to fix. She proved it to me by putting a new blue tablet into the toilet tank and watching it for a while. In only about five minutes, the water in the bowl started turning blue. I was able to determine that the flapper needed to be replaced. That was easy!

Note: You could use coffee, cola, food coloring or any number of other things to tint the water for your test.

Ÿ I got a new compressor for my shop. It’s great. I use it for all sorts of things. My wife said it makes a loud racket and rattles the walls inside the house. So I placed it on a rubber mat that I bought at the hardware store. Now it’s quieter, and my wife says it doesn’t shake the walls any longer.

Ÿ We had to replace our CFL (compact fluorescent) bulb in our patio light. We leave it on all the time so that the dogs can see at night when they need to go out. I found a better replacement. It’s a CFL, but it has a built-in light sensor. I installed it, and it automatically turns on at dusk and off at dawn. It even works through the opaque glass that is on this light fixture. I’m going to replace all of the outdoor bulbs with these so I never have to turn them off and on again!

Shop talk

Ÿ If you have spent a lot of time and money to get a piece of furniture to the stage where it’s ready for a good finish, don’t forget to clean it thoroughly with a tack rag before moving forward. This special rag will remove any and all dust left over from sanding or just from sitting in your shop or garage while you work. You can buy tack rags if you like, but you also can make them fairly easily yourself. We will be glad to send you instructions for how to make them yourself. For faster instructions, download them off our website, www.thesuperhandyman.com. A good tack rag will last you through several woodworking projects and will make your efforts worthwhile. You even can renew them over and over again.

Ÿ Fiskars’ new PowerGear tools for your garden are endorsed by the Arthritis Foundation. The design gives them a lot more power, which means less work for you. Fiskars has a line of pruners, loppers and hedge shears, all with the PowerGear design built in. They also are lightweight and are built to last a long time. To find out more, visit www.fiskars.com or see them at your garden center or hardware store.

Ÿ If you are in the market for a new stapler for the shop and home, check out the T50R.E.D. by Arrow. It’s super tough, has a patented drive design, an ergonomic grip and is easy to load. It uses six different sizes of staples and three sizes of brads, so you can do tons of stuff with just this one tool. There is a hi/low power setting for more control, and the special design resists those jams we’ve all had. You can get one at your home center or hardware store, and find out more information at www.arrowfastener.com.

Ÿ Write to Al and Kelly Carrell in care of the Daily Herald, P.O. Box 280, Arlington Heights, IL 60006, or visit the Carrells’ website at thesuperhandyman.com.

$PHOTOCREDIT_ON$© 2011, Cowles Syndicate Inc.$PHOTOCREDIT_OFF$