The Nilfisk Excellent 160-10 pressure washer got my grotty patio summer-ready with minimal effort

I tested the Nilfisk Excellent 160-10 pressure washer to see if it could help me tackle all the grotty garden cleaning before the summer kicks off.

Like most of the best pressure washers, this Nilfisk is a corded, upright design, which comes with a flexible, extra-long 10-metre hose and a range of accessories to clean everything from windows and cars to patios and brick walls. Plus with its high-pressure (160 bar) capabilities, it's a great choice for really mucky jobs.

Thanks to Belfast year round rainfall, my patio was in dire need of a thorough scrubbing. I tested out the Nilfisk Excellent to see if it could clear the grime off our paving slabs so I could officially set up our garden furniture for the summer ahead. I took in the practicalities like its size, weight, storage, accessories, quality and value for money, as well as its cleaning performance.

Nilfisk Excellent 160-10 pressure washer product specs

• Power type: 1900w
• Max pressure: 160 bar
• Best for: Large patios, decking, brick walls and car cleaning
• Hose length: 10m
• Power cord length: 5m
• Weight: 20.9 kg
• Accessories included: a power foam blaster, a short-range nozzle, a 3-in-1 multipurpose gun with different nozzle settings, and a nozzle cleaning needle. Compatible with Click&Clean coupling.
• Additional accessories available: Power Patio, Rotary Brush

The Nilfisk Excellent 160-10 high pressure washer is powerful and comes complete with a multipurpose gun and lance and a Power Foam Blaster. It pretty much cleans anything you'd like with minimal effort with its long-life metal pump from deeply ingrained dirt to delicate surfaces, but it's always worth being aware of the things you should never clean with a pressure washer.

If your task requires gentler cleaning such as bicycles, you can use the short range nozzle which fits directly on to the gun. The Power Foam Blaster creates thick foam with detergent which connects to the end of the gun to spray your car or other item needing a proper scrub down. Then you can just rinse it off sparkling clean with the nozzle of your choosing.

Unboxing the Nilfisk Excellent 160-10 pressure washer

The Nilfisk Excellent 160-10 pressure washer was delivered in a tall box and upon opening, it was easy enough to lift out with its large handle, if not hefty, but it was  relatively compact in design with minimal packaging to contend with.

All the accessories came neatly packaged but I did need to consult the troubleshooting guide to work out exactly how to put it all together. But once all the connections were in place, it was easy enough to get it up and running fast. 

Setting up the Nilfisk Excellent 160-10 pressure washer

There wasn't a lot of setting up needed for the Nilfisk Excellent 160-10 pressure washer, except for clicking the different accessories into their respective places on the unit. I added the nozzle to the end of the lance to concentrate on stubborn stains first.

Once they were all set up, I moved on to connecting up our hose to get blasting our patio. I connected up the hose and extended the unit's 10m hose before turning on the tap. I plugged it in, switched it on and it was ready to rock. 

What is it like to use?

The flexible hose is a generous 10m so I didn't have to move the main unit at all while I cleaned, which was great as I had a large enough area to cover and the unit itself is definitely on the heavy side. The lance, in contrast, was super lightweight and the ergonomic handle meant the trigger wasn't too taxing on my RSI. 

Although, it would have been great to have had a way to lock the trigger on while cleaning. There's a way to lock the trigger off when not cleaning for safety but no way to keep it on (which is probably for safety also.)

It's relatively quiet with an induction motor so you don't need to worry about how to soundproof your garden. You can choose from a number of rough and gentle settings on the multipurpose lance by twisting the nozzle without the need to stop.

Storing is super easy too. All the tools fit neatly on the pressure washer, with the 10m hose reel on the front and the flex cord cable tidy to the back. It is heavy though so luckily, it has handy wheels and a large handle to wheel it into the garage after use.

Pressure washing the patio

I tested the Nilfisk Excellent 160-10 pressure washer on our patio because it was in dire need of a scrub. I used the nozzle first to blast away over a year's worth of green moss and algae from the patio stones and it was quite a satisfying job as I could see the difference in colour straight away. 

If you're wondering how to use a pressure washer, I started from one side to the other to the other to make sure I didn't miss a stone (but it would be easily identifiable since the difference was striking.) After a blast with the pressure washer nozzle on all the stones, I changed things up with the Power Patio attachment which also combines a scubber brush surround. 

The Power Patio attachment features adjustable pressure control to clean on both hard and soft surfaces, including wood, concrete, tiles and brick, vertically or horizontally. I gave the patio a full scrub with this and it really upped the cleaning ante.

Once scrubbed with the patio brush, I gave the patio a rinse with the gentle setting on the lance nozzle, starting from one side to the other. Once dry, I couldn't believe the transformation, and I didn't even need to combine one of the best patio cleaners with it.

What's it like to clean?

Most of the NIlfisk attachments only require a rinse and a wipe under the tap to clean but there are specific parts that require a little more attention. There's a filter situated where the hose attaches which needs to be extracted using a set of pliers. 

This needs to be rinsed under the tap with water only to make sure there are no blockages. And it's recommended to clean any blockages at the nozzle inlets too using the pin supplied.

Storing the Nilfisk Excellent 160-10 pressure washer

As it's a neat design with a telescopic handle and onboard storage, it doesn't take up too much floor space in our garage but it's still a big enough footprint for a small space.

However, it's great that the tools can be kept onboard in the designated tool storage areas on the unit itself. There's both a cable and hose tidy and both the gun handle and other accessories had nicely designed storage on the main unit too.

Should you buy the Nilfisk Excellent 160-10 pressure washer?

If you want a pressure washer that can clean pretty much everything and more, you can't go wrong with the Nilfisk Excellent 160-10 pressure washer. It's a great mid-range machine that's well built and powerful machine which worked wonders on my patio, car, kids outdoor toys and more.

In terms of user friendliness, the set-up was very minimal, it's super simple to use and efficient on removing dirt and grime from any of the surfaces we used it on. The range of settings helped to give more control to cleaning tasks whether you need a powerful stream of pressure or something more gentle for more delicate items.  

As with all corded pressure washers, you do need to be careful not to trip over the electrical cable and the hose but I like the way it's easily stored away after use. 

How does it compare to similar pressure washers?

Compared to other pressure washers, the Nilfisk Excellent 160-10 pressure washer performs amazingly well. Priced reasonably for all of its high pressure abilities and clever design features, we think it's definitely one of the best pressure washers out there.

However, if it feels on the pricier end of the scale for you, the Bosch Aquatak Corded Pressure Washer might be the one for you. Or compare it with our top-rated Karcher K4 Full Control Home Pressure Washer, which is a similar price, comes with detergent, and an app to help with assembly and set-up.

About the review, and our reviewer

Jenny McFarlane is Senior Digital Editor for Ideal Home and has been writing for Ideal Home and other homes titles for many years. She’s a design obsessive, an avid collector of homeware (much to her husband's despair), and a lover of period properties. 

She was sent the Nilfisk Excellent 160-10 pressure washer to test in her Belfast home, to find out how well it performs across various outdoor surfaces and items.

As with all our reviews the Nilfisk Excellent 160-10 pressure washer has been tested first-hand in our homes, using it just as you would so you know exactly what you are buying. 

The products are given to us free of charge and we test them for as long as possible before sending them back to the brand unless we are able to keep them as we are with this steam cleaner. This means that we can continue to use the product which allows us to return to our reviews for updating, so you can keep up-to-date with how it's fared over a period of time.