I tried Karcher's K5 pressure washer - it transformed my patio and garden furniture

Pressure washing a patio is so therapeutic, it should be offered on the NHS - seriously. And it's not just patios - garden furniture, paths, fences, cars... You name it, at this time of year, when the garden's coming back to life and we're spending more time outdoors, the possibilities are literally endless. Wooden chairs and tables are restored to near-brand-new condition, and slippery flagstones are returned to their original colour, with moss and stains effortlessly swept away. Best of all, you can see the results emerging before your eyes. It's so satisfying.

I'd been waiting for a dry weekend to get outdoors and clean up our patio. It's a fairly modest space, but come summer, it provides an 'extra room' where we hang out, enjoy barbecues and entertain friends and family. There's just one problem; over winter, the flags get stained, and our beautiful golden brown garden furniture turns an odd shade of dull grey from weathering.

Frankly, I was desperate to get outdoors and clean them up.

Karcher is an industry go-to for power washers and other cleaning products, and I was more than happy to test its K5 Comfort Premium jet wash. My last jet wash, from a rival brand, exploded while my young son was cleaning our garden bench, so I was looking for something reliable and - perhaps most importantly - robust.

The K5 was easy to assemble, and the parts are well-made and chunky (plus at least 25% recycled plastic, according to the packaging, so it's practical and sustainable).

Helpfully, the spray-lance comes apart, making the K5 easy to store in a cupboard or shed and like most washers, it's wheeled to make moving simple. The hose is a full ten metres long, so for a small garden or driveway like mine, you can plonk it down and not have to move it around.

Finally, it's in that instantly recognisable yellow and black Karcher colourway. For some reason, its bright yellow body filled me with confidence and optimism about a great result as I approached my patio to give it the much-needed spring clean.

The K5 contains a water-cooled motor to prevent overheating and keep your washer running for a long lifetime. Despite chucking out water under high-pressure, its flow rate is just 40% of an average garden hose, which is helpful if you're on a water meter, which more and more UK homes now are.

The four-in-one spray-lance can be adjusted easily depending on the job for four patterns (though as the instructions make clear, you should not do this while spraying). They include flat jet, reduced pressure flat jet, rotary nozzle and detergent jet. My machine came with a bottle of Karcher Universal Cleaner, though I haven't tried that yet.

Setting up the machine took less than five minutes with easy-to-follow instructions, and I soon had my garden hose plugged in and was ready to go to work on the patio and garden furniture, sorely in need of a clean up after the wet winter.

Karcher also supplies a special patio cleaning head with a long handle but, given the modest size of my space (lees than four by four metres) I stuck with the spray lance and it worked fine.

I enlisted my son's help to test the Karcher K5. I took into account how the pressure washer looks, how easy it was to assemble and how lightweight it was to move around. I also compared it to my last pressure washer, focusing on these elements and on how quickly and easily it cleaned a variety of surfaces in my garden.

We tested it on various parts of the garden including the patio, garden bench, tbale and chairs.

Additionally, I compared the price point to other pressure washers on the market.

When I was done, I took into account how easy the pressure washer is to take apart and store.

The K5 was easy to assemble and use, and I soon got into the swing of spraying up and down to remove the grime from my patio and furniture. The water-cooled pump, which extends longevity, made easy work of the job, and I never felt it was on the verge of conking out or not powerful enough.

With a bit of help from my son Theo (he of the exploding former pressure washer, which I promise I won't mention again), we began by giving the patio a brush-down, removing the pots and furniture to leave space, and got to work. Within minutes, the jet washer was making an incredible difference - blasting away the stains, moss and general grime from the Indian sandstone flags and returning them to their original colours after the dingy grey they'd become over winter.

Even after just a few minutes of cleaning, the difference was stunning. One piece of advice is to wear wellies or, at least, shoes you don't mind getting soaking. If you're operating in a corner or next to a wall, there's inevitably a spray-back. If there's gravel or other debris, safety glasses are probably a good idea too. But if you do get wet, it's for a good cause!

Having finished about half the patio in 15 minutes, I turned to the furniture. We've got a lovely bench, table, and four chairs, all made of some kind of hardwood. They weren't cheap, but we wanted to buy furniture that wouldn't need replacing every other year. However, after a rough winter, even covered up as best we can, they look awful. The wood turns grey, and a dull white film forms over it. Yuck!

However, within minutes, the wood's original golden glow returned, thanks to the high-pressure water blast. It really is fun to watch the grime being washed away so easily in real time. Did I mention this is super satisfying? If only every garden chore could be this fun.

I really can't think of that many similarly satisfying chores. Within about an hour, I'd finished the patio and done our bench and two chairs. Having stopped for a quick cuppa, I returned and polished off the final two chairs. Then it was time for the table. It was soon looking almost brand new.

By now, everything was gleaming in the sunshine, and the patio was already starting to dry off. Now I just need to lather my furniture in Danish oil so it's ready for the summer and some fun days out on the patio.

I've used power washers many times before, and I can honestly say this was the easiest experience yet. And the results speak for themselves. My patio and garden furniture are now near-immaculate again, especially after I brushed Danish Oil into the wooden chairs, table and bench. Quite siply, I can;t eait for the weather to really improve so we can get outdoors, start barbecuing and entertaining and turn out patio into the 'extra room' we can enjoy all summer.

After use, the ten-meter hose simply rolled up on the back of the machine (another plus), and likewise, the power cable had a wind-round point. The spay-lances came apart easily and fitted into the holder on the K5's front. All that took about two minutes, and I was ready to wheel it back into storage until the next job.

I'd highly recommend the Karcher K5 Comfort Premium. It made short work of my patio stones and our garden furniture, returning both to near-pristine condition with minimal effort on my part and never seeming to struggle. It's compact enough for domestic use but powerful enough to tackle some really serious jobs.

Plus, it feels totally reliable. There's nothing worse than having to leave something halfway through because you've been let down by your kit (as happened to me with my previous power washer, sorry!), but finishing the job with the K5 was never in doubt.

Now, it is a bit more expensive than some pressure washers. For example, you can get one of Karcher's classic models for as little as £99.99. But the assortment of nozzles, strength and ease of use makes this a worth investment in my eyes. Five stars from me!

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