Design and Features

• A solid, tidy design
• Hose reel and proper cable hooks
• Wireless power control

Stihl seems to be the only pressure washer manufacturer all that interested in packaging. While others tend to leave accessories rattling around in the box, here they’re all separated out and held still by cardboard. These are robust, outdoor tools, but it’s nice to have them arrive without dings or scratches – the flip side is the box is a little larger than the norm.

At nine kilograms, the Stihl RE 100 Plus Control is moderately weighty, but less so than you might expect given its reasonably powerful pump. It’s not unduly big, either, sitting roughly in the middle of this lineup of recently tested models.

Unfortunately, there’s always a bit of self-assembly to do before you can use your new pressure washer. In this case it’s mostly limited to screwing the hose reel into place, but you also have to clip together a high-pressure joint in the hose that feeds it. I found it hard to line up these heavy-duty fittings in a relatively confined space with little slack. After a few minutes’ trying, I was contemplating creating more leeway by undoing the Torx bolts holding the other side of the reel, but I did eventually manage it.

With this done, it’s simply a case of putting the two supplied AA batteries into the handle, then fitting together the lance and nozzle. The batteries are there to power a radio link between the lance and the main body, allowing you to choose from three power levels to suit the job in hand. Typically for a washer with a hose reel, the top handle isn’t telescopic, making this a fairly bulky tool to store.

While other pressure washers tend to come with separate nozzles offering a high-pressure rotating jet, and an adjustable fan, this one has only one. It’s physically bigger than others because it combines the two functions, along with a detergent spray setting.

This approach is less hassle than having to change heads, but the fan spray isn’t pressure or pattern-adjustable. That’s not too much of a restriction given that you can dial it up and down using the power control. There’s no separate foam sprayer attachment, which could be a limitation if you prefer to clean your car by covering it in detergent foam first, but the detergent setting actually raised a fair amount of froth – here I’m using it with some diluted car shampoo in the dispenser bottle.

You can’t buy this pressure washer bundled with its patio cleaning attachment, and there don’t appear to be other attachments available. That’s a bit of a disadvantage compared to some other manufacturers’ pressure washer ecosystems, and is something you should consider if you’re after a highly versatile machine.

Still, there are lots of things to admire about the Stihl RE 100 Plus Control’s design. Its high-pressure components fit together in a confidence-inspiring way, and it feels relatively solid and robust. I particularly like its captive high-pressure reel, which allows you to unreel and rewind the six-metre hose without disconnecting the machine end, giving you a quick route to tidy storage. This is the only pressure washer I’ve tested with two hooks – rather than one – for flex storage. It sounds trivial, but it allows you to store its six-metre cable quickly and much more neatly.

Performance

• Very powerful sprays
• Excellent cleaning
• Remote control is slightly annoying

This is a powerful pressure washer, but it’s generally easy enough to use. Its wheels help you move it around, although it could perhaps be improved by another metre or two of flex and hose lengths. With the machine primed with water and turned on, I initially found the three-level power control slightly confusing; jabbing away at the two buttons until it was communicating to the machine.

A quick check of the manual revealed you simply press one button to link it, then the other to change power. It’s slightly frustrating to have to reconnect each time you switch the main machine on. In use, I measured power consumption between 1,321W at the lowest setting, up to 1,943W at full chat.

Using its rotating spray, the Stihl RE 100 Plus Control did an exceptional job of lifting dirt from my patio – the first time I’d washed it since moving in 11 years ago. I compared it to five other pressure washers, two of which I tried with and without their dedicated patio tools. The Stihl cleaned slab eight in the comparison below.

Although it couldn’t shift the small rust spot, my son and I agreed it was the joint best performer alongside the Husqvarna PW 235R (slab three). I should point out, however, that most washers did an acceptable job on this test.

This device also helped me pressure wash patio furniture, blasting off a few years’ accumulated grime.

I also used the Stihl RE 100 Plus Control to clean my car, and to help remove green mildew from the heavily shaded, whitewashed walls on our driveway. The power control was invaluable here, as full power would likely have stripped paint from the wall, and possibly the car. For the latter I rinsed with the fan head on low power, switched to the detergent spray, then rinsed again with the fan. I used a soft brush and sponge for gentle agitation during the detergent phase, ending up with a gleaming result.

Should you buy it?

FAQs