Outdoor Spring Cleaning with Ryobi Power Tools

On a glorious afternoon, a patio becomes an appealing alternative to the living or family room – a place to read, sit and talk with friends, or lay down and take a nap. At least for our family, our large covered patio needs a good cleaning when the first warm days of spring hit the Rogue Valley. It’s rather large, dusty, and dirty from the drudge of winter. So we have a routine each year to clean off the patio in preparation for the fun to come!

This year Ryobi, one of the world’s largest and most innovative power tool manufacturers, sent us their Ryobi 3100-PSI 2.5-GPM Honda Engine Gas Pressure Washer, and their very latest-greatest, which just hit Home Depot this month, the 40V-X Expand-It Cordless Trimmer. This cordless trimmer produces gas-engine-like power. Making it even cooler is its compatibility with gas-engine attachments, such as a cultivator, which we already had and love. (Hubby cleaning off the back patio.)

Trimmer.

When Ryobi says that the new electric trimmer motor provides gas-like power, it’s being too humble. In our experience, it’s not only provided more power, it provided more ease of use as well. We were able to cultivate our large potato bed and get it ready for planting and did so by using just around half of the battery life!

This thing is amazing, and ideal for those of us who need our tools to make not only our lawns look great, but also the beds and the vegetable and flower gardens. We were able to put a nice clean edge on both our lawns with the powerful trimmer attachment, and didn’t even go through a quarter of the battery. We would have to do each of our neighbors’ yards before draining this bad boy!

Before.

During.

After.

Pressure washer.

Now back to the pressure washer. We’ve had 3 and this one is by far the best. It took less time to put together, and Ryobi has really taken the time to figure out how to make a power washer easier and more enjoyable to use. For example, all the spray settings are found on the same device at the end of the wand, unlike our last one, which had you change the nozzle with every attachment. What a pain that was.

Winter moss.

Tangle-free hose.

This one has plenty of power as well. It never lagged and was able to keep up with hours of work thrown at it. Also impressive was the new idle system, that makes the engine much quieter than other models when you take your hand off the trigger. The tangle-free hose was also a welcomed friend.

After (with Haggis).

Spring Cleaning with Ryobi:

1. Remove everything from the patio. If larger pieces are too large to move, cover with plastic or visqueen to protect them.

2. Start up the Ryobi power washer and start in one corner, spraying in one uniform direction, making sure to overlap your motions so you don’t leave behind areas that aren’t clean. If you have an especially dirty area to power wash, come back over the same area but in the opposite direction. This way you’ll cover all your tracks.

3. Follow the “What to Wear” safety guidelines.

4. The string trimmer that comes with so many attachments is now our go-to tool for taking care of the lawn, and flower and vegetable beds. What would have taken many hours with hand tools can now be done in less than an hour with this one impressive creation.

5. The power washer is light and easy to move around as well and we’re sure we’ll use it for more than spring cleaning. For example, we battle wasps each year that want to make nests, sometimes on the second floor on the outside of our hose. With the zero degree setting on the washer, my husband won’t have to get on a ladder to stop the nests from forming. He’ll be able to stand on the ground and clean out under our eaves with ease.

More attachments.

Can’t wait for the blower and trimmer attachments to arrive for the electric trimmer, as we’ll be able to travel the property with ease and speed. My hope is that I will be able to clean my gutters with the blower attachment by turning it upside down, something you can’t do well with a gas engine but can with an electric motor. Stay tuned for that one!

Put it all back and enjoy.

When you are finished washing your patio, hose off as much furniture that has been removed and allow to dry in the sun.

Put everything back in its place, re-arranging in a fresh new seating arrangement to make it feel NICE and NEW for springtime enjoyment!

The beauty of a patio is a natural extension, blurring the inside to the outside, decorated with a comfortable style and ready for entertaining or relaxation!

Our little Cairn Terrier (Haggis) observed the cleaning day, and finally laid down to take a nap when he couldn’t take it any more.

The golden sunshine on a beautiful spring day!

What is your favorite yard tool that helps you with spring cleaning?

Safety rules power washer:

· Wear eye protection because a small rock can make its way up to your face
· Secure hair off shoulders
· Do not wear jewelry
· Use two hands
· Usage: Removing dirt and mold from concrete, brick, house siding, fencing, decks and patios, lawn equipment, boats and RVs. We were even able to clean the moss off of one of our awnings with the help of a brush. We were careful not to bring the power washer too close to the awning in order to avoid tears.

Safety rules string trimmer:

· Wear eye protection
· Secure hair off shoulders
· Do not wear jewelry
· Usage: Trimming grass, cutting small weeds. Right hand on rear handle, left on front handle. Cuts right to left. We use ours in two directions: where the line comes straight out in front to cut the grass against our concrete that borders our raised beds, and then rotated straight down to put a nice clean edge next to our driveway and front walk. It’s very easy to do and requires no tools.

Ryobi provided the product used in this post today. If you want to learn more about them, visit here.