A Practical Guide to 2300, 2900, and 3100 PSI
Spring cleanup doesn't care how busy you are. Once the ground thaws, the work list shows up all at once — equipment that needs washing before it goes back into service, siding that spent six months catching whatever the weather threw at it, driveways and shop floors thick with the residue of winter. A good gas pressure washer handles most of it in a single weekend. The hard part is picking the right one.
Too little pressure and you're doing three passes on every surface. Too much and you're stripping paint, etching concrete, or splintering wood that should have been fine. This guide walks through the three gas pressure washers in the REX lineup — the GPW2300, GPW2900, and GPW3100 — and who each one is actually for. The short version: more PSI isn't always better. What matters is matching the tool to the job you'll do most often.
GPW2300 — 2300 PSI: For Property Owners and Light Acreage Work
The GPW2300 is the right size for most residential and small-acreage jobs. 2,300 PSI is enough pressure to clean vinyl siding, vehicles, ATVs, decks, and fencing without the risk that comes with a more aggressive machine.
Where it fits well: seasonal siding washes, vehicle and trailer detailing, deck prep before staining, rinsing off gardening equipment and small farm implements, patio furniture, and fence lines. If your regular cleaning list is "the house, the truck, the deck, the quad," this is the one.
Where it might be undersized: caked-on mud, grease, baked-on manure, or construction equipment that's been working through a wet season. For those jobs, you'll want more pressure — a 2300 will get there eventually, but you'll be at it longer than you want to be.
If you're cleaning the same list of surfaces twice a year and none of them involve serious grime, the GPW2300 will do the job without costing you more than it has to.
GPW2900 — 2900 PSI: The Versatile Middle Choice
The 2,900 PSI GPW2900 is the middle of the lineup and, for a lot of buyers, the most versatile choice. It handles residential work comfortably but has enough power to tackle shop floors, construction equipment, farm machinery, and the kind of jobs that would have the 2300 working a little too hard.
Where it fits well: contractor trucks and trailers, tractor and implement cleaning, commercial shop floors, stubborn driveway stains, farm buildings with baked-on dirt. The GPW2900 is also a sensible pick if your jobs aren't predictable — some weeks you're washing a deck, others you're pulling a backhoe out of storage. It handles both without complaint.
If you're on the fence between models, this is often the answer. It covers more ground than the 2300 without requiring the extra care a 3100 asks for around delicate surfaces.
GPW3100 — 3100 PSI: For Heavy Equipment and Serious Grime
The GPW3100 is the workhorse of the lineup. 3,100 PSI is where soft surfaces start to become a concern, so this isn't the right pick for vinyl siding, painted wood, or older decking. It's the right pick for the jobs the other two would slow down on.
Where it fits well: skid steers, excavators, and loaders with caked mud; feedlot and livestock equipment; concrete shop floors; paved surfaces with industrial staining; fleet washing; any application where time on site matters and you need to move fast.
A note on fit: more PSI means more responsibility. Keep your distance from softer materials, watch your nozzle angle, and don't point it at anything you wouldn't point a sandblaster at. Used on the right surfaces, though, it'll cut your cleaning time in half.
Who it's for: contractors, fleet maintenance, larger operations, and anyone whose cleaning list looks less like "wash the siding" and more like "get this machine ready for an inspection by Tuesday."
A Simple Rule for Picking the Right One
When in doubt, pick based on your hardest regular job — not your hardest possible job. A pressure washer you'll use every week on the right surfaces is worth more than one that's overpowered for what you actually do. Most buyers are happier with a tool that matches their day-to-day than one they bought for a job they do twice a year.
All three gas pressure washers are 10% off through the month of May as part of REX Spray Days.
Shop the full lineup online at RexEquipment.ca.
