Why do pressure washers all seem to have different designs for hose connectors. Many years ago, the lance on my Alco washer broke and was repaired by fitting an air hose connector which worked well.

Recently, I washing the car (before the onset of the hot weather) when my plastic cased small washer blew up. There was a loud bang followed by streams of water from the casing. Because Lidl were advertising a new one for £40 the following week, Disconnecting the lance, the rest went to the tip.

The new washer is ideal, light in weight and although not a very high pressure is well equipped and ideal for washing the car and not forgetting the 3 year warranty. It was also a surprise to find that the old lance fitted the new machine.

This morning, I had to pop into Aldi to get a few items of groceries when I found a wall and floor washer at a knockdown price (last one) of £4.99. Got it home and was surprised to find that it fitted the Lidl machine. Now looking forward to the drought ending so that I can finish off the car and get the winter grime off the paved area around the garage.

I have 2 other washers, one is the Wolf Sky Blaster where a casting on the pump outlet is broken. At the moment it is on the list of jobs to do, having failed to "solder" the aluminium, I hope to build it up and then machine to fit. This one has unusual hose fittings but I may be able to make a connector to fit the Lidl machine which will get me through until there is time to fix the casting. The Wolf came with one very useful attachment, an extending lance with accessories for applying detergent and washing. It is ideal for cleaning the upstairs windows which I would like to do before the winter. If only all washers had standard fittings as on air equipment we would not have to throw away so many useful bits.