Using a Bosch Fontus Cordless Pressure Washer for washing your caravan

Caravan cleaning at home is a demanding enough task, made easier with the right products, including a pressure washer. But, what if you don't have access to mains water to clean your caravan on site?

One solution is to use a bucket of water, some caravan cleaning fluid, and a sponge. It's a simple, cheap way to clean your caravan. Yes, you might need something more powerful and quicker for cleaning your dirty caravan. Cleaning your caravan with a bucket and sponge can take ages too.

The choice of solutions cordless electric pressure washer market is varied. You can buy cordless pressure washers which you pump by hand. And, more sophisticated battery-operated pressure washers for caravans. A more recent entrant on the market is the Bosch Fontus.

It's a battery-operated cordless pressure washer with a 15-litre water tank. The machine can pump water out at up to 15 bar. If you need something cordless with some power behind it to wash your caravan, the Bosch Fontus is worth a look.

A cordless pressure washer with some power

We tested the Bosch Fontus cordless pressure washer to see what it's like for cleaning your caravan, bike or dog. When you've no access to nearby mains water to clean your caravan, this could be useful. Without a dog to hand, we just tried it the Fontus for washing down a bike and the outside of a Swift Basecamp.

The Bosch Fontus cordless pressure washer is about the same size as a carry-on bag for flying on an aeroplane. The appliance has a pair of wheels at its base to make it mobile. A pull-up handle to make it easy to move around. And a slot on the side of the handle into which you can place the hosepipe when you're not using it.

Watch our video!

Setting up

The Bosch Fontus is easy to set up. Getting it out of the box and making the pressure washer ready to use was simple. Charge the battery (which takes up to 105 minutes from zero to charged), plug it in at the base under its cover. Fill up the 15-litre water tank. Connect the hosepipe to the main body. Attach the nozzle to the other end of the hosepipe, and you're ready to go.

Variable pressure

On the top of the unit, is a large, red knob which allows you to have variable pressure from the hosepipe. With three settings, you can use low pressure for, say, washing down your dog. And, highest pressure for cleaning off more stubborn dirt from your caravan, car or bike.

Power button

To the left of the pressure knob is a power on/off switch. When you press it, you'll hear a small grunt from the Fontus as it pressurises itself ready for action. Below the button, you'll see a battery level indicator light. The battery lasts for up to an hour. We didn't test this, but an hour of washing-time and two hours of charging time is useful.

The removable battery is interchangeable with other Bosch devices too.

Filling up

Filling the Fontus up with water is straightforward. There is a large red and black cap on its shoulder which you turn to remove. Underneath you'll see a removable filter, which means you can fill this up using a bucket, if you have to, without worrying about pouring any debris in to block up the system.

The tank capacity is 15 litres. At high pressure, it surprised us how quickly you can get through 15-litres of water. It's a matter of minutes, if not seconds on a continuous jet. That's why its wheels and pop-out handle are so useful for moving it to and from a water source.

Spray and brush options

The spray nozzle has four spray settings, namely,

• soaker - ideal for low-pressure washing of dogs (or people)
• jet - a single jet of water for spot cleaning
• narrow spray - a dispersed spray, which is perfect for cleaning off boots and bikes
• wide spray - this spray setting is a more delicate, wider spray which is good for cleaning bigger areas.

The Fontus comes with a soft brush which you clip onto the end of the main nozzle. When you press the trigger on the nozzle, the pressure washer pumps out water. It passes through the brush so you can clean windows or significant areas without blasting them.

Cleaning effectiveness

What's it like for cleaning?

We cleaned a muddy road bike at its lowest pressure setting. The Fontus took off the dried dirt easily. It was strong enough to clean it without pumping water into the bike's bearings.

At its highest pressure setting, without the brush, and used on the caravan, the washer took off stubborn dirt. But it didn't take off the greasy road dirt you get on the surface. You would need to use some specialist caravan cleaning fluid to lift the dust using the brush.

The brush is wide enough to clean a big area and soft enough not to scratch the surface.

Verdict

The Bosch Fontus is a well-made cordless pressure washer. It feels robust and as though it will take a beating. Without water in its tank, it weighs nearly 12 KG. That seems light, but if you don't have much payload capacity spare in your caravan, you'd probably want to store this in your towcar.

Although the Fontus is the roughly the size of a carry-on suitcase, it's still big enough to take up space in your boot, or the caravan. If you store your caravan away from home, the Fontus could be handy for cleaning it after a holiday or in the offseason.

If your caravan doesn't have an external shower point (which some do), the Fontus will be useful if you need to clean your boots, bikes, or dogs. It's also useful if you want to wash your caravan when you arrive on site to take off the road dirt.

But, at £269.99 (RRP) it's a pricey choice for something you could do with a bucket of water, some sponges and cleaning fluid. There again, if you can't be bothered all that manual work, get a Bosch Fontus cordless pressure washer to clean your caravan quickly, bikes, boots or dog. And, save your back from carrying all that water back from the tap in a bucket.

We've found the Bosch Fontus for sale online at less than the RRP. It's on Amazon for less. See below.

Details

RRP £269.99
Weight 11.7 KG
Dimensions 32 x 39.5 x 64.5 cm
Tank capacity 15 litres
Max pressure 15 bar
Battery runtime max 60 minutes
Charging time 105 minutes
Hose length 4 metres