For those of you familiar with Japanese bonsai nurseries and their workshops, you would likely have seen small pressure washing guns used to clean shari, particularly on small and shohin sized trees.

I had looked at buying and importing one from Japan a number of years ago but the 110v power that Japan uses was not compatible with Australia’s 240v system and by the time you added up the couple of hundred dollars for the gun, a power step down transformer, and shipping; a toothbrush / wire brush and glass of water started to look like very competitive options.

Cut to a little while ago, Evan Marsh, put me onto the below product. Its a textile stain removing pressure washer, easily available from ebay as a ‘textile spot cleaning gun’ for around $70 shipped (at time of posting). If you are looking for one, hunt down the 220v model for Australia’s power as it should come with the correct plug.

After receiving mine i was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. It is so powerful i would highlight the danger of it. DO NOT TEST ON YOUR FINGERS (like i did, and now have bruised my finger tips even though i was about 50cm from the nozzle.!!!) I think its stream has by far enough pressure to give pressure injection injuries. A quick search of that term will reveal horrific images that hopefully will cement in your brain not to point this thing at your self or anyone else.

The strong jet this gun produces however is great for cleaning and stripping moss, dirt and grime and other stuff from deadwood areas. Especially in hard to access places.

I would also think you could remove pulpy or rotted areas of deadwood easily in a way that leaves behind a natural texture when done also. It likely has enough power to damage bark and live areas so be careful.

All in all this tool appears really well made for the price and performs great. If you struggle to remove moss and algae from your deadwood it may be a cheap way to solve that issue.