Stihl RE 100 Plus Control
If you’re looking for an effective pressure washer, and you don’t mind one that’s a little on the heavy side, the Stihl RE 100 Plus Control is a great choice. It’s well-made, easy to use, and pumps out water pressurised to a maximum 150 bar. Coupled with a three-level variable power control, that makes it ideal for a range of jobs all the way from comparatively gentle hosing of softwood, all the way up to full-bore blasting of patios and other robust surfaces. Its only real drawback is a lack of accessories.
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Powerful pump -
Excellent cleaning -
Convenient hose
Key Features
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Review Price: £244 -
A powerful pressure washer
With a 150-bar maximum, this pressure washer is ready for tough jobs, but its three-level pump control means you can dial it down for softer cleaning.
Introduction
Don’t be fooled by the ‘100’ in ‘Stihl RE 100 Plus Control’, this pressure washer delivers a maximum 150 bar of pressure, which puts it on the medium-heavy duty side of things. That’s plenty for blasting ingrained dirt off patio stones and other hard surfaces, but you can adjust the power down or increase its spray area for more gentle jobs.
This isn’t a basic pressure washer, but it’s worth pointing out that it doesn’t come bundled with attachments for cleaning things like cars or patios. You can buy a patio attachment for about £50, but at the time of writing there wasn’t a soft brush such as you might want for car cleaning.
Design and Features
- A solid, tidy design
- Hose reel and proper cable hooks
- Wireless power control
Stihl seems to be the only pressure washer manufacturer all that interested in packaging. While others tend to leave accessories rattling around in the box, here they’re all separated out and held still by cardboard. These are robust, outdoor tools, but it’s nice to have them arrive without dings or scratches – the flip side is the box is a little larger than the norm.
At nine kilograms, the Stihl RE 100 Plus Control is moderately weighty, but less so than you might expect given its reasonably powerful pump. It’s not unduly big, either, sitting roughly in the middle of this lineup of recently tested models.
Unfortunately, there’s always a bit of self-assembly to do before you can use your new pressure washer. In this case it’s mostly limited to screwing the hose reel into place, but you also have to clip together a high-pressure joint in the hose that feeds it. I found it hard to line up these heavy-duty fittings in a relatively confined space with little slack. After a few minutes’ trying, I was contemplating creating more leeway by undoing the Torx bolts holding the other side of the reel, but I did eventually manage it.
With this done, it’s simply a case of putting the two supplied AA batteries into the handle, then fitting together the lance and nozzle. The batteries are there to power a radio link between the lance and the main body, allowing you to choose from three power levels to suit the job in hand. Typically for a washer with a hose reel, the top handle isn’t telescopic, making this a fairly bulky tool to store.
While other pressure washers tend to come with separate nozzles offering a high-pressure rotating jet, and an adjustable fan, this one has only one. It’s physically bigger than others because it combines the two functions, along with a detergent spray setting.
This approach is less hassle than having to change heads, but the fan spray isn’t pressure or pattern-adjustable. That’s not too much of a restriction given that you can dial it up and down using the power control. There’s no separate foam sprayer attachment, which could be a limitation if you prefer to clean your car by covering it in detergent foam first, but the detergent setting actually raised a fair amount of froth – here I’m using it with some diluted car shampoo in the dispenser bottle.
You can’t buy this pressure washer bundled with its patio cleaning attachment, and there don’t appear to be other attachments available. That’s a bit of a disadvantage compared to some other manufacturers’ pressure washer ecosystems, and is something you should consider if you’re after a highly versatile machine.
Still, there are lots of things to admire about the Stihl RE 100 Plus Control’s design. Its high-pressure components fit together in a confidence-inspiring way, and it feels relatively solid and robust. I particularly like its captive high-pressure reel, which allows you to unreel and rewind the six-metre hose without disconnecting the machine end, giving you a quick route to tidy storage. This is the only pressure washer I’ve tested with two hooks – rather than one – for flex storage. It sounds trivial, but it allows you to store its six-metre cable quickly and much more neatly.
Performance
- Very powerful sprays
- Excellent cleaning
- Remote control is slightly annoying
This is a powerful pressure washer, but it’s generally easy enough to use. Its wheels help you move it around, although it could perhaps be improved by another metre or two of flex and hose lengths. With the machine primed with water and turned on, I initially found the three-level power control slightly confusing; jabbing away at the two buttons until it was communicating to the machine.
A quick check of the manual revealed you simply press one button to link it, then the other to change power. It’s slightly frustrating to have to reconnect each time you switch the main machine on. In use, I measured power consumption between 1,321W at the lowest setting, up to 1,943W at full chat.
Using its rotating spray, the Stihl RE 100 Plus Control did an exceptional job of lifting dirt from my patio – the first time I’d washed it since moving in 11 years ago. I compared it to five other pressure washers, two of which I tried with and without their dedicated patio tools. The Stihl cleaned slab eight in the comparison below.
Although it couldn’t shift the small rust spot, my son and I agreed it was the joint best performer alongside the Husqvarna PW 235R (slab three). I should point out, however, that most washers did an acceptable job on this test.
This device also helped me pressure wash patio furniture, blasting off a few years’ accumulated grime.
I also used the Stihl RE 100 Plus Control to clean my car, and to help remove green mildew from the heavily shaded, whitewashed walls on our driveway. The power control was invaluable here, as full power would likely have stripped paint from the wall, and possibly the car. For the latter I rinsed with the fan head on low power, switched to the detergent spray, then rinsed again with the fan. I used a soft brush and sponge for gentle agitation during the detergent phase, ending up with a gleaming result.
Should you buy it?
Buy if you want great cleaning
This pressure washer offers plenty of power, translated into effective cleaning by its three-position head. The fact it’s easy to get out and put away, and tidy when stored, is a bonus.
Don’t buy if you’re after versatility
With only one spray tip, and limited accessories, this isn’t the best choice for sheer versatility. You can do everything with the included tools, but some jobs are quicker if you have dedicated attachments
Final Thoughts
This pressure washer’s lack of dedicated tools might be offputting for some users, but there’s an appealing simplicity to having only one adjustable nozzle. I found it worked perfectly well for standard jobs, including patios and cars, particularly when paired with the variable pressure control.
Ultimately, though, the Stihl RE 100 Plus Control’s best features are its moderately high maximum pressure, coupled with an excellent design that makes it comparatively simple to set up and tidy away. I was particularly grateful for its lack of clutter when storing it in my cramped shed, a place where accessories vanish, and complex garden products go to die.
How we test
We test every pressure washer we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
- Used as our main pressure washer for the review period.
- Tested on a variety of surfaces for cleaning power.
FAQs
Yes. You need to fill the pump with water, so with the power off you should first turn on the water supply, then squeeze the lance handle for a minute or so to feed water through and remove air from the system.
It’s best to keep the pressure on the low side of medium to avoid stripping paint or damaging other bits of trim. We generally advise no more than 130 bar (just under 1,900psi). Having a pressure washer with an adjustable power setting can really help here, but you could always hold the lance a little further from the paint.
Test Data
| Stihl RE 100 Plus Control |
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Full Specs
| Stihl RE 100 Plus Control Review | |
|---|---|
| UK RRP | £243 |
| USA RRP | Unavailable |
| EU RRP | Unavailable |
| CA RRP | Unavailable |
| AUD RRP | Unavailable |
| Manufacturer | Stihl |
| Quiet Mark Accredited | No |
| Size (Dimensions) | 310 x 300 x 890 MM |
| Weight | 9.2 KG |
| Release Date | 2021 |
| First Reviewed Date | 11/05/2025 |
| Cable Length | 5 Meter |
| Accessories | Single, three position jet nozzle |
| Stated Power | 1900 W |
| Run time | hrs min |
| Type of washer | Plugin |
| Pressure range | 150 bar max |
| Water flow rate | 350-450 litres per hour |
| Hose length | 5 meters |
| Detergent compartment | Yes |
