Red, yellow, green, white, and black nozzle tips each spray a different degree pattern. See what each color is for and which surfaces they suit.
Pressure washer nozzle tips are color coded by spray angle, and that color system is standardized across nearly every brand, which makes it one of the most useful things to memorize before starting any cleaning job. Choosing the wrong color for a surface is the single most common cause of accidental pressure washer damage.
Red: 0 Degrees
The red tip produces a pinpoint stream with no fan spread at all, concentrating maximum force into the smallest possible area. This makes it the most powerful tip for stripping stubborn stains, old paint, or rust from concrete and metal, but it is also the most dangerous tip for anything softer than masonry. Never use a red tip on wood, vinyl siding, vehicle paint, or skin. Even on tolerant surfaces like concrete, keep it moving constantly rather than holding it in one spot.
Yellow: 15 Degrees
The yellow tip narrows the fan to 15 degrees, still concentrated enough for serious stripping and stain removal but slightly less aggressive than red. It suits driveways, garage floors, and other concrete surfaces where a red tip feels like overkill but a wider fan would take too long to clear stubborn marks.
Green: 25 Degrees
The green tip is the general-purpose workhorse for most home cleaning jobs, wide enough to cover ground efficiently while still carrying enough force for everyday grime, mildew, and dirt film. This is a common choice for driveways, sidewalks, decks in good condition, and vehicles when used with adequate standoff distance.
White: 40 Degrees
The white tip spreads spray into a wide, gentle fan, the safest option for delicate surfaces like vinyl siding, painted wood, and vehicle exteriors. It sacrifices some raw stripping power in exchange for spreading force over a wider area, reducing the risk of gouging, etching, or stripping paint. For siding and deck work specifically, see our safe PSI for vinyl siding and safe PSI for a wood deck guides, both of which pair naturally with this nozzle.
Black: Low Pressure or Soap Nozzle
The black tip, sometimes rated around 65 degrees, is designed for applying detergent at low pressure rather than cleaning through mechanical force. Many machines only draw soap from the detergent tank when this tip, or the low-pressure setting built into an adjustable nozzle, is engaged. Use it to apply cleaning solution before switching to a higher-pressure tip to rinse.
Choosing the Right Tip by Surface
As a general rule, move from white toward red only as needed, starting with the widest, gentlest fan that could plausibly clean the surface and stepping up only if it proves insufficient. This order protects delicate materials by default rather than risking damage from starting too aggressive and working backward. Concrete and masonry tolerate the full range, while wood, vinyl, and painted surfaces should rarely go past green, and often stay at white.
Turbo Nozzles: A Different Category
Beyond the standard color-coded fan tips, turbo nozzles spin a 0-degree stream in a rotating cone pattern, delivering pinpoint force across a wider effective area than a static red tip. These are a separate attachment rather than part of the standard color system, and they come with their own tradeoffs covered in our turbo nozzle vs surface cleaner comparison.
Quick-Connect Tip Sets
Most pressure washers sold today include a set of quick-connect tips covering red, yellow, green, white, and black, letting you swap between them in seconds without tools. If any tips in your set are missing or worn, replacing the full set is inexpensive and worth doing before starting a job on a surface you have not cleaned before, since guessing at spray angle risks damage that costs far more to fix than a new tip.
Adjustable Nozzles Versus Fixed Color Tips
Some pressure washers, particularly many electric models, use a single adjustable nozzle that twists between a narrow and wide pattern rather than a set of interchangeable colored tips. These typically range from roughly 0 to 40 degrees on one dial, covering the same functional range as the color-coded system but without the ability to lock in an exact angle. If your machine uses this style, treat the narrow end of the dial with the same caution as a red tip and the wide end with the same expectations as a white tip.
Research a New Tip Before Committing
Whenever switching to a narrower nozzle than you have used before on a given surface, test briefly in an inconspicuous spot first. This is especially important on a surface you have not cleaned before, since material condition varies enough between properties that a tip considered generally safe for a surface type can still be too aggressive for an older or more weathered example of that same material.
How we research
We compare published manufacturer specifications, official manuals, warranty information and recurring owner feedback. Rankings are research-based unless original YardToolLab test evidence is explicitly shown on the page.
FAQs
The white 40-degree tip is the safest starting point for most home surfaces, since its wide fan spreads force over a larger area and reduces the risk of gouging or stripping compared to narrower tips.
It is possible with adequate standoff distance, but the white 40-degree tip is generally the safer and more commonly recommended choice for siding, since it further reduces the risk of forcing water behind panels.
The black tip applies detergent at low pressure rather than cleaning through force. Many machines only draw soap from the tank when this tip or a low-pressure setting is engaged.
The red tip concentrates all spray force into a single pinpoint with no spread, which can gouge wood, crack panels, or etch even durable surfaces like concrete if held too close or too long in one spot.