What did CPSC just recall?
On September 24, 2026, the Consumer Product Safety Commission warned owners of three FOTING pressure washer models — KLC-PRO150C, KLC-T3 and KLC-T2 — to stop using them immediately. CPSC found the units lack a built-in ground-fault circuit-interrupter (GFCI) and have a power cord short enough to invite an extension cord, a combination it calls a serious shock and electrocution risk. Because the manufacturer, Success Way Ltd. of China, wouldn't agree to a standard recall, CPSC told owners to "stop using the pressure washers immediately, and destroy them by unplugging, cutting the power cord, and disposing of them."
That's not an isolated defect. CPSC's own recall records show the identical problem — no integral GFCI, a cord short enough to tempt an extension cord — behind separate 2026 recalls of Workbless (about 2,200 units, recalled August 20), COMMOWNER (1,694 units, August 13) and Agiiman (80 units, April 16) pressure washers, all imported, all sold through online marketplaces. None of the four has an injury on record yet. A pressure washer sprays water around a live cord by design; the GFCI is the one part meant to cut the power before that combination reaches a person.
Why it matters right now, in a Utah fall
Fall is exactly when a pressure washer earns its keep — driveways, decks, gutters and siding get one last wash before snow covers them, usually off whatever outdoor outlet is closest to the hose bib. A tool with no GFCI of its own is depending entirely on that outlet having one, and plenty of older garages and patios were wired before outdoor GFCI protection was standard. Skip the GFCI on both ends and a wet driveway, a worn cord and a pair of hands are one fault away from each other with nothing in between.
None of this means every pressure washer in a Utah garage is dangerous — most name-brand units sold through hardware stores have a GFCI built into the plug, a rectangular box with its own small buttons a few inches from the prongs. The four models above didn't. Checking which kind is sitting in your garage takes less time than the wash itself.
What to check, and when to call
Look at the plug on the pressure washer, leaf blower or shop tool that spends time outdoors: a built-in GFCI has its own test and reset buttons molded into the cord near the plug. If that box isn't there, the tool is relying on the outlet, and most outdoor receptacles have their own matching test and reset buttons on the face of the outlet itself. If pressing test doesn't cut the power, or reset won't bring it back, that outlet isn't protecting anyone right now.
Rewiring a receptacle or adding GFCI protection at the box is licensed electrician work, and 24/7 Express Handyman Service doesn't open a panel or swap a receptacle. What the crews already do, every time they hang holiday lights a few weeks after the last driveway wash of the season, is run outdoor cords and tools through a portable GFCI when the existing outlet doesn't have one built in — no wiring changed, just a working safeguard between the cord and the ground. If one of the recalled pressure washers above is in the garage, stop using it; for everything else plugged in outside this fall, that's the five-minute check worth doing before the hose comes out again.