"Choosing the Right Garden Hose"

Hose manufacturer Terraflex has some thoughts on what questions to ask and what to look for in a garden hose, including vinyl versus rubber. "Vinyl often costs less", they say. Vinyl is good for "a mild climate" and for "light watering". They say "Choose heavy-duty rubber hoses for intense commercial applications".

So rubber makes a better hose.

I had no idea. But I did notice, couple days back, Mr. Hardware likes rubber, not vinyl, for hose washers.

Two sources, one thought. I'll remember now. Rubber is better.

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Let's see what sort of hose washers I have on hand.

• Gilmour 10-pack: "durable rubber"
• Yardsmith 10-pack: "durable vinyl"
• Green Thumb 10-pack yellow: "light duty poly"
• Green Thumb 10-pack black: "light duty rubber"
• Orbit 6 o-rings, 6 washers: (doesn't say)

Okay, I thought the yellow ones were pretty. I didn't think about quality.

What's "poly"?
Not rubber, huh.

I went to OrbitOnline and searched for the part number that's on the Orbit package:

Orbits Hose Washers Combo Pack are soft and resilient for a water-tight seal. This combo washer pack includes 6 red rubber washers and 6 black O-ring rubber washers. The O-ring design allows for maximum sealing performance. Saves water and helps prevent leaks between your hose, sprinklers, and hose-end products. Use with any standard female hose end product. Durable rubber material resists hardening and cracking. For outdoor use with cold water only.

Good to know, but I wouldn't call em "red". U.S Plastic has red washers. I like em, them and True Value yellow. Yardsmith green ain't bad.

I was thinking about using different color washers in different years, so I could tell by the color how old a washer was. I still like that idea, but it ignores rubber/vinyl/poly quality differences. More recently I was thinking about changing all the washers once a year. Quality differences might not matter if I did that. Even a light-duty hose washer should be good for a year, right?

The red ones from U.S Plastic are vinyl.


An idea worth trying, from skruft:

"Also - I have found that the trick to a garden hose that will last a long time is to get one rated for hot water."

That's what the guy who fixed my boiler had -- a hose rated for hot water.