Avoid Too Much Sun
Garden hoses last longer with good care. Avoid kinking them too much and try to keep them out of the sun when you are not using them. Sunlight is bad for garden hoses. It breaks down the plastic covering, making it first weak and then brittle. Eventually the covering cracks and then only the inner layers of the hose are holding the water. When you are not using the hose, coil it loosely and store it in the shade. If you spigot is in the sun, then figure out how to store the hose with shade; cover it and move it.
Handle Gently
Hoses respond to gentle treatment just we do. Pulling it hard can strain the couplings and the inner layers of the hose. If you stretch a hose from a spigot, the inner parts of the hose can tear. Pulling a hose over rocks or walls over and over again will shorten its life. As with any other tool, treat it with some respect and it will last for a very long time.
One product you might want to consider is a “hose saver”. This is a short length of hose wrapped in heavy steel spring, with couplings on either end. It is attached to the facet and then to the end of the hose. It is designed to prevent kinking of the hose right at the faucet which can be harmful over time to any hose.
Another rule is never leave the hose out in the yard with a kink in it. Any kink, sitting there for a period of time, becomes a weak point, and the hose will tend to kind there repeatedly. Not only will this restrict water flow but it will finally make the hose crack in that spot.
Another piece of advice – Don’t shut off the line while there is pressure in it. If you have a nozzle that allows you to shut off the water flow while the spigot is turned on, use it only when you must – and then never for long periods of time.
Winter Storage
Some people don’t do anything for their garden hose in the winter, they just leave it on the hose hanger; bad idea. You need to be very sure that there is no water left in the hose; so actively drain it. It may be a nuisance, but storing the hose indoors will give it many more years of life than if you leave it outside to the winter elements.
Hose Repair Accessories
If the garden hose springs a leak, what do you do? You don’t have to throw the hose away. There are many hose repair accessories on the market to allow you to cut off the bad part and put another coupling device at the end of the cut off portion of the hose. A good quality hose can be repaired easily and for less money than is required to replace it. None of the replacement coupling parts are very expensive, and sturdy, top-quality plastic (not rubber ) may work as well as solid brass parts. Experiment to find out which replacements are easiest for you to use.
