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Oct 21, 2024

Best Garden Hoses and Hose Guns: the best easy to use and most durable products - Which?

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In this article

Hunting for the best garden hose is anything but straightforward. The packaging will shout about a hose's flexibility, manoeuvrability, durability and more. Add in anti-kink, anti-twist, anti-crush and anti-algae claims and it's hard to know where to start.

The best garden hoses need to be flexible enough so they're easy to use, but also tough enough to withstand years of rough treatment. We've discovered which are easiest to install, reel up and drag around your garden.

We put the most popular garden hose pipes from leading brands such as Hozelock, Gardena, B&Q and Wickes to the test, so that we can tell you which ones will last and remain a pleasure to use. We've also tested garden hose spray guns and lances.

Only logged-in Which? members can view the garden hose test results below.

Join Which? to get instant access to our test results and Best Buy recommendations below.

Date tested: March 2021. Page last checked: September 2024. We are not able to show every retailer and cheaper prices may be available

All the hoses we tested are listed in alphabetical order below.

Only logged-in Which? members can view the best hoses from our tests.

Join Which? to get instant access to our results and Best Buy recommendations below.

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Guarantee 5 years

Weight per metre 81g

Lengths available 15 metres

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Guarantee Not stated

Weight per metre 99g

Lengths available 15 metres, 30 metres, 50 metres

Available at Screwfix (£34.99).

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Guarantee 1 year

Weight per metre 148g

Lengths available 15 metres, 20 metres, 30 metres, 50 metres

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Guarantee 20 years

Weight per metre 146g

Lengths available 15 metres, 30 metres

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Guarantee 30 years

Weight per metre 146g

Lengths available 20 metres, 25 metres, 50 metres

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Guarantee 10 years

Weight per metre 106g

Lengths available 15 metres, 30 metres, 50 metres

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Guarantee 25 years

Weight per metre 121g

Lengths available 15 metres, 25 metres, 50 metres

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Guarantee Not stated.

Weight per metre 91g

Lengths available 15 metres, 30 metres

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Guarantee 10 years

Weight per metre 115g

Lengths available 15 metres

We tested hose guns from Karcher, Flopro, Hozelock, Verve and Gardena and found two Best Buys. Only logged-in Which? members can view our hose gun test reviews below. If you're not yet a member, you'll just see our scores in the table below but won't be able to see the results. Join Which? now to get instant access to our test scores and Best Buy recommendations below.

USING THE TABLE OVERALL RATING The more stars the better. Rating ignores price and is based on: overall performance, 35%; ease of use, 35%; durability, 30%. Performance is a combination of the strength, reach and shape of the spray patterns at both high and low water pressure, with higher weighting given to patterns most relevant to gardeners and low or no weighting given to patterns that aren’t relevant. Date tested: June 2019. Page last checked: September 2024. We are not able to show every retailer and cheaper prices may be available

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We buy the most popular 15-metre or 20-metre hoses from the biggest brands, as well as cheaper alternatives and put them through a series of tough tests. We regularly revisit the garden hoses on sale to see if there are any more popular models that need testing and when we find them we do.

We rate each hose on how easy it is to set up and attach to a standard reel, Including attaching a spray gun to the end of it and attaching the hose securely to the reel.

We rate each hose on how easy it rolls onto the reel from straight in front and also from a 90-degree angle. Each hose is rolled onto a reel 10 times in total from various angles.

Each hose is:

After each of the durability tests, the hose is reconnected to the water supply and inspected for any leaks.

Find out more about how Which? is not influenced by product manufacturers or retailers and how your support helps us to stay editorially independent.

The hose guns are tested for:

See our reviews of the best secateurs.

While we were testing regular garden hoses, we also tried out the Hozelock Expandable Water Hose.

Which? members can log in to read our thoughts on these types of hoses below. If you're not a member, sign up now.

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Guarantee: 3 years

Weight per metre: 48g

Lengths available: 15 metres, 30 metres