Garden Hose Cleaning

©2010 begin with a Sunny Outlook

I’m embarrassed to show you what my garden hose looked like after leaving it outside, in the elements, continuously, over about a 3 year period. Not only was it left outdoors, but it was lying on the ground in various locations – in the garden bed, in the grass. So after the 3 years it was a mess, just soiled and spotted from one end to the other. Perhaps the spots were from mildew, but not sure.

Before - For comparison, this is the same hose with one end cleaned

My garden hose is not the type that has the shiny, slick outer surface that helps to repel dirt and stains. It’s not a rubber garden hose, but it has the same type of outer surface as rubber. So dirt sticks to it and perhaps mildew, too!

First, I didn’t feel good about the kids playing with it and filling the pool with the garden hose in this condition – that just didn’t seem like a good idea. And secondly, good garden hoses aren’t cheap, so I was determined to revitalize it!

On ‘begin with a Sunny Outlook’ we have talked about the wonders of cleaning with ultra-concentrated oxygen bleach powder. This is not chlorine bleach. Oxygen bleach is safe, non-toxic, and won’t harm the plants.

So that was my quest – to clean this (I don't even want to claim ownership) awful looking garden hose. It is 75 feet long, and for some reason (perhaps in a non-thinking moment) I figured a 5 gallon bucket would be big enough to hold it.

Wading pools are the perfect container size for hose cleaning

It was not! So then the ‘light bulb’ went on over my head and I thought that one of those little wading pools for babies would be the perfect size. It was! It was the perfect container and it made the chore so much easier.

I used the amount of ultra concentrated oxygen bleach powder for ‘general purpose’ cleaning recommended on the label. Dissolving the powder in a reasonable amount of warm to hot water makes it dissolve faster. Then I just used the cold water from the hose bib for the rest.

I soaked the garden hose in the little pool (with the water and oxygen bleach) twice, each time for about 4 hours. After each soak I scrubbed the outer surface of the garden hose with a sponge that had a ‘rough’ side (I used the ‘rough’ side – please be careful, don’t use anything that will tear up or ruin the surface). I changed the water and the oxygen bleach after each soak. Side note: when I scrubbed the garden hose after each soak, I noticed a little of the garden hose’s green color on a paper towel I was using, but it doesn’t seem to be a problem. It looks great, bright and clean! The ‘loss’ of color seems to have been very slight (I do not notice it).

After - Beautiful!

I am very pleased and overjoyed with the way this cleaned my garden hose! See 'After' photo – what do you think? It seems to be closely restored to its once brand new condition (it still has faint signs of the spots). As an unscientific guesstimate, I’d say it is 80% good as new! It sure looks great!

Now I feel good about letting the kids play with the garden hose!

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