How much hose will I need? Cleansmart

What type of hoses will I need?

For an extraction machine, you need two types of hose:

Solution hose – transports water from the machine to the carpet wand/carpet
Vacuum hose – transports dirty water from the carpet back to the machine’s waste tank

So, for every length of vacuum hose you have, you will normally have a solution hose the same length to match. For this reason, vacuum and solution hoses are normally purchased together as a set.

Hose used by carpet cleaners usually comes in 25ft and 50ft lengths. A 25ft hose is often supplied with the machine. It’s then cheapeer to add extension hoses in 50ft lengths. You can then attach the hoses together to make up different lengths as needed.

Will I need extra hoses?

If funds allow, we definitely recommend that you invest in enough hose, so that you won’t need to move the machine around once you’ve set up.

It’s normal on most domestic jobs to set the machine up near the front door, then run whatever hose you need inside the home without needing to move the machine again until you’ve finished the job.

On the other hand, if you need to clean anything upstairs and don’t have enough hose to reach, you will have to empty both tanks of the machine, disconnect everything, take the machine upstairs and then set everything up again. As well as adding considerable time onto the job, you will probably not find this a very enjoyable experience!

It’s a lot easier to leave the machine in one place and use extension hoses as needed.

Hose lengths needed for average sized homes:

With the machine near the front door of an average sized home:

With 25ft hoses, you can normally reach the downstairs carpets and the stairs
With 50ft hoses, you can normally reach downstairs and upstairs carpets
For larger homes or 3 story homes, you can normally reach the whole home with 75ft hoses

Here are our recommendations for hose lengths, depending on how you plan to use your machine:

If you are using the machine as a portable we recommend minimum 75ft of hoses consisting of:

1 x WHS wand and 25ft hose set (£250 + VAT special price only available as part of a machine purchase)
1 x 50ft x 1.5″ additional hose set (£195 + VAT)

If you are using the machine direct-from-the-van we recommend 125ft of hoses consisting of:

1 x WHS wand and 25ft 1.5″ hose set (£250 + VAT special price only available as part of a machine purchase)
2 x 50ft 2″ extension hose sets (£430 + VAT)

Quick hose tip

If you aren’t sure whether you have enough hose to reach, run your hose to end of the room furthest away from the machine before you start. If the hose doesn’t reach, you may be able to position the machine somewhere else so that you can reach everywhere without needing to move the machine.

For example, on a large 3 storey house, if you position the machine on the 1st floor, you will probably be able to reach downstairs and the second floor without needing to move the machine.

Hose connectors

You will normally need hose connectors to attach your vacuum hoses together. Your supplier will be able to advise on this and make sure you have the right fittings for your hoses.

Solution hoses don’t normally need additional connectors. Just attach the hoses to each other using the brass quick connect fittings on the ends of the hose.

What’s a hose hook?

When you are cleaning upstairs and the machine is downstairs, the hoses will constantly be trying to pull downstairs, which is very annoying! A hose hook is an easy way to stop this – just wrap the hose hook around the hoses and hook onto something upstairs to secure.

Hose storage

The easiest way to store hoses is just to coil them up and secure with bungee cords. You can get hose bags, but it can be a good idea to allow the hoses to breath to help stop unwanted smells building up. Make sure you bring solution hoses indoors in winter – freezing can damage them.

Hose buying tips – solution hose

The quality of solution hose varies a lot. Hoses often look very similar, but you do tend to get what you pay for. It’s important that the solution hose used is the right spec for your machine. This is especially important if you use a heater, where use of the wrong hose could cause serious injury – for example if a hose blows with very hot water or steam inside and someone is standing next to it.

Look for the following features when buying solution hose:

We recommend 3000psi Goodyear Neptune hose or equivalent
Hose should have swaged-on end fittings
Branded brass quick connects (i.e. avoid brass quick connects that don’t have a brand name stamped onto the fittings – you can get cheap non-branded quick connects, but we’ve had all sorts of problems with these in the past and stay well clear of them).
Non marking/chemical resistant outer hose casing

Hose buying tips – vacuum hose

The quality of vacuum also varies a lot. Cheap vacuum hose tends to split, may not be very flexible, may compress under suction and probably won’t last very long.

Look for the following features when buying vacuum hose:

Heavy duty – doesn’t split easily
Lightweight
Flexible
Smooth bore to help prevent drag which reduces vac performance

1.5″ or 2″ vacuum hose?

1.5″ vacuum hose is the most popular size of vacuum hose. It’s lightweight, flexible and easy to work with. You can also get thicker 2″ vacuum hose, which gives you better performance, which is noticeable on longer hose runs.

Thinking about starting a new carpet cleaning service?

Here’s how we can help:

Get trained on up on one of our carpet & upholstery cleaning training courses
We can help you spec a professional carpet cleaning machine to match your budget and business needs
We can help you put together a complete start-up equipment package
We can provide top notch on-going support and supplies as your business grows