The Best Way To Clean Your Hookah Hose

Hookah is a fun, delicious, and traditional way to smoke tobacco. But if you have your own hookah set up at home, you may have started to notice an unfortunate side effect of using that setup frequently. Ghosting.

Ghosting is when the flavors of hookah bowls smoked in the past leave behind their flavor and “ghost” their flavor into your next bowl. This happens when you smoke your hookah frequently and don’t clean it often enough. 

One area of the hookah that many new smokers forget entirely to keep clean and fresh is the hose. Your hose gets all sorts of flavorful hookah smoke passing through it, and over time, this leads to ghosting. 

But cleaning a hookah hose isn’t as easy as you may think. There are a few considerations you have to make first. 

Here is the MOB Hookah how-to guide on the best ways to clean any type of hookah hose you might use.

Why Clean a Hookah Hose?

You may wonder why we would want to clean a hookah hose in the first place? Well, there are two major reasons: ghosting (which we discussed briefly above), and sanitation.

Ghosting is the experience you have when your hookah and hoses take on the flavors of the smoke that has gone through it over time. As this effect adds up, your hookah flavors begin to get more muddled, and eventually, the nuance is lost. 

Cleaning your hookah, bowl, and hoses often and correctly can help prevent ghosting from becoming a problem that takes away from your hookah experience.

Cleanliness is the other important factor that makes cleaning your hoses an absolute must. The hose is where your mouth interacts with the hookah, and a lot of your breath and spit gets into the hose over a single smoking session. This can lead to a buildup of germs that can, over time, get you and others sick.

Many people share hookah hoses, particularly younger users who are newer to the hookah game. But the truth is there are health risks to sharing hoses without proper cleaning taking place, and you should be cleaning your hoses often, especially if you and your friends share a few hoses that you all use.

What Are the Different Kinds of Hookah Hoses?

While you may already know this if you are an avid hookah smoker, many novice and amateur smokers don’t realize that there are several different types of hoses. The different hoses range from the most expensive traditional style hoses to disposable hoses that are meant for one-time use.

Depending on what kind of hose you have and like to use, your preferred method of cleaning is going to change. Some hoses respond well to some methods that would break or ruin other styles of hoses, so knowing the right cleaning method for the right kind of hose is essential to keep your hookah in working condition.

So here is a quick breakdown of the different kinds of hookah hoses that you might run into.

Traditional Hoses

Traditional hoses are the original hoses that you will find with the most expensive and traditional hookah styles, like Egyptian and Syrian style hookahs. 

Traditional hoses are heavy and beautiful works of art, they are typically made of leather, with a cardboard coating on the inside to maintain shape, along with a metal coil on the inside to keep the hoses in the proper shape. The handles are typically made of wood or another nice material, giving them a very sturdy feel but also making washing a pain.

Washable Hoses

Despite the name, these hoses are actually slightly more of a pain to clean than the name implies. Washable hoses are the closest thing you can get to a traditional hose while still being able to clean it regularly.

Washable hoses are usually made using leather or fake leather as the exterior, although some use nylon and other materials, and replace the inside spring and cardboard with plastic to maintain the shape and retain cleaning capability. 

While you can clean these using water, over time and with continued washing, they will start to show signs of washing-related damage and wear.

Silicone Hoses

An even more washable but less luxurious look and feel option for your hookah hoses are silicone hoses. While they may not offer the same weight and feel of a traditional or washable hose, they are completely washable like no other type of hose.

They come in tons of colors and sizes and are perfect for shared use since they can be cleaned with such ease. 

We have a wide variety of silicone hoses available at MOB Hookah that you can be sure are high quality and will live up to your standards.

Disposable Hoses

Disposable hoses are the cheapest and most easily expendable hoses on the market. 

Disposable hoses are a frequent choice for hookah lounges and bars, where cleaning hoses for each guest is a hassle and expense that is simply not worth it to them. It is far safer to simply use disposable hoses so each guest gets a brand new hose every time.

Disposable hoses are made only of plastic, and if you were to cut open a washable hose with a plastic interior, you would probably find a lot of similarities between the innards of a washable hose and a disposable hose. 

Do not try to wash disposable hoses or reuse them — they are intended for one-time use. A silicone hose is a reusable option that is still quite cheap and can be washed and reused.

How Do You Clean Hookah Hoses?

As we mentioned, different methods apply to different hoses. But the first step to hookah hose cleaning remains the same no matter what type of hose you are cleaning: Blowing through the hose.

You should perform this step every time that you finish a smoke session. Just detach the hose from the hookah by twisting the piece of the hose that inserts into the hookah, and blow out through the hose once it is detached. 

This blows any stale smoke and other debris out of the hose, which can help minimize ghosting.

Then, the steps change depending on if you are using a silicone, washable, or traditional hose.

For a traditional hose, this is often as clean as you can get it, but here are a few other tips to get your traditional hose as clean as you can. 

• Hang your hookah up to dry, by hanging it from a coat hanger so that both ends face the ground, this will allow extra debris to drip out. 
• You can also take your hookah hose outside and swing it around to use centrifugal force to force extras out. 
• The last method for a traditional hose would be to blow compressed air through the hose to blow out other gunk.

For a washable hose or silicone hose, after blowing through it, you should rinse the inside out with water. Do not use soap! Just let water flow through the hose. 

If your washable hose uses leather or another material that shouldn’t get wet, try to avoid water getting on the outside of your hose. Then hang it to dry like you would a traditional hose, and you are ready to go.

Hookah Hose Cleaning: The Takeaways

You should clean your hoses frequently and correctly every few uses to prevent ghosting and stop the spread of germs from becoming a problem.

There are several different types of hoses, some that are more washable, like silicone and washable hoses, and others that are more difficult to clean, like traditional hoses.

Blow air through your hose after every use to clear it of debris. And then, if using a washable or silicone hose, run water through it without soap for about thirty seconds. Then hang your hose over a towel and wait for it to dry. 

Check out all of the hoses and other hookahs and accessories available and MOB Hookah here, and be sure to check out our blog for the best hookah advice and knowledge out there.

Sources:

Cleaning a Leather Hookah Hose | Hookah.org

Cleaning a Silicone Hookah Hose | Hookah.org

How to clean a hookah - Best way to clean a hookah | Best Hookah Guide