Can a Soaker Hose Function as a Regular Garden Hose?

You may find yourself in a situation where your regular garden hose is busted and you have a perfectly good soaker hose in the garage not being used. You may be wondering “Can a soaker hose work as a regular garden hose?”

It depends on what you’re using it for, but in most cases, a soaker hose cannot replace a garden hose. That’s because a soaker hose has tiny little holes along the length of its surface. This enables the hose to water all the plants near it when it lays on the ground.

Difference Between Soaker Hoses and Garden Hoses

A soaker hose and a garden hose may look similar, but they serve different purposes. A soaker hose is a porous hose that is used to deliver water directly to the roots of plants. The small holes allow water to seep out slowly and evenly, providing a deep watering that helps encourage root growth.

Garden hoses, on the other hand, are designed to carry water from a faucet to a specific area where the water is needed. They have a much larger diameter than soaker hoses, and the smooth surface prevents water from seeping out. As a result, garden hoses are better suited for tasks such as washing cars, or spraying your kids on a hot summer day

What will happen if I use my soaker hose as a regular hose?

As mentioned above, a soaker hose has a smaller diameter than a garden hose and is made of porous rubber.

As a result, the water pressure in a soaker hose is much lower than in a regular hose, so it’s not going to be very effective at carrying water from point A to point B as a garden hose does.

In short, you’ll find that the amount of water that comes out of the end of a soaker hose is much less than that of a garden hose.

In which cases can a soaker hose replace a garden hose?

There may be some cases where you don’t mind getting everything wet between your water source and the end of your hose. That is going to happen when you use a soaker hose due to its design.

You also may not need to deliver much water from point a to point be.

For instance, if you’re trying to water a tree on the opposite side of your lawn from your tap, you can probably get away with using a soaker hose in place of a garden hose temporarily.

Nevertheless, we’d recommend getting yourself a nice garden hose if you don’t have one. If you’re in the market for one, we like the Flexzilla 75ft garden hose for general home & garden use:

We also did a full review of the Flexzilla Garden Hose if you want to check it out.

A Helpful Video on How a Soaker Hose Works

Conclusion

A soaker hose cannot replace a garden hose in most cases. It has tiny little holes along the length of its surface which is great for watering plants but results in the reduced capability to deliver water to a specific spot in your yard.