Originally Posted by
Euclid440
I am doing some firehose now, (12’) and it is a lot of work. The hardest part is getting it clean.
Cut it about an inch longer then finish length to allow for shrinkage, a sharp razor knife and speed square work well for cutting.
The trick to cleaning, is use cold water, use as little soap as possible and remove all the soap.
Soak in cold water wash, I am using 1/4 cup of Borax in a 5-gallon bucket and 1/2 cup of baking soda to soften the water. Soak for a couple hours then remove and scrub with a stiff brush, the hose will get rock hard when wet.
The hose I got, was stored in a fire hose box and looked clean, but a lot of dirt came out and is still coming out of it. Rinse in plain water, soak in clean water and a cup of white vinegar.
Soak overnight, scrub and change your water. And repeat the process until your wash and rinse water are clean.
After drying overnight, and while a bit damp I beat with a clean wooden mallet and roll it over a rolling pin suspended from the ceiling with wire to make it flexible. It also seems to loosen the dirt from the weave.
It takes 2 days for the hose to dry, I am at 5 complete cycles now, and still dirt is coming out of the hose. I have 2 buckets going with 3-4 pieces of hose in each. After the first cleaning, I soak in soap for a day or 2, rinse soak in clear water and vinegar for a day, dry beat, roll and repeat.
Once clean I plan to seal the ends with a fabric seam sealer, a kind of clear thin glue, I bought from the fabric store. Then use leather keepers to hold, 2 in D rings.
Your hose looks like nylon, on mine you can see the flax husks in the weave and the weave is not as tight as yours.
Cut off some frayed threads and see if they will burn, do not light the whole hose, if nylon, it will go up quickly, trust me on that…