Cleaning Braided Hoses

[CurtEgerer]

Looking for a recommendation of something to use to renew the appearance of my various braided breather hoses. They're in good shape, just a little oily/dirty. Thanks.

[Zeke]

That's a good question, Curt. Since they look like fabric, one would assume that they need special care in cleaning. I was afraid to clean mine vigorously, so I tip-toed through the process. I ended up liking Simple Green (once again) for dissolving the oily dirt and allowing me to rinse the hoses off w/o scrubbing.

I think the key here is how good of condition they are to start with. Mine came out looking fairly decent with a nice black, very low sheen from the threads of the fabric. I'm not afraid to put Armorall on engine parts only to be wiped down well. That seemed to be the "added end."

However, ones that have faded to grey don't come back too well. I have used spray dye on those to save the day. I'm not liking the dye we get today which is basically lacquer. But, I haven't taken the time to buy something good from somebody like Leatherique. I have also used black leather dye in the bottle for touching up wiring harnesses and the like including the real small lines. The last dye I bought seemed to be a vinyl base and I hope that would be OK on the rubber, plastic and cloth parts in the front and rear compartments.

Let us know what you do and how it turns out.

[bobmagyar]

I always use compressed air and along with what ever appropriate cleaner for surfaces like this.