Do I Need Washers For Garden Hose

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Sometime between last Fall and this Spring, I lost the washer to my hose sprayer nozzle.

It was immediately clear something was wrong. Oops.

I thought it was in there, but it wasn't until my first-of-the-season use that I realized it fell out and was lost. Actually, it wasn't until I had a "what's going on here and why is my sprayer leaking after just one year?!" moment and checked for the washer that I realized it was gone.

So, I needed to order some new garden hose washers. I also have a leaky leader hose that's less than a year old.

I couldn't visit the home center anytime soon, so I took my search online. I didn't want to do a lot of research in finding a pack of replacement washers, and I didn't want to just order the first ones that popped up online either. After a couple of minutes digging online, I came across "Backyard Dudes." They're made in the USA and seem to have very positive user reviews.

Backyard Dudes Hose Washers

So, I went with a pack of Backyard Dudes washers from Amazon. They're USA-made, and a 12-pack cost me a little less than $10 (which is a lot for something like this). I figure I'll need 2-3 right off the bat, for the sprayer and for the leaky leader hose.

So far, so good. I'll plan for an update if my experience changes over time.

I went with these in hopes that the brand name increases the chance of consistent performance. There are dozens of generic brands on Amazon, and I am hoping that spending more on these Backyard Dudes washers will work out better over time.

Some of those generic brands' washers are far better values, giving you say 50 washers for $8, or 60 for $9. But if I'm going to spend close to $9 or $10 with shipping, a dozen washers will likely last me a long time. So, maybe going this path will give me better washers instead ofmore. That's the hope, but we'll have to see if the optimism lasts.

The Backyard Dudes' water hose washers don't have retaining tabs, but are said to be every so slightly oversized for a secure fit.

At the time of this posting, the washers has 92% 5-star ratings and 5% 4-star.

Buy Now(via Amazon)
See Also(Red Silicone Drinking Water-Safe Washers via Amazon)
Compare(Danco 10-pack via Home Depot)

Backyard Dudes also sells a 12-pack of red silicone washers that they differentiate as being drinking water-safe.

I also ordered a pack of made-in-Canada yellow silicone washers from Lee Valley at $5.95 for 6, to have another option to play around with. (We experiment so you don't have to!)

Of course, I could have also made my own washers, but I don't have thick-enough material on-hand, and buying some would have cost more.

Yes, you can get washers for cheap at the home center too. But, that also requires being able to visit the home center in a timely manner, something I cannot always do for non-urgent supplies. My late-night options were to buy several dozen generic washers for ~$8, the Backyard Dudes USA-made washers for $9-10, or wait maybe a week until I'd be able to make it to Home Depot during store business hours.