Hose socks and hangers

What It Is

Hose sock: a knitted cotton-lycra or padded, zippered fabric sleeve the full length of the hose (30, 32, 35 ft; Hide-A-Hose 30-60 ft). Knitted socks ship compressed on a fiberboard 'application tube' or 'assembly tube': slide the sock onto the tube, feed the hose's wall end through the tube toward the handle, and push the sock off the tube onto the hose as it emerges, then secure the ends with the included zip ties (Cen-Tec 42951/42962). Zippered padded covers wrap around an installed hose. Hose hanger: a wall-mounted cradle, wire-formed (MD 5 in wire hanger), plastic ABS (Cen-Tec 35202 heavy-duty, curved cradle with a raised bar that grips the corrugations) or all-metal (sized for a 35 ft hose plus a few tools).

What It Does

Sock: protects baseboards, door frames, furniture and millwork from the abrasive corrugated hose, quiets the hose and helps it glide. Hanger: stores 30-50 ft of hose in coils without kinks and frees floor space.

Standard Specs

Sock Fit

NuTone CA130: hoses 30-32 ft, 1-1/4 and 1-3/8 in diameters (Rexel). Cen-Tec: 30 or 35 ft, cotton-lycra blend, gray. Hide-A-Hose Hose Sock Replacement Kit: 30/40/50/60 ft, for SmartSoc hoses only (NOT RapidFlex, which is larger and needs no sock).

Hanger Height

Cen-Tec recommends mounting 40-48 in from the floor to reduce the number of coils

Care

Hide-A-Hose: hand-wash the sock on the hose in a bathtub with mild soap, rinse, hang to dry fully before retracting

Compatibility Checks

• Match sock length to hose length exactly; a 30 ft sock on a 30 ft hose must be pulled taut (Cen-Tec review note).
• Match diameter (1-1/4 vs 1-3/8 vs Hide-A-Hose RapidFlex).
• Retractable hoses: only use the OEM sock; a loose or torn sock snags on burrs inside the pipe.

Common Mistakes

• Installing the sock without the tube (nearly impossible).
• Leaving zip-tie tails that scratch floors.
• Hanging the hose on a narrow hook that creases it.

When To Replace

Socks: when torn, frayed at the ends or permanently soiled; hangers: when the cradle cracks or the hose keeps slipping off.