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How to use a garden hose spray gun

Updated: October 2026

You have chosen a gun or a kit, the outside tap is dripping onto the path, and the seedlings are closer to the jet than you meant. This is how to use a garden hose spray gun once the product is in your hand: seat the washer, pick a soft pattern for plants, shut the flow off between pots, and empty the gun before a frost. The steps below use the controls named on the ten amazon.co.uk listings in our [spray hose comparison](/hub/garden-watering/spray-hose). The Products Compared editorial team did not measure your tap pressure. If a hosepipe use is prohibited where you live, stop and use a can. The rule is on the [hosepipe ban](/hub/garden-watering/spray-hose/sub/spray-hose-hosepipe-ban) page, not in the pattern dial.

You have chosen a gun or a kit, the outside tap is dripping onto the path, and the seedlings are closer to the jet than you meant.

Our top picks

Onarway Onarway metal spray gun

Best overall

Onarway Onarway metal spray gun
9.4/10about £15.74
View offer
VOXON VOXON VX-GH002

Alternative

VOXON VOXON VX-GH002
9.0/10about £12.99
View offer
Ibergrif Ibergrif M22210

Preis-Tipp

Ibergrif Ibergrif M22210
8.8/10about £6.83
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Fit the gun and seat the washer
  2. 2.Pick a soft pattern for plants
  3. 3.Shut off, then drain
  4. 4.When the hose itself is the problem

Fit the gun and seat the washer

Turn the tap off before you twist a head or a collar. A VOXON listing note says you turn the water off, rotate anticlockwise until the head locks, then restart. Dry the threads, seat the washer, then open the tap. Press the washer flat in the connector before you click or screw the gun on. The Onarway bullets include extra rubber washers, and the VOXON box lists three gaskets. The Hozelock size field says spray gun only, so do not expect a washer in that carton. If the joint still weeps, the thread may be the wrong standard. Do not force a GHT collar onto a BSP tap. The buying guide is that check, and a cross-threaded tap is where you call a plumber. If the Draper's 1/2 inch barb will not sit in a click connector, that is the mismatch reviews describe.

Pick a soft pattern for plants

Start on the softest pattern you can identify, aimed at the compost, not at the leaves. Hozelock's pattern page treats a fine rose and a light mist as plant sprays, and a jet as cleaning. The Multi-Jet names cone, jet, fast fill, fine rose, and flat. The VOXON names fine mist, moderate fan, and powerful jet. Use the mist or the fan on plants, and keep the jet for a patio or dried mud. Several guns only give you a count. Turn the dial with the tap barely open. A cloud that falls close to the pot is the plant pattern. A pencil of water that digs a hole is the cleaning pattern.
Onarway Onarway metal spray gun

Testsieger

Onarway Onarway metal spray gun
9.4/10about £15.74
View offer

Shut off, then drain

Stop the flow at the gun while you move between pots. Kinking the hose is how an expandable pipe splits. The shut-off is not the same part on every listing. The Hozelock title states a lock, and reviews say the current one needs two hands. The Ibergrif has a locking ring so you need not hold the trigger. The Onarway has a rear knob from a trickle to full flow and a trigger lock. The FANHAO is a lever you set, not a trigger lock. The VOXON claims no locking clip, so you set the thumb lever and you do not expect a clip to hold it. At the end of the session, turn the tap off first, then open the gun and let the pipe run flat.

When the hose itself is the problem

An expandable hose often shortens as soon as you open the nozzle. If it shrinks before you reach the bed, you needed a longer pipe, not a harder jet. Stop and call a plumber, or the water company, if the outside tap has no backflow protection and you will not fit a valve, if the thread is already cross-threaded, or if a burst is feeding water indoors. A spray gun does not repair a tap, and it does not make a prohibited hosepipe use lawful.

Common questions

How do I click a gun on without a drip?
Tap off, washer flat in the connector, then click or screw until the stop, then tap on. If it still drips, replace the washer before you tighten further. Spare washers are listed for the Onarway, the VOXON, and the XPendHoze. They are not promised with the Hozelock Multi-Jet. A drip at the tap joint is a fitting problem. A drip from the nozzle with the control shut is a gun problem.
Which pattern should I use on seedlings?
A light mist or a fine rose, aimed at the compost, with the tap only partly open. On the Multi-Jet that is the fine rose, not the jet. On the VOXON it is the fine mist, not the powerful jet. If your dial has no names, use the pattern that falls as a cloud and does not drill the compost. A jet is for dirt, and it bounces mulch out of the pot.
Why does an expandable hose get shorter when I spray?
Because the inner tube contracts when water leaves through the nozzle faster than the tap refills it, or when you shut the spray end and then drain. Reviews of the Flexi Hose and the Yofidra describe that retract. Drain it on purpose at the end: tap off, nozzle open, water out, then coil it. A hose that shortens before it reaches the plant is too short for the route, or it is leaking at a fitting.
How do I empty the gun before a frost?
Turn the tap off, disconnect the hose, point the gun down, and run it through every pattern until it stops spitting. Store the gun indoors. The RnCop page says not to leave it outside below 0°C. The XPendHoze page says drain and store the hose and nozzle indoors. Hozelock says ice inside a gun can expand and damage it. A metal body does not skip that step.
When should I stop and call a plumber?
When the tap thread is cross-threaded, when you have no backflow protection and you will not fit a valve, or when water from a burst is entering the house. A washer is still your job. The tap body is not. If the use is prohibited, the can is the tool.

Related pages

Metal vs plastic garden hose spray gun

Spray hose

Best garden hose spray gun UK for the job you have

Garden hose spray gun buying guide for your UK tap

Hosepipe ban and a spray gun, and what still counts

Sources

Public UK sources from the digest for this comparison. amazon.co.uk listings were captured in October 2026.

  1. Environment Agency, dry weather in England, 2 to 8 October 2026 (retrieved 17 October 2026)
  2. Ofwat, hosepipe bans and what they mean for you (retrieved 17 October 2026)
  3. Water Industry Act 1991, section 76 (retrieved 17 October 2026)
  4. WRAS IRN R060, double check valve on an outside tap (retrieved 17 October 2026)
  5. Hozelock, how to measure your tap (retrieved 17 October 2026)
  6. HoseFitFinder, GHT to 3/4 BSP (retrieved 17 October 2026)
  7. Hozelock, which spray pattern to use (retrieved 17 October 2026)
  8. RHS, garden watering methods (retrieved 17 October 2026)