Whether you're looking at silicone hoses for home brewing, you need it for machinery, or you're adding performance parts to your vehicle, it's important that you understand how silicone hoses work and what exactly they're made of so that you can properly maintain them. Today we're going to take a look at a few things you should know when buying silicone hosing no matter why you're buying it. 

So, how can you tell the difference between good quality silicone hoses and the other guys? You can tell the quality of silicone hoses by their richness in color. You'll find that there are two different types of silicone used for making hoses and depending on which one is used, the color of both the interior and exterior will be different. If the silicon hose is made specifically for oil, it will be a higher quality, but otherwise it will likely be lower quality. You can purchase special linings for your hoses if you're using them for oil applications, though.

How should you clean the hoses? It's fairly easy to clean silicone hoses. All you need to do is use warm water and a couple drops of soap. You can use WD-40 if your hose has grease marks that aren't coming off.

Why should you use silicone instead of rubber hosing? One of the biggest reasons people use silicone hosing is because they can withstand some seriously high temperatures - much higher than rubber hoses can. Silicone hoses also hold the benefit of being able to be wrapped with a fiberglass material that allows them to handle even higher temperatures.