An essential guide to identifying rubber hose failure

23rd February, 2026

Rubber hose failure can occur through improper routing or fittings, but often, they fail due to operational factors, like excessively high or low temperatures, pressure surges or exceeding recommended operation pressure and chemicals. Since rubber hoses and tubing can be used in several industries with high stakes, it is crucial that you perform regular maintenance and inspections on your rubber hoses and their parts, including rubber seals, like a water tight seal, rubber gaskets and other bespoke rubber products.

Failing or damaged rubber hoses can cause catastrophic impact to your application. Aquaseal Rubber provide bespoke rubber UK and global clients choose to support their projects, ranging from supporting marine vessels and classic cars to providing a replacement obsolete bulbus hose and more domestic products, like a replacement garden hose.

This essential guide to identifying rubber hose failure will highlight what rubber hoses are used for, why they fail and how to identify whether your rubber hose is failing.

What are rubber hoses used for?

Rubber hoses are used for several purposes, but primarily, will be applied in industries like automotive, construction, manufacturing, oil and gas and aerospace, used to transport liquids, gases and abrasive materials.

In automotive and aerospace applications, rubber hoses will be used to transport fluids and hydraulics, whilst in the oil and gas industry, hoses are used to transport oil from offshore systems to onshore storage. Rubber hoses can also be used for domestic applications, including a garden hose, whilst bespoke rubber materials can be used to meet health and safety standards for purpose-made hoses to transport food grade products.

To prevent poor performance leading to failure – which could look like leaks, bursts, contamination, fires or injuries – rubber hoses must be monitored for potential damage to ensure safe operation and optimal performance.

Why do rubber hoses fail?

Understanding what causes rubber to deteriorate is essential if you operate rubber hoses in high-pressure environments, like in the automotive, aerospace or oil and gas industries. Several factors can influence the lifespan of your rubber hose, especially if they are used daily in critical applications.

Reasons for rubber hose failure include:

• Heat: since heat accelerates oxidation, rubber can harden and lose elasticity when exposed to extreme temperatures before polymer chains are broken down and plasticisers are driven out, causing the rubber to lose its strength and become brittle. Heat damage often looks minor until the hose suddenly cracks or bursts under pressure, so regular inspection is critical.
• Age: through ongoing exposure to oxygen, ozone, UV and chemicals – common aspects in the industries which use rubber hoses – rubber materials slowly degrade and can lose elasticity, even if the hose is barely used. Internal layers can degrade without visible external damage, meaning aged hoses fail without warning, especially after pressure or temperature changes.
• Pressure: with each pressure cycle, rubber hoses will expand and contract, stressing reinforcement layers like textile or steel and causing pressure spikes to exceed design limits. Pressure failures in rubber hoses are usually violent and instantaneous, meaning high-energy and hazardous fluids or gases can be released without warning.
• Abrasion: in rubber hoses, abrasion wears away the outer protective cover, exposing reinforcement layers and allowing moisture, chemicals and UV to attack the hose structure. Abrasion can cause serious damage from a single wear point.

Most rubber hose failures aren’t caused by only one of these factors. Usually, they are caused by compounding factors, like heat and age causing rapid hardening and cracking or abrasion and pressure leading to localised failure at worn spots.

How to identify if your rubber hose is failing

Identifying if your rubber hose is failing is essential, and regular inspections should be conducted to ensure hoses remain in proper working order.

If your hose shows any signs of cracking on the surface or deeper splits near bends or fittings, like a water tight seal, or if there are any leakages at these fittings, your hose may be damaged. Soft spots, sometimes appearing as a blistered surface, or shiny worn areas, like smooth, glossy or polished-looking patches on the outer cover or thinning of the outer rubber layer, could suggest there are problems.

These are some warning signs that often show up before a rubber hose fully fails, with several practical methods which can be used to inspect hoses for failure.

Squish test

Also known as a manual squeeze check, a squish test consists of squeezing the hose firmly, when safe and depressurised. If the hose feels hard, this could suggest degradation as a sign of heat exposure or age, or if it feels spongy, this could indicate an internal breakdown or chemical attack. There could also be uneven firmness along the length of the hose, which may be a sign of localised internal damage.

A squish test quickly reveals loss of elasticity, which is one of the earliest and most reliable indicators of hose deterioration.

Overheating

If hoses are hot to touch, or there are frequent temperature alarms or thermal shutdowns, this could be a sign of overheating. This suggests collapsing or internally swollen hose restricting flow, coolant or hydraulic fluid leaks which reduce system efficiency or a hose material no longer tolerating operating temperatures.

Overheating typically signals a hose is failing internally, even if it looks normal externally.

Odd smells

A failing rubber hose may produce a burnt rubber smell, sweet of chemical odours, or oily or acrid fumes. These unusual smells can indicate rubber is overheating or chemically degrading, small and hard-to-see leaks are vaporising on hot surfaces, or an incompatible hose material is reacting with fluid.

Smell is an early warning of thermal or chemical failure, which often appears before visible leaks appear.

Whining pumps

High-pitched whining or squealing noises and noise that worsens during start up or under load, are signs of collapsed or softened suction hose which restricts flow, air being drawn in through cracked hoses or loose fittings, or an increased pump effort due to pressure loss or blockage.

Rubber hoses are sensitive, meaning there will be audible signs of failure if the hose is starved of fluid.

Prevent and repair rubber hose failure with Aquaseal Rubber

Maintaining and expanding the lifespan of your rubber hose is a critical aspect of ensuring performance meets safety and compliance standards. Ultimately, selecting the right material for your bespoke rubber hose is the most important part of the process, whether you are looking for a new hose or are looking to repair a damaged one.

At Aquaseal Rubber, we design, manufacture and install bespoke rubber products in a range of materials suitable for use in rubber hoses across several industries. From natural rubber materials to provide flexibility and abrasion resistance, to materials manufactured through the synthetic rubber production process – like nitrile for use with oils, fuels and hydraulics or EPDM for hoses requiring resistance to heat, water and weather conditions – Aquaseal Rubber can manufacture a range of rubber products to align with your requirements.

We also offer our pipe repair kit which can be used when replacement is not necessary, but your rubber hose requires a strong and permanent repair.

Contact us to see how our team can support your project to prevent rubber hose failure.