Best hose spray guns 2026
Rinse, blast or fill? We put 10 contenders to the test
Most of us reach for a pressure washer when it’s time to clean the car. But if you just need a quick rinse or want to quickly remove a bird dropping or mud, then setting up the machine and putting it away minutes later can seem a little excessive.
In these situations, you will be happy with the hose alone, so long as it is armed with a gun. These special spray nozzles will allow you to choose the type of water flow, swapping from a jet to blast away muck, to a gentle shower for rinsing. The other benefit is that they will shut off the flow completely when you release the trigger, so you don’t have to run back and forth to the tap.
For this test we tried 10 at a variety of price points, judging them on their usefulness for car cleaning and general maintenance.
How we tested
You want a strong jet to loosen dirt and then a gentler rinse mode to remove suds efficiently. We judged the blasting power by measuring how far the flow would reach from the end with the nozzle on the most powerful setting. We also checked for a fast-flow function that could be used to quickly fill a bucket or screenwash reservoir.
Used - available now
2024 BMW
iX3
12,537 milesAutomaticElectric
Cash £33,300
2024 BMW
2 Series Gran Coupe
40,629 milesManualPetrol1.5L
Cash £19,790
2017 Mazda
CX-3
50,000 milesManualPetrol2.0L
Cash £10,490
2020 Jaguar
XE
33,100 milesAutomaticDiesel2.0L
Cash £17,995After that, we checked how comfortable the guns were to use and hold for extended periods and if they included flow adjusters and locks to keep the trigger depressed. Finally, we considered the units’ value and quality.
Draper Eight-Pattern Spray Gun 19772
- Price: around £12.93
- Modes: Eight
- Rating: 5.0 stars
- Contact: drapertools.com
Unlike every other gun in this test, the Draper Eight-Pattern doesn’t have a conventional trigger. Instead there is a green thumb switch, which varies the flow from nothing to a full blast. Once we were used to it, this control method was more comfortable and simpler than having a separate trigger and lock.
Attach the rugged brass connector to a hose and you are offered eight types of flow including a flat fan and shower, which are ideal for car cleaning. It’s not the cheapest, but the quality is equal to that of rivals which cost much more.
Draper Seven-Pattern Spray Gun 25342
- Price: around £11.15
- Modes: Seven
- Rating: 4.5 stars
- Contact: drapertools.com
There’s nothing clever or innovative about Draper’s second entry in this test, but it does almost everything you could want and is great quality at a decent price. Unlike the winning Draper Eight-Pattern, it has a conventional trigger lever and a simple flip-over wire wedge to lock it in the open position.
The rubberised handle is comfortable to hold and there is a good range of useful spray patterns, including a flat fan, shower, jet, mist and cone. In jet mode it reached fractionally farther than our winner, but there is no easy way to fill buckets and screenwash bottles.
Hozelock Multi Spray Plus
- Price: around £29.99
- Modes: Seven
- Rating: 4.0 stars
- Contact: hozelock.com
It’s the most expensive gun in this test, but it is easy to see why when the Hozelock is in your hand. It’s got a real high-quality feel, with chrome and rubber-coated parts. It combines a thumb control for the flow with a conventional trigger, and the lock can be operated with one hand.
The seven modes are well chosen and useful, with a fast fill for buckets and a gentler aerated setting, which is perfect for topping up screenwash. It’s only let down by a stiff rotary selector.
Titan Multi-Spray Gun
- Price: around £15.99
- Modes: Seven
- Rating: 4.0 stars
- Contact: screwfix.com
The chunky Titan has an industrial feel, with barely any plastic used on the body. This gives the impression that it will last long enough to justify the price, which is on the high side compared with most of the rivals here.
The jet is strong and one of the six other modes is perfect for filling buckets. All are selected with a satisfying click wheel, and there is a sturdy flow control valve.
Onehose Garden Spray Gun
- Price: around £7.94
- Modes: 10
- Rating: 3.5 stars
- Contact: amazon.co.uk
We’re sure it’s no accident that the Onehose is an identical colour to the posh products from Hozelock, and although it can’t match that brand’s quality it is still a useful gun for car cleaning. There are a baffling 10 settings on the rotary selector, including fans which can be horizontal and vertical for rinsing. It has a good bucket-filling flow, too, but the jet is weak. A rubberised handle makes it comfortable to hold, and it has a basic flip-over wedge lock.
Toolstation Heavy Duty Spray Gun
- Price: around £8.99
- Modes: One
- Rating: 3.5 stars
- Contact: toolstation.com
Toolstation’s Spray Gun has a simplicity that might suit many people. Instead of the rotary selector with different spray settings used by the others here, it has a single nozzle that twists to vary the flow from a wide mist to a jet. The rubberised pistol grip trigger makes it simple and comfortable to use, and the body is made from die-cast zinc alloy. With solid brass used for the connectors and adjuster knob, it feels like it’s designed to last a lifetime.
Rolson 7 Function Spray Gun Set
- Price: around £5
- Modes: Seven
- Rating: 3.0 stars
- Contact: bmstores.co.uk
Place them side by side and it’s clear that the Rolson and Tesco guns are very similar, with the same main seven pattern nozzle. Somehow the flow is different though, with this Rolson having a farther-reaching jet. The trade-off is that it dribbles irritatingly when in several of the settings. Its handle seems to be designed for smaller hands, too. The Rolson is supplied with three hose fittings including a useful female water-stop connector. That means the £5 price seems good value.
Tesco Outdoor 7 Function Spray Gun
- Price: around £5
- Modes: Seven
- Rating: 3.0 stars
- Contact: tesco.com
This is a spray gun you can pick up with your shopping, and at £5 it’s not going to add too much to the bill. It is all plastic at this price, of course, but it generally works well, with useful shower, flat fan, mist, and cone settings.
There is also a mode called Centre, which is good for bucket filling.It would have scored higher if it was more comfortable to hold or the jet was more defined.
Transformers High Pressure Water Gun
- Price: around £2.54
- Modes: Seven
- Rating: 3.0 stars
- Contact: temu.com
Yes, you read that price right, and the explanation for the rock-bottom cost comes when you see the source: Temu. The Transformers gun actually performed well in the tests, with seven useful modes, which mirrored those offered by the Tesco and Rolson products. This includes a ‘Full’ mode, which is good for bucket filling. But as you would expect, the gun feels flimsy in places. Although that means it is light to hold, we’d worry that you will need to replace it sooner than the rivals here.
Sealey Spray Gun With 10-Pattern
- Price: around £9.54
- Modes: 10
- Rating: 2.5 stars
- Contact: sealey.co.uk
At less than a tenner, the Sealey might well seem like a bargain, especially because it has a metal body, 10 modes built into the rotary selector head and a single-handed lock for the trigger.
But we found it difficult to love. The gun itself is heavy and the small trigger is stiff, making it uncomfortable to use for any more than a few minutes. While the choice of settings would seem to be a good thing, many of them are just tiny variations on angle and add very little except confusion.
Verdict
It’s a solid one-two for the Drapers, with the Eight-Pattern going one better than its sibling. Both are easy to use, great quality and good value. If we were feeling flush, though, we might treat ourselves to the Hozelock Multi Spray Plus. It’s great to use and good quality, but the price holds it back.
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