Best garden hose spray guns in 2023

Our experts have trialled and reviewed hundreds of garden tools and to see which hose spray guns fared the best, we tested a range of guns across a range of situations in the garden.
We looked at performance and ease of use, but we focused on eco credentials, too. Water is a precious resource and it’s vital a spray gun doesn’t leak or drip, wasting water every time you use it. A controllable flow option that adjusts the volume of water from 40-100 per cent is also helpful and finally, we noted whether we thought the guns were robust enough to last for longer than just a single summer.
All the models tested were the gun grip type, made from plastic or metal and were compatible with a standard 13mm water stop hose connector. All had a trigger on the handle that was squeezed to turn the water on or off and most had a dial to change the spray pattern.

Each spray gun has a detailed list of pros and cons, and has been rated according to ease of use, performance, eco considerations and value for money. Every spray gun in our round up below has scored a minimum of three out of five stars, so you can buy with confidence.

Best hose spray guns at a glance:

• Best Buy for performance: Homebase Premium Metal Spray Gun
• Best Buy for features: Spear & Jackson Kew Gardens Collection Multi Function Spray Gun
• Best Buy for sustainability: Gardena EcoLine Watering Sprayer
• Best Buy eco sprayer: Hozelock Multi Spray Pro
• Best Buy premium sprayer: Gardena Comfort Multi Spray
• Best Buy mid-range sprayer: Draper 7 Pattern Aluminium Spray Gun
• Best Buy for value: Wilko 8 Pattern Spray Gun
• Best Buy for budget: XHose 8 Speed Spray Nozzle

Need a hose? Discover which of the garden hoses we tested, came out on top. Or, if a watering can is all you're after, we've chosen 10 different designs to suit your gardening needs. If you're after more power for some of your garden cleaning tasks, our experts have put the best pressure washers through their paces, so you can buy with confidence.

Jump to:

• How does a hose spray gun work?
• How should I chose a hose spray gun?
• Will I need any connectors?
• How much should I spend on a hose spray gun?
• Best Buy hose spray guns
• The best of the rest
• How we tested

How does a hose spray gun work?

Unlike a more traditional twist nozzle, a spray gun has a variety of spray patterns for different tasks. Once you’ve picked your pattern, a spray gun works as its name implies - you squeeze the trigger on the handle of the ‘gun’ to control the distance and intensity of the jet of water.

Water is a precious resource and it’s vital a spray gun doesn’t leak or drip, wasting water every time you use it.

How should I choose a hose spray gun?

The key thing to think about is what you need your spray gun for. If you’ll just be watering plants, look for a gun with a few different, gentle spray patterns, so you don’t damage leaves and stems. For a more general-purpose hose, look for as many settings as possible, so you can clean your car as well as tend to plants.

Will I need any connectors?

Hose pipe connectors are the plastic or brass clip at the top of a hose pipe. They’re universal, and with very rare exceptions most hose guns will fit your hose. If you don’t have a universal connector or need a new one, we recommend a brass connector, as these tend to last longest.

Spray guns - Buyer's Guide video

For more information and help choosing the right spray gun for you, see our Buyer’s Guide:

Best hose spray guns on test in 2023

RRP: £15.95

Our rating: 5/5

• Buy now from Homebase (£15.95).

Pros:

• Comfortable and light to hold
• Large, responsive lockable trigger
• Eight spray patterns
• Metal head

A BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Best Buy award-winner for performance, this spray gun is very robust and features a metal head, so it’s built to last. One of the most comfortable spray guns to use on test, it feels sturdy to hold and has a generously-sized, lockable trigger with an ergonomic grip. We also like the design of the roll-lever to control flow and reduce water use, which is accessible and smooth to use. It has eight different spray patterns, including cone for delicate watering, centre for targeted cleaning, soaker to water the base of plants, full to fill watering cans quickly, shower for watering flower beds and pots, flat for gentle cleaning, jet for powerful cleaning and mist, which creates a fine cloud of mist for seedlings. In addition to this, the descriptions are written around the edge, so it’s quick and easy to choose the one you want. It’s also drip-free and comes with a two-year warranty.

Buy the Homebase Premium Metal Spray Gun from Homebase

RRP: £23.99

Our rating: 4.5/5

Pros

• Comfortable and light to hold
• Thumb switch
• Nine spray patterns
• Brass connector

Cons

• Black handle gets hot in the sun

With a whopping nine patterns, the Spear & Jackson Kew Gardens Collection Multi Function Spray Gun is a BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Best Buy-winner for features. Our favourite of these patterns is the ‘angle’ pattern, which sprays water downwards at a 45° angle, making the gun much more comfortable to hold. Like the Draper 8 pattern gun, the shower function is powerful enough to reach the very back of flower beds and it has a sliding thumb catch, which can be moved with one hand to vary the water flow. It also means you don’t have to hold down a button if you’re watering for any length of time, which makes it one of the most comfortable guns to hold and use. It has a high-quality brass connector too, but bear in mind that the black handle gets hot in the sun.

RRP: £19.99

Our rating: 4.5/5

Pros

• Eco design made from recycled materials
• Frost and UV protection
• Lockable trigger
• Five-year warranty

Cons

• Only one spray option
• Small head

A BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Best Buy award-winner for sustainability, this gun is made using at least 65% recycled household waste for the plastic parts and the stainless metal parts consists of more than 45% recycled material. It’s light and neatly designed, featuring an ergonomic handle, which means it’s comfortable to hold and use. It also has a lockable trigger, and a roll-lever at the back of the spray head, so you can adjust the flow whilst you’re watering. However, it only has one spray pattern, which is a gentle shower, so you’re limited to general watering jobs, but if you’re prepared to compromise on the spray pattern options, this is a great eco-friendly alternative to plastic spray guns. It also comes with integrated frost protection and a generous five-year warranty.

The Gardena EcoLine Basic Set is also available, which includes an adjustable jet nozzle as well as a tap connector, adapter, hose connector and water stop.

Our rating: 4.5 out of 5

Pros:

• Very easy to use
• Feels robust and long lasting
• Has a water saving aerated flow and smooth adjustable flow
• Comes with a three year warranty

Cons:

• It's expensive
• It starts to rub and is a little uncomfortable to use after a while

Awarded a BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Best Buy doe best eco sprayer this spray gun is sturdy and built to last. It comes with a water-saving aerated flow and the adjustable flow works well and efficiently. It's a well-designed and thought out spray gun. The different spray patterns simply click into place along the dial and it feels solid and secure in the hand.

Read the full review: Hozelock Multi Spray Pro review

Our rating: 4.5 out of 5

Pros:

• Comfortable and easy to use
• The trigger lock and adjustable flow can easily be used with one hand
• Has a gentle, water saving bubble spray
• Comes with frost protection in case it's left outside through the winter
• Has a filter in the base of the handle that can be removed and cleaned

Cons:

• High price to pay for a plastic spray gun

A BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Best Buy winner for best premium spray gun this is easy and smooth to use,has a large spray head with a good range of sprays and comes with a long warranty. It has five spray patterns including a soft spray, a fast jet, a bubble spray, a fine mist and a flat spray, and all perform well with a strong jet of water. Although other spray guns have more spray patterns, these are enough to cover most jobs in the garden, from filling up cans, watering fragile seedlings and irrigating borders and pots.

Read the full review: Gardena Comfort Multi Spray review

Our rating: 4.3 out of 5

Pros:

• Comfortable and light to hold
• Has a durable brass connector
• Each spray has excellent pressure
• Comes with a lifetime warranty

Cons:

• The trigger lock needs two hands to engage
• The adjustable flow is fiddly and slow to change

A BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Best Buy winner for best mid-range spray gun this is easy to use and has excellent pressure. There's a good range of sprays for different situations and it feels durable and built to last. It has a simple dial with the pattern written clearly around the edge, and it clicks cleanly into place with each twist. However, the ring lock on top of the handle that holds the trigger in place needs two hands to engage, and the adjustable flow behind it is fiddly and stiff to twist up and down.

Read the full review: Draper 7 Pattern Aluminium Spray Gun review

RRP: £4.75

Our rating: 4.25

• Buy now from Wilko (£4.75).

Pros

• Comfortable and light to hold
• Lockable trigger
• Eight spray patterns
• Low RRP

Cons

• All plastic
• Some spray patterns are the same
• Need two hands for the trigger

The Wilko 8 Pattern Spray Gun is a BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Best Buy-winner for the best value hose spray gun. It’s less than half the price of most of the guns on this list with eight different spray patterns, and its stand-out pattern is the shower setting, which creates a gentle, soft shower of water that’s great for watering flower beds and borders. It’s easy to move between the spray patterns, but some of them are very similar - the cone and mist functions are almost identical, and the stream and full functions are also almost the same. Made from plastic, it’s lightweight and comfortable to hold, but you need two hands to push down the lockable trigger.

Buy the Wilko 8 Pattern Spray Gun from Wilko

Our rating: 4 out of 5

Pros:

• Simple, light and comfortable to hold
• Has 8 spray patterns
• Has good pressure

Cons:

• Needs two hands to lock the trigger which is engaged by a ring on the top
• Doesn’t feel very durable thanks to the light plastic finish
• No adjustable flow option

This BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Best Buy winner for best budget spray gun is light and comfortable. It's a simple spray gun with eight, easy to change patterns – shower, soaker, mist, angle, full, cone, flat and centre – so it covers all gardening and household needs and there are no leaks. The trigger lock is a ring on the top of the handle and needs two hands to flick into place, which is not ideal, and the adjustable flow is a fiddly little switch that takes ages to wind up or down, making it fairly ineffectual. For general spraying and watering, though, this is an easy-to-use spray gun for less than a tenner. It comes with a one-year warranty.

Read the full review: XHose 8 Speed Spray Nozzle review

The best of the rest

Although some models didn’t quite achieve a BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Best Buy award, they still have great features that make them worth recommending. Browse our pick of the best of the rest on test.

RRP: £19.99

Our rating: 4/5

Pros:

• Lightweight
• Mixes air and water for extra-soft, water-saving flow
• Useful hook for hanging

Cons:

• Handle rubs on hands uncomfortably
• Awkward to reach flow lever with smaller hands
• Dribbles when using some spray patterns

The Flopro Softflo Advanced Gun has four functions –a container-watering shower, gentle enough for delicate plants, a car-washing setting, ideal for watering borders, a softer, aerated bubble-flow and a jet for filling watering cans, even cleaning. The jet is very strong, so while it can’t match a pressure washer, it got some dirt up off paving slabs. The best feature is the bubble flow, which mixes air and water so it's better for the environment, reduces your water bill and is softer on plants. We love the roll-lever thumb switch, too, which allows you to further control the amount of water use. This spray gun is lightweight, but the ridges on the handle rub on hands uncomfortably, and although the hook is useful, it gets in the way when you’re watering. We also found it inconvenient that the functions are labelled with unclear diagrams rather than words, and it drips, so it wastes water. Other guns, like the Wilko 8 pattern and Spear and Jackson 9 pattern also have more functions. It comes with a one-year warranty.

RRP: £24.49

Our rating: 4/5

• Buy now from Argos (£20).

Pros:

• Lockable trigger
• Five spray patterns
• Adjustable-flow trigger
• Soft-touch grip

Cons:

• Dribbles whilst using
• Made from plastic

This spray gun is ideal if you have mobility issues thanks to a soft-touch grip and lockable trigger, which make it easy to squeeze and comfortable if you’re watering a large area. However, it’s made entirely from plastic and feels a bit flimsy compared to the more robust Wilko 8 Pattern and Flopro Softflo Advanced Gun, which are also plastic. We like the simplicity of the roll-lever flow control, which you can easily reach with your thumb while using the spray gun, and it features five spray patterns. However, it did dribble on test, but comes with a one-year warranty should it need to be replaced.

Buy the Hozelock Multi Spray Soft Touch from Argos

RRP: £11.50

Our rating: 3.75/5

• Buy now from Tool Stop (£8.86) and FFX (£11.50).

Pros

• Eight spray patterns
• Brass connector
• Low RRP

Cons

• Stiff to move between different spray patterns
• Heavy
• Black handle gets hot in the sun

This gun offers eight different spray patterns, from gentle mist to jet. The best of these sprays is the mist, which makes tiny droplets that are perfect for gently watering cuttings and seedlings and keeping tropical plants humid. We also love the shower pattern, which, like the Spear & Jackson Kew Gardens Collection Multi Function Spray Gun, is powerful enough to reach the back of flower beds. It features a high-quality brass connector, which feels smooth to connect and the thumb-switch works well. It means this gun can be used with one hand so you can choose exactly how strong you want the flow. It’s also great value with a relatively low RRP of £11.50. It was initially stiff to move between the different spray patterns, but this eased up with use and while the ergonomic grip is a nice idea it can be tricky to adjust your grip if needed. The brass connector means it’s quite heavy, and the black handle gets hot in the sun.

Buy the Draper 8 Pattern Spray Gun from Tool Stop and FFX

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Pros:

• Good trigger switch
• Easy adjustable flow
• Two-year warranty

Cons:

• Plastic and chunky in the hand
• Hard to tell the difference between the four sprays
• Slow and stiff to change spray patterns
• Expensive for what you get

This gun is simple, with just four spray patterns. It's expensive for what you get. The trigger lock is easy to click on and off and the adjustable flow is accurate and easy to change, although you do need to use another hand. There are four different spray patterns – shower, concentrated, fan and mist and these are adjusted by rotating the whole head. In reality this is stiff and slow to turn and it is difficult to tell the difference between the four separate sprays. You also need to scroll back to the beginning to find each one.

Read the full review: Claber Multijet Pistol review

How we tested hose spray guns

We tested a range of different hose spray guns, offering a variety of sprays. Each gun was unpacked, attached to a hose and then used to water different plants in a number of locations,including plants in pots and containers as well as borders. They were assessed according to the following criteria with equal marks attributed to each:

• Ease of use. Looked at how comfortable the gun was to hold, the position of the trigger lock and adjustable flow and how easy it was to switch between sprays.
• Performance. Examined the number of spray patterns and the difference between the jets. We also considered the power and reach of spray, the consistency of water flow and whether there were any leaks, trickles or drips.
• Eco considerations. Assessed the hose spray gun according to any eco plus points, including how leak proof it was, could you control the water pressure, did it have an aerated flow, was it made from any recycled materials and would it last.
• Value for money. Considered all of the above as well as the quality of the design and materials, the length of warranty and the price.

For more information on our testing process see How we review.

This review was last updated in July 2022. . We apologise if anything has changed in price or availability.