Rubber or stainless steel steam hose, and where PTFE fits between them
We supply all three, so we have no reason to push one. Each is the right answer for a different kind of steam point, and each fails in its own way when it is put on the wrong one.
Flexihose rubber steam hose: one wire braid 145 PSI / 10 BAR, −40 °C to +195 °C, 1/2" to 2" · two wire braid 250 PSI / 17 BAR, −40 °C to +232 °C, 1/2" to 1-1/4" · EPDM tube and cover · brass-coated steel wire braid
Quick answer
Rubber wire-braid steam hose suits steam points that people handle, move and reconnect, up to 17 bar and +232 °C in bores to 2 inches. Stainless steel corrugated hose suits fixed metal-to-metal connections and bores up to 150 mm, provided torsion is kept out and its pressure is checked at the steam temperature. PTFE hose covers the band above +232 °C, up to +260 °C, and steam carrying aggressive chemicals.
When a plant engineer asks us whether stainless steel steam hose is better than rubber, the honest reply is that it depends on what the hose has to do. We manufacture rubber wire-braid steam hose at Bhiwadi and also supply stainless steel flexible hose and PTFE hose, so the comparison below has no favourite. Each of the three has a pressure, temperature and bore range we can print, and each has a way of failing that its spec sheet does not show. This guide covers the three side by side, when rubber is the better choice, when stainless steel is the better choice, and where PTFE fits on a steam line.
Rubber, stainless steel and PTFE steam hose side by side
Every figure in the table is from our 2026-2027 catalogue. Where the catalogue does not print a value, the table says so rather than filling the gap with a typical number from somewhere else.
Three hose families for steam, on the same columns.
| Hose | Construction | Working pressure | Service temperature | Bore | Standard cited |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rubber, one wire braid | EPDM tube, brass-coated steel wire braid, EPDM cover | 145 PSI / 10 BAR at every bore; minimum burst 1450 PSI / 100 BAR | −40 °C to +195 °C | 1/2" to 2", 6 sizes | Exceeds IS 10655 Type 2 |
| Rubber, two wire braid | As above, with two braids | 250 PSI / 17 BAR at every bore; minimum burst 2500 PSI / 170 BAR | −40 °C to +232 °C | 1/2" to 1-1/4", 4 sizes | Exceeds IS 10655 Type 3 |
| Stainless steel flexible hose | Annular corrugated AISI 304, 321 or 316L | Falls with size: 110 BAR at 6 mm to 10 BAR at 150 mm | Not printed in the catalogue; confirmed against your duty | 6 to 150 mm | EN ISO 10380 |
| PTFE hose | PTFE liner | Falls with size: 250 BAR at 1/8" to 30 BAR at 2" | −65 °C to +260 °C | 1/8" to 2" | None cited in the catalogue |
Source: FLEXI HOSE Product Catalogue 2026-2027. The rubber grades exceed IS 10655 rather than conform to it, and neither holds a BIS licence. Our full rubber specification, with mean outside diameters, is on the steam hose page linked below.
Three things stand out once the rows sit together. Rubber holds one pressure across every bore, so a 2" one-braid hose is rated exactly as a 1/2" one. Stainless steel and PTFE fall with size, so their rating has to be read at your bore. And rubber is the only family here whose temperature ceiling and burst figure we can both print for every size.
Published service temperature range for each family. Stainless steel has no bar because the catalogue prints no range for it.
Ranges from the FLEXI HOSE Product Catalogue 2026-2027. Bar lengths are to scale on a common temperature axis.
1. Pressure margin is published differently
Our rubber grades print a minimum burst ten times the working pressure: 10 BAR working against 100 BAR burst on the one-braid grade. Metal hose makers work to a different convention. Hansa-Flex, for example, designs its metallic hose lines to burst at four times the nominal pressure, and states that the nominal pressure applies at 20 °C under static load (Hansa-Flex, Technical Information: Metal hoses, 10/2015). Neither convention is wrong, but a buyer comparing two working pressures should know they rest on different margins.
2. Stainless steel ratings shrink with heat and vibration
The same Hansa-Flex document publishes reduction factors that multiply a metal hose’s 20 °C rating. At 200 °C the factor is 0.60 for material 1.4301 (AISI 304), 0.61 for 1.4404 (316L) and 0.74 for 1.4541 (321). A separate dynamic factor falls to 0.40 for steady flow with significant vibration and continuous movement. Our catalogue prints stainless steel pressures without a temperature, which is why we confirm the rating at your steam temperature before quoting rather than letting the printed figure stand.
Share of a stainless steel metal hose’s 20 °C pressure rating left at steam temperatures, by material.
Thermal reduction factors kt from Hansa-Flex, Technical Information: Metal hoses (10/2015), table 3.2. One manufacturer’s published factors, shown to illustrate the size of the effect; your supplier’s own factors apply to its hose.
3. Choosing by duty, not by material
The table below is how we sort enquiries in practice. It starts from what the hose has to do, because two steam points at the same pressure can need different hose.
Common steam duties and the family we would put on each.
| Duty at the hose | Rubber | Stainless steel | PTFE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hand-held lance, cleaning or thawing point, moved every shift | First choice | Twists in use | Rarely needed |
| Fixed flanged connection on equipment that grows with heat | Possible | First choice | Possible |
| Bore above 2" | Not made | To 150 mm | Not catalogued |
| Temperature above +232 °C, up to +260 °C | Outside range | Confirm rating | First choice |
| Steam alternating with cold water in short cycles | Ask us | Ask us | Ask us |
| Hot oil or thermal fluid | Never | Ask us | Ask us |
Ranges from the FLEXI HOSE Product Catalogue 2026-2027. Torsion and vibration limits for metal hose: Hansa-Flex, Technical Information: Metal hoses. Steam and water cycling: Aflex Hose, Special usage conditions, smoothbore PTFE hose.
For the rubber rows, the full specification of both grades, with mean outside diameters for coupling selection, is on our steam hose page.
When rubber steam hose is the better choice
Rubber wins wherever people pick the hose up. The industries we supply use steam hose at exactly those points: steam lancing, tracing and thawing in refineries, deck and dock services in shipyards, vessel cleaning and jacket heating in chemical plants, and steam around hot mills and casting lines.
1. The hose is handled, dragged or repositioned
A lance or cleaning hose is twisted, pulled and laid down in a different place every shift. That is the duty metal hose handles worst: Hansa-Flex calls a hose twisting in operation the greatest installation mistake and says torsional movement leads to early failure. A wire-braid rubber hose is built to be moved, and its EPDM cover resists the heat, ageing and ozone it meets on the plant floor.
2. The duty sits inside 17 bar and +232 °C
The one-braid grade covers 145 PSI / 10 BAR and +195 °C from 1/2" to 2". The two-braid grade covers 250 PSI / 17 BAR and +232 °C up to 1-1/4". If your temperature reading is above +195 °C on a line well under 10 bar, the steam is probably superheated, and our guide to saturated and superheated steam works through which grade that calls for.
3. You want one pressure for every size and a printed burst figure
Because rubber holds its rating across bores, a plant can stock one grade in several sizes without a rating table for each. Every length carries a published minimum burst ten times the working pressure, and test certificates are supplied with every consignment.
Rubber steam hose still has hard limits. It is not for hot oil or thermal fluid, which attack EPDM. It is not a food or pharma grade. It needs interlocking or crimped couplings that grip the wire, not worm-drive clamps on barbed tails, which loosen with heat cycling. And it is not a replacement for fixed steam piping.
When stainless steel flexible hose is the better choice
Stainless steel corrugated hose earns its place on connections that stay where they are installed. It is a metal hose to EN ISO 10380, in AISI 304, 321 or 316L, and our stainless steel flexible hose range runs from 6 mm to 150 mm.
1. The bore is above 2"
We do not make rubber steam hose above 2", and the two-braid grade stops at 1-1/4". Stainless steel hose continues to 150 mm, which makes it the practical flexible connection on larger steam lines.
2. The connection is fixed, metal to metal, and moves only with heat
A flanged or threaded connection between a pipe and a piece of equipment that grows as it heats is the textbook use. Installed correctly it absorbs that movement. Hansa-Flex’s guidance is to take axial expansion with the hose laid as a U-bend, never straight, because braided hose is not suited to compensating axial expansion and compression can separate the braid from the hose.
3. Pressure is high in a small bore
At 6 mm our stainless steel hose is catalogued at 110 BAR, far above either rubber grade. As the bore rises the rating falls, to 10 BAR at 150 mm, and the figure then has to be confirmed at your steam temperature.
Stainless steel hose asks for more care at installation than rubber. The Hansa-Flex instructions set out the main rules, and they apply to any corrugated metal hose we supply:
- No torsion. Keep the pipe axis, hose axis and direction of movement in one plane, and hold the hose with a second spanner while tightening the fitting.
- No axial load. Neither stretch nor compress the hose along its length.
- Enough length. Add a straight length of at least one nominal diameter at each connection, or the hose kinks at the ends.
- No repairs. Leaks on the hose or at the connections must not be fixed by welding or wrapping; replace the assembly.
- Touch protection. Metal conducts heat well, so a hot metal hose is a burn risk and needs guarding or warning notices.
Where PTFE hose fits on a steam line
PTFE is the narrowest of the three on a steam plant, and the most useful when it is needed. Our PTFE hose is catalogued from −65 °C to +260 °C, with working pressure falling from 250 BAR at 1/8" to 30 BAR at 2".
- TemperatureAbove +232 °CCatalogued to +260 °CWhere we publish no rubber grade.
- ChemistrySteam with chemicalsInert PTFE linerCleaning or process duties where the steam carries aggressive media.
- PressureSmall bores, high pressure250 BAR at 1/8" to 30 BAR at 2"Read the rating at your bore.
- CautionSteam and water cyclingAll hose types sufferTalk to us before ordering any hose for this duty.
Ranges from the FLEXI HOSE Product Catalogue 2026-2027. Cycling caution: Aflex Hose, Special usage conditions, smoothbore PTFE hose.
1. Above the rubber ceiling
Between +232 °C and +260 °C, PTFE is the hose we catalogue. That band is most often reached by superheated steam, where the temperature can sit well above the saturation point for the line pressure.
2. Where the steam carries something aggressive
The PTFE liner is chemically inert to most media, which suits steam used alongside cleaning chemicals or process fluids that would attack a rubber tube. Aflex Hose does list exceptions, including chlorine, bromine and some heavily halogenated chemicals that can diffuse through a PTFE liner, so the full medium needs to be on the enquiry.
3. Not as a cure for steam and water cycling
Some duties alternate steam and cold water, such as heating and then rapidly cooling a mould. Aflex Hose warns that this cycling between gas and liquid is extremely damaging to a hose liner of any material, and that PTFE lined hoses fail rapidly there like every other type. Choosing PTFE does not solve that duty; it needs a conversation about the cycle first.
One more point for refineries and chemical plants: Hansa-Flex notes that PTFE hoses need electrically conductive materials and proper earthing where there is a risk of electrostatic discharge. Tell us if the hose will run in a classified area. For a wider view of the hose families, including the appliance tubes that share the name, see our guide to the types of steam hose.
Match the steam hose to the duty first, then to the bore
Rubber is the steam hose for points people move. Stainless steel is the hose for fixed metal connections and large bores, if torsion is kept out and its rating is checked hot. PTFE takes over above +232 °C and where the steam carries chemicals. Send us the duty, the pressure and temperature at the hose, the bore and the ends, and we will tell you which of the three fits, or that none does. That is how we work at Flexihose.
FAQ
Is a stainless steel hose better?
Not universally. Stainless steel corrugated hose to EN ISO 10380 suits metal connections and bores up to 150 mm, but its pressure rating falls as the bore rises. Rubber steam hose covers 1/2 to 2 inch at 10 bar, or up to 1-1/4 inch at 17 bar. The duty decides which lasts longer.
Which is better, rubber or stainless steel hose?
Each wins on a different duty. Stainless steel hose loses rating as it heats: Hansa-Flex gives a reduction factor of 0.60 for grade 1.4301 at 200 °C, applied to a nominal pressure quoted at 20 °C. Our rubber steam hose is rated at its full working pressure across its published temperature band.
What are the three types of flexible hose?
On a steam line, flexible hose comes in three material families: reinforced rubber, corrugated metal, and fluoropolymer such as PTFE. Rubber covers most plant duties to 2 inch. Corrugated stainless steel takes larger bores and metal-to-metal connections. PTFE carries the widest temperature band and resists aggressive chemicals.
Is an EPDM hose flexible?
Yes. EPDM is an elastomer, so the wall bends and recovers, and our steam hose keeps that flexibility from minus 40 °C upward. The steel wire braid adds stiffness, so every reinforced hose has a minimum bend radius. We do not publish one for our grades; ask us before routing a tight bend.
What is the lifespan of a hose?
No fixed figure applies. Life depends on pressure, temperature, heat cycles, handling and storage. Hansa-Flex advises setting inspection intervals for metal hose from the load and the degree of danger. For rubber steam hose we advise the same approach: set the interval from your duty and hold to it.
Have a question this guide didn't answer?
Send us your bore size, pressure and application and we'll recommend the right hose.