Silicone hose is the specialist’s hose: it does things no rubber can — and fails at things rubber does easily. It runs from −60 °C to +200 °C, stays physiologically inert, adds no taste or odour to food, and shrugs off ozone and UV that crack most elastomers in months. It also swells in mineral oil, tears more easily than EPDM, and costs more.
Understanding silicone hose means understanding two things: the curing system that defines its grade, and the applications where its unique property set actually wins. This guide covers both.
What Makes Silicone Different
Silicone is not a rubber in the hydrocarbon sense — its backbone is alternating silicon and oxygen atoms, with organic groups attached. That chemistry delivers a property set no carbon-chain elastomer matches:
- Temperature window: −60 °C to +200 °C continuous (peaks to +230 °C in short service), without the stiffening that kills natural rubber in cold or the degradation that softens EPDM in sustained heat
- Physiological inertness: non-toxic, non-allergenic, no plasticizers to leach
- Taste and odour neutrality: transfers nothing to food or beverage
- Ozone, UV and weather resistance: silicone outlasts most elastomers outdoors by years
- Flexibility retention: stays flexible across the entire temperature window
- Non-stick surface: release properties that make cleaning genuinely easy
The Curing System: Platinum vs Peroxide
This is the single most important specification decision in silicone hose, because it defines what the hose is certified for.
Platinum-cured (addition cure)
Cured with a platinum catalyst — the purest silicone. No cure by-products are left behind, so the material meets the strictest extractables and biocompatibility requirements.
- Certifications: FDA 21 CFR 177.2600, USP Class VI, 3-A Sanitary Standards, BfR XV (German food standard)
- Use: food and beverage transfer, pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, drinking water, cosmetic production
- Cost: the premium grade — justified wherever product purity is regulated
Peroxide-cured
Cured with organic peroxides, which leave trace cure by-products (which is why peroxide-cured silicone sometimes has a faint smell in new hose, and why its extractables profile is weaker).
- Certifications: food-contact grades exist, but pharma-grade USP Class VI is typically platinum-cured territory
- Use: industrial, automotive, general food service, appliances — applications where cost matters and the strictest purity certificates are not required
The rule: if the hose touches food, beverage, pharma or biotech product — specify platinum-cured. If it is an industrial or automotive application — peroxide-cured silicone usually delivers the same temperature performance for less.
Reinforced Constructions
Unreinforced silicone is soft and flexible — ideal for peristaltic pumps and laboratory transfer — but it cannot hold pressure or vacuum on its own. Reinforcement adds the structure:
| Construction | Reinforcement | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Unreinforced | — | Peristaltic pump tube, lab transfer, low-pressure gravity |
| Textile braid (polyester) | Single or double braid | Food transfer, wash-down, general pressure duty |
| Wire helix | Internal/external spiral | Vacuum service, suction lines, kink resistance |
| Fibreglass braid | Heat-resistant braid | High-heat applications, oven and engine environments |
| Full wrapped | Multi-layer wrap | Highest pressure silicone assemblies |
The cover compound also varies — food-grade covers resist cleaning chemicals; automotive-grade covers are built for oil splash and under-hood heat.
Silicone vs the Alternatives
| Property | Silicone | EPDM | PTFE-lined |
|---|---|---|---|
| Temperature range | −60 to +200 °C | −40 to +120 °C (150 °C peak) | −60 to +200 °C (260 °C peak) |
| Mineral oil resistance | Poor (swells) | Poor–moderate | Excellent |
| Acids/chemicals | Moderate | Moderate–good | Excellent |
| Food/pharma certification | FDA, USP VI, 3-A | FDA grades exist | FDA, USP VI |
| Flexibility | Excellent | Good | Moderate |
| Taste/odour neutrality | Excellent | Good | Excellent |
| Abrasion/tear resistance | Moderate | Good | Good |
| Relative cost | High | Low–moderate | Highest |
Where silicone wins: food and pharma purity duty, wide-temperature applications, high-heat environments, and any process where a hose must not contaminate what flows through it.
Where silicone loses: mineral oil and hydrocarbon service (it swells — specify NBR or CSM instead), high-pressure hydraulic duty, and heavy abrasion.
Silicone vs PTFE-lined: for the most aggressive chemicals, PTFE-lined wins on chemical resistance; silicone wins on flexibility, kink resistance and price. For hot aggressive media where both are needed, hybrid constructions (PTFE liner, silicone cover) exist.
Applications by Sector
| Sector | Application | Typical grade |
|---|---|---|
| Food & beverage | Dairy, juice, wine, edible oil transfer | Platinum-cured, FDA/3-A |
| Pharmaceutical | Media transfer, peristaltic pump tube | Platinum-cured, USP Class VI |
| Automotive | Turbocharger, coolant, heater hose | Peroxide-cured, reinforced |
| Medical | Device tubing, fluid handling | Platinum-cured, USP VI |
| Electronics | Ovens, curing lines, heat tunnels | Fibreglass-braided silicone |
| General industry | Compressed air, steam vents, wash-down | Peroxide or platinum, braided |
Selection Checklist
- Grade by contact — food/pharma → platinum-cured + the specific certificate (FDA, USP VI, 3-A). Industrial → peroxide-cured.
- Match the temperature window — confirm both the sustained and peak temperatures against the −60/+200 °C window.
- Confirm media compatibility — especially: is there oil, solvent or hydrocarbon contact? If yes, reconsider silicone.
- Choose the construction — pressure → braided; vacuum → wire helix; heat → fibreglass braid.
- Check the certificates you actually need — ask for the specific standard, batch traceability and the material declaration, not just “food grade” on a datasheet.
Hardness, Wall Thickness and Bore Finish
Beyond the curing system, three dimensional specs define how a silicone hose behaves:
- Hardness (Shore A): 40–50 Shore A is the soft, highly flexible food/pharma standard; 60–70 Shore A suits vacuum duty and higher pressure; 70+ is stiff, dimensional-stable silicone for industrial transfer. Softer = more flexible and better peristaltic performance; harder = better pressure and abrasion resistance.
- Wall thickness: thin walls (1.5–3 mm) maximise flexibility and heat transfer, ideal for peristaltic and laboratory use; thick walls (4–8 mm) add pressure capacity, vacuum resistance and tear resistance for industrial and automotive duty.
- Bore finish: food and pharma hose should specify a smooth, non-porous bore (often ≤ 0.8 μm Ra) so that product does not lodge and bacteria cannot establish a foothold — the bore finish is as much a hygiene spec as a performance spec.
Peristaltic Pump Tubing — a Silicone Specialty
Peristaltic pumps squeeze the tube flat and release it thousands of times per minute — a duty that exploits silicone’s unique combination of flexibility, fatigue resistance and purity:
- Platinum-cured is non-negotiable for pharma/biotech — the tube is the only wetted component in a peristaltic circuit, and USP Class VI certification is the standard
- Shelf life matters — silicone tube hardens with age; stock rotation keeps performance consistent
- Tubing life is duty-dependent — pump speed, occlusion pressure and media chemistry all affect service life; the classic failure is fatigue cracking at the occlusion point, not chemical attack
- Match the tube to the pump — bore and wall thickness must match the pump head’s tubing spec exactly; the wrong size changes flow rate and can overheat the pump
Cleaning and Sterilisation
Silicone’s heat resistance makes it one of the easiest hoses to clean and sterilise:
- CIP (clean-in-place): silicone survives hot caustic and acid cleaning cycles that degrade many elastomers; typical CIP temperatures up to 95 °C are comfortably inside the silicone window
- Steam sterilisation: autoclavable — repeated steam cycles (121–134 °C) are routine for pharma and food duty
- Chemical sanitisers: compatible with the common peracetic acid, hydrogen peroxide and hypochlorite sanitisers at standard concentrations
- Drying: dry thoroughly after cleaning — stored wet silicone can harbour biofilm like any hose
The practical rule: because silicone tolerates aggressive cleaning, the cleaning schedule can be set by process risk rather than by hose degradation — one of its biggest operational advantages over other food hoses.
Silicone Hose FAQ
Q: Is silicone hose safe for drinking water? Platinum-cured silicone with the appropriate certification (e.g. NSF/ANSI 51 or equivalent food-contact approval) is used for drinking water duty. Verify the specific certificate covers potable water contact.
Q: Why does my silicone hose swell in oil? Silicone is not oil-resistant — mineral oils, greases and many solvents swell it. If the media is hydrocarbon-based, specify NBR or CSM instead; if you need silicone’s temperature window AND oil resistance, discuss a fluorosilicone or hybrid construction.
Q: Platinum vs peroxide — how do I tell them apart? The datasheet or the certificate tells you — the two grades are not reliably distinguishable by look or feel. Always specify the cure system in writing for food/pharma duty.
Q: Can silicone hose handle steam? Yes — short steam service up to ~150 °C is feasible and autoclavable grades are standard in food and pharma. Sustained saturated steam at high pressure is better served by EPDM or specialised steam hose.
Q: Do you supply platinum-cured food/pharma silicone hose with certificates? Yes — PureFlow supplies platinum-cured silicone hose and assemblies with FDA and USP Class VI documentation, batch traceability, and the material declaration pack.
The Takeaway
Silicone hose is specified for its property set — temperature window, purity, neutrality — not for its strength or chemical breadth. Choose it for food, pharma and high-heat duty; choose the curing system by what the hose touches; and add reinforcement by the pressure and vacuum the application demands.
If you are selecting silicone hose for a food, pharma or industrial application — send the media, temperature range, pressure and the certificates required — PureFlow will come back with the right grade and construction, factory-direct.
- Silicone Hose — the certified range
- Food Grade Hose Complete Guide — standards and materials in depth
- Food Hose Material Comparison — NBR vs EPDM vs UHMWPE vs silicone vs PTFE
- How to Clean a Food Grade Hose — CIP and wash-down practice