my husband hates our grohe faucet b/c the noise bothers him so much. He also thinks it's not a great faucet for the price (we have to seat it ourselves, he prefers the ones with magnets and it unseats itself quite quickly and he thinks it really does seem cheap)

I have a KWC pullout faucet and I love the metal hose. With the sound of the water running, I do not even notice the noise of the ribs on the hose. It feels sturdier and more maneuverable than the nylon hoses I have used in the past. And I never have to worry about kinking the line. The only time I have an issue with the hose is when it gets hooked on something in my (very cluttered/disorganized) sink cabinet. But because it is metal, I don't worry much about breaking the hose when I yank it loose. (I probably shouldn't do that though. The smart thing to do would probably be to open the cabinet and organize things.) Rather than a magnet to hold the faucet head in place, the KWC has a weight that you position on the hose at the lowest point of the loop. It is heavy enough to assist with sliding the faucet back into place, but is not so heavy that it pulls the faucet while in use.

I love the stainless steel. I refuse to have plastic. Too many anecdotes about the plastic rotting away and fouling the water.

The Grohe is noisy not because of the stainless steel hose but because of the spring that surrounds it.

Mine is only noisy when it gets hung up on some junk in the cabinet.

Keep in mind that unless it's actually hooked up to water in the store, it's probably not mounted as well as it'll be in your home. I think many pullout sales have been lost because the stores didn't (for example) put the weights on the hoses.

Metal is defintely better. Replaced one with metal and put in one with woven. (The old one had started to look a bit rough after 9 years) KINKS!!! The noise didn't bother me much. I never really noticed the noise. Regretted the woven after I started using it. I never concidered the difference until after.

I have a pull-down with a braided nylon (?) - non-metal- hose. It's been installed since August and I haven't had any issues with it - it's a Delta Arabella with the magnetic head. Previously I had a Delta pull-out with the metal hose - constantly had to tug on it to pull it out.

Helene

Mine is metal (KWC). I just pulled it a few times to see if it was obnoxius. Not at all. I think I'm probably more concerned about plastic in water so I'm OK with it.

Should clarify that my woven hose is metal. MGS.

I have been fondling faucets lately, and I have to say that the metal hoses on the KWC faucets are not at all obnoxious.

I made my choice - the new Grohe Ladylux3 was my first choice, but since it didn't have the locking spray feature, I didn't go with it. I did talk to Grohe though about the hose, the guy I spoke to said they are working on changing it from the braided metal one they currently use....maybe a Grohe faucet will be in my future :)

I have the Grohe Bridgeford. I hadn't really noticed the metal hose until you mentioned it. It does not bother me. Once and a while the wieght hangs up on something under the cabinet, but for the majority of the time, it easily pulls the faucet back into its seated position.

I have the Moen Aberdeen pullout with a metal hose and rather like the quiet slinketty-slink sound it makes. :-)

Wouldn't the metal just be a covering on a rubber hose? I wouldn't think the hose would be flexible enough if it was made of metal all the way through?

Same with the woven coverings - Rubber underneath?

Yeah, 3Bs. I assume they are all plastic or rubber inside. Silicon? Yeah, a non-metal flexible synthetic.

I also have the Moen Aberdeen pullout faucet and I had to go pull it out to see if it even made a noise. Funny how I never even noticed it before and I am very sensitive to noises that bug me. I guess because I pull it such a short distance, use it, and put it back that I don't even notice it. It's not like I'm repetitively pulling it in and out.

Additionally, the water is usually running when I pull it out so that probably drowns out some of the sound.

So No, it does not bother me at all.

Circuspeanut, I like your description of it.

So, if they are all silicon or rubber covered in something else, is the plastic leeching a concern? What about the supply lines to the faucet, what are they made of?

I have a Kohler Promaster with a woven metal hose. I love the action of the hose and the noise it makes--very solid--not slinkety-slink, more like slooze.

I've had mine for years and don't find the noise bothersome at all. It doesn't even register.

I'm reassured to read that the metal hose noise bothers other people too! It does bother me, quite a bit. I eliminated the Grohe Bridgeford because of it, which otherwise from everything I could tell quality/price point/ style/ergonomically is a really nice faucet.

Actually, we really fell in love with some ($$) Kallista faucets largely because their pull downs were so smooth and quiet.

THE METAL HOSES ON FAUCETS ARE ONLY HOUSING FOR NSF RATED PLASTIC HOSING UNDERNEATH!