This can often be a problem affecting your smoking pleasure. If your hose produces ash as you suck through it or if there is a permanent nasty taste (regardless of how much you clean the hookah) then you may need to clean the hoses. Generally hookah hoses will have a rubber or cardboard hose. You can clean both, but the cardboard ones have a very finite life span.

When cleaning it, just run water through the hose in the bathtub. This can be done in a sink, but it’s a little tricky. Run water through it until the water comes out clear. After this, crunch up the hose, or swing it around a little (the goal is to get it flex all around the tube) and repeat this process until you can flex it and rinse it with no dirty water coming out. After this is done, blow through the hose to get rid of some excess water and hang the hoses up to dry. You should notice a dramatic increase in smoke quality after this.