I don't know how 'special' they are since I see them all the time at HD and Lowes. They have SS braiding around the hose. yes, they are supposed to last longer that a standard rubber hose.

As to a DW, I used copper pipe on mine, not a hose. If I were to use a hose, then yes, I would used 'reinforced'.

be careful - the braided lines sold at the deopt and lowes ARE NOT stainless steel. They are a plastic made to look like stainless. This may vary from region to region though.

This is a subject close to my heart!

Failure of washer water supply hoses is a very common occurrence. It is bad no matter what, but catastrophic in a home like our lake house that is unoccupied for long stretches of time. I know of two families who had just that happen:one couple owns a building containing 7 townhouse-style condos. One of the condos had a hose rupture and they just finished replacing all the flooring in all seven units!

Furthermore, the braided stainless steel hoses are NOT a better option--even the ones that are truly made from SS. I am a big believer in FloodChek hoses. These are very popular with laundromats and condominiums, for obvious reasons. The website link below explains why the SS braided hoses are not what they seem to be--indeed, they may actually be worse than the cheapo hoses most of us use.

We've placed FloodChek hoses in both homes and are glad we did. Now, if I could also failure-proof the water heaters and the dishwasher supply hoses...(yes, I know, a water sensor with automatic shutoff valve would be the sensible solution but just can't seem to find the time or money to install).

Here is a link that might be useful: FloodChek Washer Hoses

I have been selling some of my customers the aqua-stop hoses from Bosch. These hoses are a hose with-in a hose and have a water cut off feature that engages if a hose ruptures. They don't require any electrical connections and are a straight one for one replacement for a washers regular hoses.
The hot and cold water hoses is Bosch part number 646220 and 646221.
Most of them I sell go to condo owners and customers with second floor laundry's.
If you go to the Bosch parts website you can put in model WFMC8440 and find the hoses used on this model.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bosch Parts website

A better and free solution is to just turn off the valve. This will take the hose out of the equation. This would be the easy for a vacation home, but might prove to be annoying for an everyday residence,

Years ago, a friend helped me replace our aging washer hose, then her washer hose burst one week later. She had to clean a major mess & replace carpeting.

One thing we had done during construction of our new (current) house: install a drain in the floor of the laundry room. This works no matter what floor the laundry is located.

jakvis: cool product. I couldn't get to it using your link--the WFMC8440 code is for the Nexxt washer, which lists the AquaStop feature, which sounds like more than just the hoses (it mentions that the machine will pump out water if leak is detected). Couldn't find a link to the actual hoses.

antss: the huge flaw in that system is that it relies on my memory to turn the water off. Clearly the weak link in that system!

gizmonike: also a nice idea, though for an unoccupied house it still doesn't eliminate the multi-thousand dollar water bill when the water's been gushing for three or four weeks!

I have a single up/down valve for both the hot and cold water right above the washer. Push it down to turn the water on - up to shut it off after the wash. It just becomes a habit when doing a wash.

clinres - "operator error" is most often the cause of failure.

antss: my DW reminds me of that daily.

clinresga,
The Aqua-Stop hoses that are used on the WFMC8400 are 1 part of a 2 part system that Bosch uses. The second part is internal to the washer that turns on the drain pump if it senses a leak.
The hoses work completely independant of the washer internal system. If the hose bursts it activates a mechanism in the hose to shut the water off where the hose connects to the tap. No wires are needed, the system is completely self contained. I'll look to see if I still have a picture of the internal part and try to post it.

Does Floodchek also offer hoses for dishwashers, refrig ice makers and commodes?

To the best of my knowledge, no. They don't have a full website but the pageholder only refers to washer hoses (and appears to claim to not know of any failure after 20 years in business).

Agree dishwasher hoses are a concern, and I never have like the thin little plastic hose that many icemakers require but I don't know of alternatives. Maybe post on the plumbing forum? Commode supply hoses are usually metal and not that subject to failure, I'd guess.