A tip given to me by an old, retiring windowcleaner in my area:
You know when you are winding in your reel hose and you've got loads of hose out at an awkward angle with loads of tension?
Well you can't run it through your hand 'cos it burns like hell, so you grab a cloth only it adds to the tension?
Well, the answer is to clip a climbers karrabiner around the hose and hold that - brilliant and simple.