I use soaker hoses religiously. Some from the Home Depot and some from
Sears. You gotta love Sears' 100% replacement warranty. Seems the hoses
from the Depot emit about 50% more water and therefore cannot be
coupled with the Sears brand.

The water here is relatively mineral free and salt free so the hoses
tend to last about 3-4 years under the mulch without any signifigant
clogging issues... but all municipal water systems sometimes convey a
bit of agitated sediment.

Usually in the Spring I'll remove any hose which doesn't seem to be
peforming well and coil it up into a a large "whiskey barrel liner"
type container, fill the hose and container with water and leave it in
the sun for a day.

In the evening or next day, I drag the hose around a 4 x 4 post to jog
any debris out if their niches or pores, and flush with clean water
from a hose.

Remember a soaker hose is just one very long, narrow filter.