My horse has an extensive wardrobe. It is a little embarrassing. I can’t stand to leave a muddy blanket on her week after week much less month after month. I also know that to wash a turnout too often reduces its water repellency.
I handle this problem by changing her blanket every few weeks if the ground is muddy. I don’t want to wash any turnout more than twice a season so i have a few in each weight…the 100 being my most oft used this year.I have just started using her second 100 weight for the season. Almost everyone I know uses the same blankets all winter and wash them once a year.
Am I alone in changing every few weeks? I would love to know that I have company.
You are the opposite of me.
I do not ever wash my top-layer blankets (rainsheets, mostly). Once you wash them, they will never be as waterproof as they once were.
I will wash his liners though, once a year or so…
I change out the blankets on my old man every week or so in order to just change where it sits on him a bit.
If a blanket gets truly gross, we hang it on the cross-ties in the wash stall and hit it with warm water from the hose. By morning, it’s dry and ready to use.
I’ll let dry and brush off mud, blankets are professionally washed and rewaterproofed annually.
Mine gets washed in the spring but that’s it. I always keep a top sheet (usually a 600-denier Weatherbeeta that I picked up super cheap - I have quite a few of those) on my mares good turnouts so the good ones never get muddy, etc. If it’s going to be rainy/wet out she’ll wear her Rambo Wug sheets as the top layers (doubled-up as they always leak - four have failed me so far).
But no I don’t wash them like you do - ruins the waterproofing and it gets expensive. That being said I check my mare daily for rubs, etc. and have never had a problem.
I hose them off whenever they get gross, but that’s it.
When I was a new horse owner 20 years ago I changed and washed blankets and sheets often. Now I know better, and honestly don’t give a crap about mud and crap on the blankets and wash once a season.
Nope. I live in the land of mud and rain aka the PNW. Horse usually wears a lightweight rain sheet for a month at the beginning of the fall rains and a month at the end of spring/early summer. In between he wears a medium weight. They get professionally laundered and repaired (and rewaterproofed if needed) in the summer. At present, I have one spare in each weight but try to save them for special occasions.
I do. Can’t stand dirty sheets and blankets. Ugh…that smell! I just use Nikwax products to maintain the waterproofing. I have 2 sets of turnout sheet and stable blanket and probably swap/wash every 3-4 weeks.
You are not alone.
Washed once or twice a year (for lighter weight turnouts/sheets), and once a year for winter turnouts. However, where I lived, mud wasn’t a problem in winter. By the time we had mud, it was too warm for my big winter turnout blankets anyway.
I used to change and wash them often. Now…not so much, but I think it is because they are mostly at home and we try to keep things clean. Mud-free paddocks, horses groomed every day, brush/vac the blankets off as needed, or hose them (blankets) off in the wash rack. I try to only do a full wash once a season, when I get ready to store a blanket. I find they last better that way.
I wash 1x/year at the laundromat at 6 am. I do use Rambo wash to protect the waterproofing (or so the bottle says) but for $12 it lasts forever and it certainly can’t hurt.
We have way too many blankets to be washing them multiple times per year ($7/load, I have six blankets just for my show horse, not sure how many we have for the retired horse and my mother’s horse.)
It all depends, When I lived on the Island we had rain all winter and he had his blanket changed every 2 days. the wet one was hung up to dry. Mud was hosed off and them hung up. Washed once a year after the rain. Here we have snow and cold so don’t have to worry as much. I will change blankets if they are wet from a wet snow. I know he enjoys getting his blanket changed. Wash at the end of the season. This year I didn’t blanket and I won’t unless there is a problem.
Now horses that have a skin condition there blankets get washed every few weeks or so. I like to use sheets for these guys and depending on the condition they have I may not use soap but just vinegar in the water.
My mare in particular is a messy one in her stall, so indoor blankets get switched and cleaned a few times a season. I simply watch the forecast and when we get a mild streak I switch them down a level and wash the heavier ones to be ready for the next cold snap. We have a lot of temperature swings around here.
Outdoor blankets are professionally cleaned and re-waterproofed late spring before going into storage for the summer.
Show Bakers and BOTs are cleaned as needed between shows to keep them looking (and smelling) fabulous.
I store any blanket I’m not using in hockey bags. Waterproof, dust-proof and vermin-proof. They come out of storage as fresh as when they went in.
I wash my blankets only 1x per year and have several to choose from.
But two out of three mares don’t ever roll so I’m lucky 
[QUOTE=BruBoy;9012303]
You are not alone.[/QUOTE]
But I would try to mitigate the PITA and expense of washing by
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Putting a sheet or lighter blanket on underneath the layer that will get muddy. I care most about the cleanliness of the layer that’s next to the horse.
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I keep just two rain sheets in circulation to put over whatever blankets get worn. One might get hosed off and left to dry if it got really muddy, or left to dry and the mud brushed off. In both cases, the alternate sheet is doing it’s job as Mud Armor on the horse.
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I’d like to wash and re-waterproof once per season but historically, I have done that twice per outer layer per season. The beauty of exposing rain sheets to the mud is that its cheaper to wash those in something like Nikwax or Rambo than is a quilted blanket that you have to also wash in those specialty washes.
So much of it depends on your weather as well as your horse’s penchant for mud.
I wash mine when they’re really dirty. Probably ends up being about 3/4 times a winter. I do have a multitude of weights that I swap out according to the weather. Who wants to wear something with frozen mud on it day in and day out? I take my blankets off daily to at least eyeball my horse, you never know what the blanket is hiding under there.
Used to be able to find the cheap waterproofer at WalMart (it was advertised for tents) can’t find that now so it’s a bit more expensive but if I wash and then apply that- I’ve got 7 year old blankets that are just as waterproof as they were when I bought them it seems.
I like to switch out blankets when dirty and I clean them 2 to 3 times per year.
