I have tried to keep my 5 star pad clean using the spongy thing that came with it but this last winter shed has it full of hair. Any other suggestions to get the hair out or should I try a pad liner? I don’t want all of the prickly shed out hairs that are stuck in the pad irritating my horse when I ride.
I use a rubber curry and a Shop-Vac to clean. A liner is handy during shedding though.
I use a curry comb or a shedding blade.
I use a rubber curry most days to remove some of the hair. I found their sponge thing to be worthless.
Once or twice a year, I use gentle detergent and pressure wash it. I know the company does not recommend that, but I have been doing it for many years with no problems. They wash up as good as new! I currently have 5 pads and you can’t tell which one is the oldest one ( 7 years of almost every day use).
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Take it to the do-it-yourself carwash. If you’re squeamish, don’t put the suds on it and just use the “rinse” setting. That’ll get loads of dirt and hair off of it. Then hang it someplace to dry.
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I did this all the time before we bought our own pressure washer to have at home.
The car mat holders usually work well to hold a saddle pad!
Do you pressure wash from outside, so not to push dirt through the pad, or does it matter? I have been using the Tiger Tongue sponge (not the rubber one they give you) and it has worked through shedding season…
I focus on the underside, as that is where most of the dirt/hair is, but I also rinse the top.
My method is to wash one side of the underside at a time with the pad laying on the concrete of my driveway (just so I’m not bending the whole pad flat at one time). When I get it pretty clean, then I put it on a saddle stand to rinse the top side, then flip to rinse the bottom side again, and then flip again to rinse one last time and let it dry.
Since I do use soap, I rinse a lot to make sure I get all the soap out. It’s never pushed dirt through the pad - just water and soap.
Then when it’s dry, I use some leather conditioner on the wear leathers, and it’s good to go!
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