I made my own hay steamer out of a Rubbermaid tub, pvc pipe and a wallpaper steamer. I got the idea from an archived thread on this forum. Is there anyone else who has made one, and if so how did you clean it? I wipe out the bin and remove loose hay, but recently I have been wondering about the steamer. It looks like there is some build up in the steamer itself, but it doesn’t come apart. I was thinking maybe vinegar as I have used that to clean my humidifier at home… Thoughts? Does anyone else have experience with this?
Can you contact the manufacturer of the steamer via their web site and ask?
If you have hard water you may need to use distilled or filtered water to avoid mineral buildup. Not sure how to remove that if it is inside the wall paper steamer.
If you no longer have the original box and directions can you go to the store you bought the steamer from and read the directions on/in a new streamer’s box?
If you go the vinegar route, can you use (filtered) apple cider vinegar? most horses love the flavor of it.
I second the idea of talking to the manufacturer. Don’t mention horses or hay, just ask about mineral buildup and how to safely remove it from the steamer. We have hard water and we need to clean our stock tank heaters at least once each winter or they will burn out prematurely. We used to use vinegar but have switched to a stronger and faster working product which is sold to run through milk pipelines at dairies to clear buildup (called milkstone, but it is just a calcium deposit similar to hard water problems). The product is phosphoric acid, sold locally as milkstone remover and acid rinse. We buy it where dairy farm supplies are sold. We use it in our coffee maker as well as to clean the stock tank heaters. Since it is made to come in contact with milk and the regulations about handling milk are quite strict, we feel it is reasonably safe to be in contact with humans and horses.
[QUOTE=Robin@DHH;9034427]
I second the idea of talking to the manufacturer. Don’t mention horses or hay, just ask about mineral buildup and how to safely remove it from the steamer. We have hard water and we need to clean our stock tank heaters at least once each winter or they will burn out prematurely. We used to use vinegar but have switched to a stronger and faster working product which is sold to run through milk pipelines at dairies to clear buildup (called milkstone, but it is just a calcium deposit similar to hard water problems). The product is phosphoric acid, sold locally as milkstone remover and acid rinse. We buy it where dairy farm supplies are sold. We use it in our coffee maker as well as to clean the stock tank heaters. Since it is made to come in contact with milk and the regulations about handling milk are quite strict, we feel it is reasonably safe to be in contact with humans and horses.[/QUOTE]
Cool, is it safe for the heating element inside the steamer?
Ohhh I really like the apple cider vinegar idea. I think I still have the original paperwork from the steamer, I’ll have to see if it had any instructions for cleaning. Obviously as a wallpaper steamer they probably weren’t expecting you to use it 2 hours/day. ??
[QUOTE=minidriver;9034940]
Ohhh I really like the apple cider vinegar idea. I think I still have the original paperwork from the steamer, I’ll have to see if it had any instructions for cleaning. Obviously as a wallpaper steamer they probably weren’t expecting you to use it 2 hours/day. ??[/QUOTE]
You have never stripped wall paper from an old victorian house.
In terms of phosphoric acid being safe for heating elements, I did mention we used this for our coffee maker, a typical Mr. Coffee type drip machine. Never had any problems damaging the machine. I do follow the cleaning with a rinse with baking soda to be sure we have a non-acid environment after cleaning.
Thank you everyone for the great suggestions! I’m going to pick up some apple cider vinegar this week. I’ll report back with results
Thanks for the post, DH just built me a steamer as well. I’ve used it twice so far but this is good to consider.
