I have recently had the benefit of inheriting a couple blankets. One does have a 4 inch rip. I’m not inclined to drive and pay out to repair this one defect at an equine laundromat. What DIY products or techniques do you use on your rips in turnout blankets? Our horses are not hard on their blankets at all so it doesn’t need to be an impeccable repair.
I have some knowledge/experience in sewing, patching and repairing blankets. If you want a long term solution (more than one year) that will hold up, go with the professional repair service. The “iron on” or “glue on” solutions don’t last IME. If you have access to a heavy duty sewing machine you can repair the blankets yourself.
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I have actually had really good success with the schneiders blanket patches. I first sew up the rip myself with dental floss (stronger than thread) then stick patch on, then “glue” over the patch edges with tent seam sealer that I got at the hardware store. Waterproof, flexible, & have stayed pretty well.
Lining tears I just sew up with normal thread.
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bought a pretty good old heavy duty sewing machine from a pawn shop… $25… had get all the dust off the thing
All it is used for is repair of horse sheets/blankets. But rarely do our horses wear a blanket, its their fly sheets they rip apart
But the old machine will zigzag a Baker Blanket
This is not classy, but it works.
Patch with duct tape. Sew duct tape on with dental floss.
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I use light weight fishing line.
I used a patch and glue for fixing tents from a good outdoor store. Has held up fine
Loctite vinyl-fabric-plastic adhesive glue to hold the edges together, then nylon adhesive fabric patch over that (round the corners to keep the edges down). Not pretty, but a functional repair.
Rambo makes a blanket patching kit:
https://shop.horseware.com/product/rambo-blanketrepair-kit/
They last a long time; I have patches that are 10+ years old that have survived multiple winters and blanket washings that are just this year starting to peel away.
Although in my extreme laziness, last year I used Flex Tape to patch a couple small tears in my old guy’s ancient blanket. I tried duct tape first and it would only last a few days, but the Flex Tape survived the remainder of the winter + a blanket washing and is still going strong this season.
I’ve had good luck with Gorilla tape!
Guys, these are awesome. I love the duct tape and dental floss; I laughed out loud at that one. Very college 😂. I’ll probably go with tent repair. Looks like a happy medium. Thanks all!
I use Gorilla tape and that’s it. I put a piece of gorilla tape on the inside of the rip so that the sticky part is facing up, and make sure to leave a little gap where the sticky side is showing through (so I “offset” the rip a tiny bit so maybe 1/8" of tape is showing) and then stick a piece of gorilla tape on top.
I’ve had much better luck with that than any other method I’ve used…though on that note, I do not have a sewing machine, so can’t compare to a legit fix, lol! But I’ve had my gorilla taped blankets last several more seasons without the gorilla tape getting loose or coming off. And I have a few blankets that are as much gorilla tape as they are fabric. One of my ponies SHREDDED his blanket (well, I say “he shredded it,” but he had the help of several sharky mares, sigh) and I taped the layer against his skin, the layer of fluff on the inside, and the outer layer and we’re on season two with that blanket still working just fine.
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For those who have duct taped and gorilla taped blankets - do the patches hold up to being washed in a washing machine?
I use a sewing awl like this for a lot of repairs such as re-attaching straps: https://www.strapworks.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=AWL&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIy6SBzYHj5QIVC2KGCh1l2QalEAQYBCABEgIqD_D_BwE
I can’t remember if I got it from this site or found one on ebay, but it’s a handy tool!
I’ve never tried using the floss to sew on duct tape, as mentioned above. But duct tape attached using its adhesive alone-- that’s a resounding no to holding up to washing. It usually starts to peel away in days or weeks, depending on the strength of adhesive.
I’ve never tried Gorilla Tape on blankets. (I’m curious to try PNWjumper’s method sometime!)
But, my Flex Tape from Dollar General did hold up to washing in the in the washing machine. :yes:
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Well, full disclosure, I don’t wash blankets. But I do hang them up on a fence and powerwash them once a year. The gorilla tape has held up through that perfectly fine. It’s pretty darn strong when it’s stuck to itself…not so much when you “just” stick it to a blanket.
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Another who uses dental floss. I will have to get some duct tape!
