I’m looking for cost-effective dust-free footing for an indoor. Has anyone done this? Thanks!
Sand and water over a good compacted base.
[QUOTE=airhorse;7696488]
Sand and water over a good compacted base.[/QUOTE]
Lots of water.
I mean the kind of footing that you don’t have to water. Sorry if I wasn’t clear.
Same thing, add magnesium chloride.
Has anyone played around with a sand/oil mix?
I would presume that would become very compacted. Remember oil + gravel makes a road base. Sand would compact even more densely. Because of that I would not consider it. I have seen several indoor arenas with oil added which has made them almost unrideable. Also, I wouldn’t think that would be a very economical consideration, but hey, what do I know of that. Just my guess. However the hard injury producing surface would not be a guess and would not be a condsideration for me.
No, it doesn’t compact. The oil is a dust suppressant. And anyway - that’s what your arena drag is for 
However you may be correct that it is not very economical.
I have dust free footing in my arena. I bought the pre-made stuff, but my understanding is that the dust free additive is vaseline, not oil. I’ve been in oiled arenas and they were awfull. Especially the smell.
I’ve thought about trying to source vaseline in bulk and trying to mix my own. Who knows if it would work. Mine has vaseline, silica sand, rubber and felt.
[QUOTE=winter;7698969]
I have dust free footing in my arena. I bought the pre-made stuff, but my understanding is that the dust free additive is vaseline, not oil. I’ve been in oiled arenas and they were awfull. Especially the smell.
I’ve thought about trying to source vaseline in bulk and trying to mix my own. Who knows if it would work. Mine has vaseline, silica sand, rubber and felt.[/QUOTE]
Too bad this was in 2010! Funny though:
http://www.zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=61833
Here’s another source. I just googled “petroleum jelly, 55 gallon” but a search for petrolatum would probably work too.
http://stevensoncooper.com/products.php
I also saw mineral oil in 55-gallon drums available through some paint stores. That might work as well, and be easier to mix.
Wouldn’t the oil go rancid in the heat?
I don’t know. I thought mineral oil was a synthetic product, a petroleum product like Vaseline.
Just looked it up. Yep, it is a petroleum product so I don’t think it would go rancid:
from Wikipedia:
…mineral oil is any of various colorless, odorless, light mixtures of alkanes in the C15 to C40 range from a non-vegetable (mineral) source, particularly a distillate of petroleum.[1]
The name mineral oil by itself is imprecise, having been used to label many specific oils over the past few centuries. Other names, similarly imprecise, include white oil, liquid paraffin, pariffinum liquidum, and liquid petroleum. Baby oil refers to a perfumed mineral oil…
What I wonder is if it would be an environmental hazard in the quantities that would be needed for an arena. There must be some way to do it, because the people who manufacture the dust-reducing products have figured out a way. It might involve heat and large ovens and industrial-sized tumblers though…
What about a topical product like Arena Rx? I’ve never used it but know someone that applies it himself to his indoor arena footing. It keeps the dust down but puts a coating of footing/product on legs or any type of boot/wraps. It washes out though.
WHOA dust has been gaining in popularity here. I think you still have to water, but maybe only a couple times a year.
[QUOTE=winter;7698969]
I have dust free footing in my arena. I bought the pre-made stuff, but my understanding is that the dust free additive is vaseline, not oil. I’ve been in oiled arenas and they were awfull. Especially the smell.
I’ve thought about trying to source vaseline in bulk and trying to mix my own. Who knows if it would work. Mine has vaseline, silica sand, rubber and felt.[/QUOTE] winter may I ask where you got your footing? I have sand to which I have added calcium chloride which helped a lot but it only seems to last about 6 months and still needs watering more than I would like. Especially since I basically cannot water from November to March 
I’ve heard that you can put like a gallon of dish soap in a load of water for the arena and it acts like dust down, keeping the footing very dust free.
We have sand and oil footing in our indoor arena. The oil is “virgin” oil from a petroleum manufacturer. It has NOT been previously used and is clear when applied. Little to NO odour after a few days. It harrows beautifully and does not need to be watered. That would be impractical given we are in Canada and have below freezing temp’s for half the year. 
This oil is not inexpensive however at approx $6,000.00 every three years for application. But it is environmentally friendly and provides an excellent dust barrier.
What about mulch? I know a Saddlebred trainer whose arena is footed with regular mulch. That seems to be a thing for ASB people. I never noticed it getting dusty.
