Has anyone tried this with their home machine? I used to be able to wash my blankets in my top loader with an agitator but have a new front loader machine. It has plenty of room for a blanket but I don’t want to ruin the machine ( way more expensive than using the local cleaning serice).
Have a front load washing machine and plenty big enough to do horse blankets. But i won’t wash horse blanket in my machine,no way no how. I take my blankets to the car wash and power wash them there ,on just the hot/warm water cycle. They are clean when done, then i bring them home to line dry.
Blankets this year are just nasty dirty mud manure pee ,now hair covered from massive shedding going on.
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I hit mine with the garden hose to get all the big stuff off and then use the washer at home. I tuck all the straps with metal parts on them into the center of the blanket to try to protect the machine. So far so good.
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Yep, I have a front-load and I put them through on heavy duty mode - sometimes needs to go through twice if it was especially dirty - if it was COVERED in a thick layer of mud/poo I’d probably hose heavily first as well. But it works and I haven’t wrecked my washer. I should note that there is usually a trap that collects things that might clog drains on my model of washing machine, and that sometimes needs to be emptied of horse hair, but that’s a very minor problem!
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I’d n.e.v.e.r. do that!
We have a front loader at the barn. Like other posters said, hose off the majority of the mud and then stick it in the machine. Our machine is a heavy duty residential model. It can handle all but the heaviest of blankets. Those we take to the local laundry mat.
ETA: Ours is over 10 years old and we run a lot of towels, wraps and blankets through it plus fly sheets and blankets. It get used nearly every day. It needs service now and again, but is still chugging along.
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No, because I have wrecked one machine doing this. Most horse blankets are just too heavy for the crappy design of modern washing machines. I would love to buy a commercial triple load washer like they have at laundromats. In the mean time, that’s where I take mine.
I do my sheets and light/medium blankets in my front loader, which is a pretty big one (can’t recall cu. ft. but I do a king size comforter no problem). I prewash everything outside with a hose and scrub brush so they are pretty close to clean before they go in the machine – I don’t want to be dragging nasty blankets through my house. I use only Rambo Blanket Wash, cold water, and lower spin settings. Usually do a couple of repositionings and extra rinses, then hang to drip and dry in our mudroom shower.
I do think it is hard on the machine, as we’ve gone through front loaders quicker than my non-horse owning friends. But I wash everything - rugs in the house, dog beds, shoes, horse brushes, etc. If it fits, I’ll try washing it!
Our old front loader did a great job with horse blankets; just run a rinse cycle after you take the blanket out and empty the catch trap! We recently upgraded to a new energy efficient top loader and it is horrible, doesn’t get even the lightest sheets clean despite multiple washes/soaks… I’d happily switch back to an older model for how well it cleaned the horse laundry.
I have an energy efficient front loader that does just fine with sheets up through medium weights. It’s too small to do the heavy effectively. I take them to the industrial machines at the laundromat at end of season, but do them at home when weather breaks enough in winter to give them time to line dry on the back porch without freezing.
Yes! I do this and it’s why I only use sheets and liners - can wash them separately at home!
I have a few tricks to keep the rest of the family from freaking out - first I put socks on all the metal bits - knee socks will cover and knot around hardware and protect the machine (also then they don’t bang around). Then I put the blanket in the machine and lightly wrap an old towel around it - this stays where it’s put thru the whole (heavy duty) wash cycle and prevents any other bangs or scrapes. I wash on cold with Rambo wash or Nikwax wash, hang to dry. Easy peas. After I do my horse blankets, I do dog bedding, then a “clean” cycle.
