My husband and I are about to close on our first house (yay!) - a lovely front-load washer/dryer set are included. I’m used to doing my horse laundry (mainly wraps, saddle pads, horse boots, about a load per week) in my apartment building’s ancient and barely functional machine so I didn’t worry about whether the horsey dirt was adversely affecting the machine at all (just being honest ;)). Should I be more cautious with my new machines? I assume I should try to get as much mud/footing off my stuff as possible before throwing it in the wash? Any horse laundry cautionary tales I should be aware of? Thanks for entertaining this pretty elementary question, lol!
My friend was going to a clinic and I ended up washing all her saddle pads for her because her husband gets worried about horse hair in the washer.
Also apparently the frontloads are harder to deal with when they get unbalanced and stop. You can’t just open them up and readjust like with top loaders.
Vaccuum before washing saddle pads too especially in spring!
Take your stuff once a week to the laundromat and use the large industrial washers. Typical household front load machines don’t have a huge capacity and don’t do a great job with big heavy loads. I will wash a stable sheet in mine but no turnouts, and the thick saddle pads need to go through twice so easier to save things and do a big wash in town! Be polite and wipe the machine after using. (Our local laundromat actually has a dedicated horse laundry machine - prevents complaints from other customers, I suppose!)
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I wash everything in my front loader, but being in SoCal with limited turnout, sheets aren’t used often and don’t get that dirty. Ditto for boots. Brush off and hose off at barn, and then bring dry, but used, stuff home to wash. My only tip is to put socks on the blanket buckles so they don’t clank around.
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Good tips, thank you!
The biggest problem I have is the newer model does not do a very good job at getting horse stuff clean, no matter what setting I use. (The older one that this one replaced worked fine for horse and dog laundry.)
I wish I could find a laundromat that allowed this. All of them in my part of the world have big signs that say no pet/horse laundry. Clearly too many rude people left a mess.
I am going to have to go re-read my user manual. The front loader I have now is the second one I have owned and I have washed lots of weird things in there and though it is clearly not balanced when there is one large item in there it never stops and complains.
I’ve always had top loaders & for 30yrs have done horse blankets & turnouts in them.
Large capacity machines can handle 2 turnouts (78s) w/o a problem.
Current machine came with the farm & has to be 45yrs+.
I always do a load of barn towels after to pick up any hair left.
I blanket rarely, so turnouts generally only get done at the start of Spring.
If they are muddy, I’ll brush off the worst of that.
I also dry them in my dryer - with socks placed over the buckle ends so enamel interior doesn’t get chipped & noise is less.
Waterproofing doesn’t seem to be affected.
We have a household front loader at the barn that we wash everything horse in (except the actual horses, though some days…). We do not have a problem with unbalanced loads and everything mostly comes clean - the heavy winter blankets don’t always come 100% clean but they are a bit big for the washer. We wash one at a time in there. Saddle pads, wraps, polos, everything else is usually fine. In the Spring, we add um…softener, I think…to the load to help get the hair out.
My trainer was looking for a new washer 7 years ago or so and almost got an industrial one for the barn but the warranty was not as long and it was more expensive and just didn’t have all the bells and whistles so she got this one and it’s been working great.
We bought nice new machines shortly after buying our house this year and my husband is allergic to horses, so going to the laundry mat makes sense for a few reasons.
Honestly, it is a hassle at times and doing laundry at home is more convenient. But I do enjoy not worrying about the machines, or extra stray horse hair on my clothes. I find the laundry mat machines do a better job with the big loads anyway. I did three saddlepads and two light sheets in one load this weekend. The place I use has a Starbucks, pharmacy, bank and grocery store nearby. I use the 35 minutes cycle to run some errands.
I will sometimes wash show pads at home for convenience, and because they do best with a delicate cycle. They are typically only lightly used, but I still find I need rinse cycle afterward to ensure my next set of clothes don’t have errant hairs.
We rinse off muddy things before washing. We wipe down the washer after a dirty load whether horse/dog/cat/human. I will also sometimes run a rinse cycle afterwards to be sure the washer is clean. Blankets are thrown over a fence and hosed, scrubbed (with soap) and combed clean.
In my suburb, laundromats are becoming rather rare.
Its an economically modest ares, but still the spartment buildings have laundry rooms, and condos (which are often rented out) have insuite laundry, and even basement suites tend to have access to a laundry room.
Though I used laundromats for years living in older housing stock in various cities. Anyhow, laundromats could be a disappearing thing.
I have found only one within proximity to barn and home.
Thanks all! Will only be doing wrap/boots/saddle pads and other small items, no blankets/sheets.
@Ajierene did you find the fabric softener trick worked for hair during shedding season?
I think it does help - it depends on how much hair, but it definitely seems to help get 90% of it off. The schooling pads, especially mine that tend to stand on their own before going in the wash, don’t come out 100% hair free, but the show pads and sheets that don’t see as much shedding hair do.
Vacuum your pads for hair before you wash. Otherwise they come out covered in hair.
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I wash my blankets and saddle pads in my home front loader. I spray/scrub any muddy spots off the blankets first and use my grooming gloves to get the hair off my pads before they go in. I haven’t ever had a problem with balance or causing a problem in my machine. Also check the trap in the drain line for hair when you are done.
DH once tossed a bunch of pads in with our regular laundry, so I guess he’s ok with it!
I’ve had front loaders for decades and all lasted for years. Dog hair and cat hair and horse hair did no harm as I wash often. I don’t let horse blankets get too dirty. No problems. Mine have all been Maytags. I use a mild shampoo and no fabric softener
If you can, buy a large, old, used, top-load washing machine that you use exclusively for horse/pet stuff (I’ve seen trainers have this set up, and I can’t wait to have my own).
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A few years ago, I totally blew our front loader with dog and horse hair. The drain thing blocked and the impeller thing that’s supposed to move water through there broke, trying to move a bunch of hair.
It was NOT a cheap fix. :uhoh:
So definitely get as much hair off as you can, and also clean out the drain area regularly–instructions are in the manual.
I bought my own [2nd hand] washer and dryer that stay out in the garage/workshop, so our household units don’t get burned out
I think I paid $100 for the set
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