I take mine to a laundromat because only a commercial washer will get them clean. I have well-water and a washing machine without an agitator so they come out looking almost as bad as they went in.
Ive smartened up recently and been buying white pads so I can just bleach the hell out of them and wash them one at a time, twice, to get them clean.
maybe thereās just too much dirt ground into them? I wash my pads after every use. If my horse is super dirty, Iāll vacuum (the horse), but generally my pads donāt get that gross after a single ride. In summer theyāre wet and sweaty, but not dirty-nasty. I put 2-4 in a front load washer and use regular household detergent. They go right from the washer to the dryer. The clean dry pads get added to the stack. the white ones have a few stains on the underside, but they stay pretty white. If Iām riding an unclipped horse during shedding season, I will get mad at how the pads get covered with hair, and it gets all over both sides in the wash. However the dryer takes care of about 80% of that, and then about 3 uses post shedding season, theyāre back to normal again.
When I showed I kept a new clean pad strictly for showing - use once, and then wash because my show horse is clean and white.
Just expect to keep buying a new pad every now and then and downgrade the others as required.
It seemed with our treated well water that whites still got dingy - tried Resolve, not impressed, Borax - works ok, bleach - better.
Not that Iām a white show pad maven, it was the best I could do.
Man I used to have dirt stains on my breeches and regular clothes after washing in a non-agitator washer. A friend suggested Borax and I swear by this stuff now.
That along with hosing down between washes lets me get away with going weeks between washing a group of pads.
I will totally do multiple washes on the pads until there is no more dirt too.
That is what I do. I have black and green pads I use for schooling. My whites donāt come out really white and I think it is because of my cistern. Tried Oxyclean but didnāt make much difference.
YES!!! I recommend doing this to everyone. Especially white show breeches, but pads too.
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I think it really depends on the saddle pad brand too. I have ogilvy pads and those things never stain and last forever. My white show pad has been used at least 50 times, Iāve had it for 3 yearsā¦ it still looks new.
For the day to day saddle pads, I wash regularly. I also donāt put them on dirty horses, which I think helps a lot (I have a horse vac for those winter days they come in covered in dirt).
but really, I think it has to do with the saddle pad brand. Some of mine are rarely used and stained badly very quickly, some of them look brand new after many uses.
Simple Green reaaaaaally gets dirt out. Used it for bf car grease clothes. You really have no idea. Long wash, extra rinse xtra spin. I also have low suds rug shampoo for spots. No dirt left. I also purposefully bought a machine with an agitator. That may be you biggest problem.
I randomly saw someone ask about treating stains out of baseball pants and they recommended fels-naptha bar. I use it on my white breeches and pads as a pre-treater. Then Iāll also scrape some off in to my washer per the instructions. Iāve never had the black stains from saddles or boots come out before! It even gout out stains that were over a year old! Iāve tried oxyclean and bleach and chlorox spot remover. None have worked quite as well as this. I have a front load HE washer and wash them on normal cycle with extra rinse with Tide detergent.
Simple Green all purpose?
?
thats always what i do
Hereās my treatment plan for whites:
#1: If its new, never been on a horse, Scotchguard the hell out of it, Twice.
#2: Hose it or wash it as soon as it comes off the horse, or as soon as possible If its hairy, vacuum it with a shop vac first. Stronger suction and has gotten the hairs out of my fleecy items
#3: Spot treat with Oxyclean gel stick- IMO the gel works better than the spray. For really dirty/sweaty pads, soak in tub with warm water and 2 scoops of Oxyclean powder for several hours.
After power washing most of the stains are gone including black boot stains. If not, get a bar of Fels-Naptha laundry soap and vigorously rub it into the wet fabric of the stain and let it sit. Power wash again. Hang dry in sunniest spot you can find!
I treat my colored saddle pads the same, except after power washing if I think they need a āfresheningā I will put them in my topload washer with Persil detergent, and Borax (because I have hard water) for a quick clean, and hang dry. I DO NOT put my white saddle pads in the washer. My water sucks and so does my washer and they just dont come out sparkling, I own very few white items because of this.
Iāve also heard some people take Whites to the dry cleaner for cleaning and they manage to get everything out. I cannot afford a dry cleaning bill for my show season, so I cant speak from personal experience, but may try it on my white breeches.
Hi!
Here are some tips that hopefully will help you get your pads looking and feeling great:)
Wash your pads in warm water with your favorite laundry detergent (hopefully yours is a non-bleach detergent). If you can set your machineās water level to go to the highest level do! Not only will your pads wash better but they will more importantly rinse better too. You can certainly use the regular cycle but donāt overload the washing machine with too many pads. Bottom line, you want to ensure that your pads do not have any soapy residue which might irritate his or her skin.
The worse thing to can do to your pads is add bleach. The reason being is that bleach is corrosive as well as an irritant to the the skin. Bleach will break down the foam, fabric and will fade your pipping and trim horribly! Add about 1/3 cup of white vinegar to the fabric softener compartment and it will remove any soapy residue naturally.
Other tips:
Not intending to divert, here, but do people really get noticeable results using oxyclean? I went through two containers of it and it did absolutely nothing to any of my wash. I tried all sorts of different combinations, strategies, conditionsā¦and no discernible difference at all. Just wondering because people say to use it, but does it actually work? (Again: it didnāt work at all for me).
I stopped using it for a time, and then used it for a lead of pads and my barn clothes last week.
The pads are not a scientific study as I also prepped them by trying to remove dirt and hair before washing. But they did get cleaner from something that I did.
The barn clothes, notably the necks and cuffs of the sun shirts where things start to look dingy from picking up sunscreen, looked better.
If I lived where there was that red clay - for sure I would move! Our well water adds a grey tinge, thatās
'bad enough. Whites rarely stay white and my husband buys those thick cotton t-shirts from Costco by the dozen and he wears them every single day! Then goes back and buys moreā¦the old ones turn into shop rags.
Iron Out really does work well, I lived on a farm once that had the grossest water Iāve ever seenā¦ and this stuff worked to get my whites clean.
I read somewhere that this was the secret. Hose them down after each ride (even if you donāt wash them after each ride). Remove the built up sweat and dirt while itās still damp.
I brush mine at the end of every ride. Just hold them flat against a stall wall and use a hard dandy to brush off the inside quickly.
They seem to come out clean for me this way. I think the brush loosens the dirt/soil and it really helps keep the hair at bay and prevents that matting effect from the multiple rides of sweat and hair.
I donāt use Oxy eitherā¦ a bit of vinegar for whites though.
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