I recently started a position as a groom at a local barn. It’s just the basic feed, clean, and let out. Yesterday my boss added cleaning water buckets to my Monday routine. When I attempted today, I couldn’t get them cleaned. My brush just seemed to scratch the thin caked on dirt if that makes any sense. I live in Michigan and the barns aren’t heated nor do I have access to hot water. I didn’t use any soap because I didn’t know what would actually help and be safe for the horses. I know there has to be a more efficient way of cleaning these things. I almost took them home I was so frustrated. What do I need to do to get them clean?
Sometimes they are just stained after a while.
I use a brush that is like a kitchen brush, one with bristles on the end too. I use plastic Fortiflex buckets, and I specifically choose royal blue for my water buckets, which looks sharp and cleans well for me. If the bucket is dry I might need to soak it in water for a while, but the brush does a good job for me and my particular accumulations.
Ask your boss what her expectations are and how she wants you to clean them. I would not use any tools or soap/product other than what she has asked you to use, because they could scratch the buckets or create other problems. She may only be interested in you dumping and rinsing, or she may want something more.
I dump and rinse my buckets every day and at least once per week I use a scrub brush or a Scotch-Brite pad in them. I don’t use soap in the buckets but I do spray either white vinegar or mint antiseptic mouthwash in before scrubbing. Afterwards, it’s another rinse and they’re good to go.
If they are especially dirty, you might try baking soda with the vinegar. Dump a couple tablespoons into each empty bucket and then add a bit of vinegar. Use the brush to work that into the soiled areas and then rinse.
If all else fails, an ounce of chlorine bleach (the plain kind - not scented) in a spray bottle of water can work pretty well. But, if I use chlorine for buckets, I rinse them thoroughly and usually like to leave them outside to ‘air out’ for awhile. It’s a pretty distinct smell and I worry that the horses won’t want to drink out of the buckets if I don’t give them time to air out.
I have the insulated water bucket holders that hold the 5 gallon ‘painters buckets’. The only BPA free, food grade buckets that I can find for those are WHITE. Talk about staining! Well water and white plastic don’t always go well together. At least they’re inexpensive and I can replace them every year to two. Not because they get too stained but the handles start to wear out.
I’ve found what works best for me but, as the poster above said, discuss w/ your boss to find out his or her preference.
Once water buckets get that hard to remove crud in them from not being cleaned properly for months, the only thing that will get the crud off easily IME are those copper or stainless steel covered scrunchy sponge thingies. No soap needed. Crud will come right off.
After an initial cleaning with the scrunchy a brush will work – after that only an occasional going over with the scrunchy will do the trick. Actual stains are a different matter. I have a couple of buckets that developed these black, streaky stains that won’t come off – stains are ‘in’ the plastic.
But I agree with poltroon. Ask your boss what her expectations are etc…
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Some of my feed pans and water buckets have been around, and in use, since 1998; none of them are stained.
i also use the plastic fortified buckets and feed pans – the several quart feed pans that hang over a pipe rail.
i rinse the water buckets as-needed but once a week everything, including the outdoor tubs get cloroxed. I don’t care what anyone says, I am 71 and have been using Clorox on water tubs since my dad told me to when I was kid on the dairy farm.
Nobody ever got sick or died, just rinse thoroughly and you don’t need hot water. If the slime is built up, it make take a few times to get the buckets clean.
It may also be that your BO will have six kinds of hissy fits over using Clorox because some people don’t know any better and don’t know how to “rinse thoroughly”. If that’s the case, my only other thought is to buy a couple gallons of Apple cider vinegar, soak the buckets for an hour or so and hope for the best. Vinegar works better with scalding hot water, however:(
good luck :)
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Scratched plastic collects dirt also. So if you scrub with a copper scrubby thing, you will scratch the plastic which will collect dirt. If you have tons of time you can soak and/or spray with a variety of things that will dissolve the crud. But unless you have a 2nd set of buckets that’s difficult. I’d ask the BO what they expect - I agree that horses don’t die from crud on buckets.
I actually have water buckets that are 15-20 years old. Yes, they will get stained over time. I probably dump and scrub them 2x a week in summer, once a week or 10 days in winter. They get dumped every other day, and topped up every other day. None of my horses are messy with the water.
Now the feed tubs - they get to be a mess. I have to soak them in hot water sometimes, and even then they don’t get sparkling clean.
OP, I’d simply scrub the buckets with whatever is available. Mention that some of the buckets have caked on residue and ask if there are any other tools that will clean the buckets efficiently.
I use a scratchy pad and store-brand Listerine to clean my buckets. Really saves on the rinsing. While doing the daily dump, I also give each bucket a Listerine “spritz”. Seems to keep the buckets cleaner in the hot summer months,
I almost always dump buckets daily. They get a quick “swish” with a scrub brush (or my hand in a pinch) when I dump them. And they stay pristine. Maybe once or twice a month I take a few extra minutes and scrub down the outsides so dust and cobwebs don’t build up. The only time I need to do any heavy duty scrubbing or use soap/hot water is if a horse dunks feed/hay/manure into it.
Buckets stored/not in use are always the ones that seem to get the dirtiest around my place! No matter how I store them, the dust and cobwebs settle all over them.
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Another owner of “Vintage” buckets - 15yo heated Fortiflex in each stall.
I clean when they get disgusting, which here is about once a month in Winter, more often in Summer.
OP: you don’t say where you are located, but I am on a well heavy in iron & the water treatment for the house does not go to the barn.
Over the years buckets have developed a thin coat of iron deposit that sometimes flakes off when I scrub, sometimes not.
I use a stiff scrub brush with a splash of bleach after dumping, then rinse & refill.
Same treatment for the 50gal plastic barrel that is my trough in front of the barn, where I toss in a good capful or 2 of bleach before refilling.
I’m with @walkinthewalk - horses don’t mind a bit of bleach in the water, it keeps down slime & if you were not aware is used to sterilize for C Diff in hospitals.
unscented bleach,
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I have great success with oxygen based laundry boosters at the barn. They are inexpensive, have no odor or residue, and will oxidize a lot of organic crud. Give the bucket a quick swish with a brush, empty, sprinkle about a half tablespoon of granules into the wet bucket, brush around, wait 5 minutes, hose out.
In warm months, I have a plastic drum that was cut in half. It makes a great place to soak larger items such as buckets feed pans or blankets. Twenty minutes of soaking can greatly minimize the work required.
I would not worry about mineral staining. I know the horse will not care. If you are really keen to remove mineral buildup, try CLR or similar product. Rinsing would be key.
Baking soda and vinegar works quickly. It fizzes up and gets dirt out of all the crevasses.
Or just vinegar for getting rid of any algae.
If you are looking for a cheap brush, toilet brushes work well. You can get them at the dollar store.
Indeed. Metal on plastic means the plastic looses.
To fully clean a bucket you need hot water. The heat makes any cleaning material more effective. It also means the human will work harder at the job. If that means take the buckets to the house and use the kitchen sink from time to time then that’s what you do.
Concur that periodic bleaching is a good thing.
Hot water and stiff bristle brush will do most buckets. If you go beyond that with a slick plastic bucket you’ll damage the surface. The black buckets from the co-op are much more robust and already have a mildly “rough” inside texture so metal cleaning utensils will not cause any more “roughness” than is already there.
Cleaning buckets with cold water in a cold, northern barn is not a fun job. If you have to do it wear a pair of heavy, rubber gloves to keep at least some barrier between your skin and the water. Hypothermia is no fun, either.
G.
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I agree with unscented bleach. We’ve been using it for decades. Dump the bucket. Pour a little bleach down the sides and let it collect in the bottom. Maybe a 1/4 cup. Roll the bleach around the bottom. Let it sit for a few minutes. Scrub if needed with a nylon brush that is hard - not metal. (The bleach also cleans your fingernails!). Rinse well (as in twice) and fill. We use white buckets. That way you can see immediately if any yellow/green is growing. Buckets are dumped weekly in winter and more often in summer. Our horses have zero problem with any residual odor. There really isn’t much of an odor after you rinse it.
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I dump and scrub my barn water buckets with a plastic brush every day, and they come clean every time. However we have very soft water and no mineral deposits.
What I find hard to get totally clean are the black rubber feed pans! Every once in a while I throw it in the sink with hot water and there is an endless amount of brown crud coming off it.
OP I would ask your barn manager. If they don’t care about stained buckets, then you aren’t being paid to spend 2 hours scrubbing.
IME actual algae or gunk comes off with a plastic brush. Staining that’s soaked into the plastic isn’t going to.hurt anyone anymore than us drinking out of a stained tea cup.
I think that before you go to any great lengths to clean the buckets, you need to talk to the BM and find out exactly what they are expecting. Does knocking whatever comes off with the brush and maybe the rest will come of next Monday work for her? Then that’s what you should do. Don’t make more work for yourself than necessary, and in my experience, the horses really don’t care if there are deposits stuck to the sides of an otherwise clean bucket of water.
For my buckets, they are generally just dumped in the winter, and scrubbed with a plastic scrubby pad or brush when they look bad in warmer weather. The scrubby pad does a better job than the brush at getting all of the residue off.
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Definitely talk to the BM to see if they need to be sparkling clean or if a bit of staining is ok. I will say the best scrubbing tool I’ve found is baling twine. Take the strands off a standard small bale or two, double them over, and knot it a few times. Gets into the corners better than any brush I’ve found and is abrasive enough for most crud but won’t damage the plastic.
Bleach is my go to if I have to. If it doesn’t come off it sounds like it is more than algae and is actual staining? And that would be a task for bleach. Boraxo or Bar Keepers Friend is also useful if it has to be clean.
I confess to sometimes grabbing some hay, scrubbing the algae off, and refilling the visually clean bucket!
Agree you shld talk to BM before you use a lot of elbow grease.
I used to use a toilet brush. Kept hands out of the cold water in winter.
And for scouring, baking soda. Not toxic and easy to rinse.
