When a horse comes in and the blanket is covered in mud? …and don’t say the washing machine because mine can’t handle a horse blanket. ha ha TIA!
I put on my super spy pants and scope out the scene
then when it isn’t busy, I sneak into the laundrymat down the street (usually no attendants) with a towel over the blanket (so the camera doesn’t see it). Then I go over to the oversize washing machine and casually (frantically) stuff it in. Then I leave for 20 minutes and come back before it is totally done so no one pulls it out and sees what was in there.
I run a empty load after I’m done. If they are super nasty I hose them off first.
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Although, I rarely use blankets, I’ve taken dirty, stinky saddle pads to the carwash and used the power washer on them. Then, I squeegee out as much water, throw them in the bed of the truck, and hang them on my clothesline.
If I had a decent wash rack, I’d hose them off with the horse still in it. Then leave the horse in a stall until the blanket dried.
But I don’t have a decent wash rack, so I don’t do anything. Most of the mud flakes off pretty good when it dries anyway. Different kinds of mud might behave differently.
Wait for the mud to dry and brush it off with a stiff brush.
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Either drape over a fence and hit with a pressure sprayer on a hose…or toss in the bed of a pick up for a ride to the car wash. Go through the self serve wash bay, drop quarters in the machine, take pressure hose with you to bed of truck and blast the hell out of the blanket. Don’t use the hot wax option. :winkgrin:
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Hang it over the hitching rail or fence. Hose as best you can. Off the the Laundromat under cover of darkness. Not the good Laundromat where you might actually want to come back and wash your comforters… the one in the seedy part of town… with the bar attached. :winkgrin:
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Will washing blankets at the laundromat affect their waterproofness??? If you are pressure-washing, do you use soap?
[QUOTE=greysandbays;4462807]
If I had a decent wash rack, I’d hose them off with the horse still in it. Then leave the horse in a stall until the blanket dried.
But I don’t have a decent wash rack, so I don’t do anything. Most of the mud flakes off pretty good when it dries anyway. Different kinds of mud might behave differently.[/QUOTE]
We have NASTY Texas red clay…aka Texas concrete!
I wash my blankets at home…the only time I use the pressure nozzle on the hose (I don’t have an actual pressure washer yet) is to knock off excess mud or hair before putting it in my washer.
I use regular laundry detergent…if I have a horse that has sensitive skin then I use the baby clothes detergent called Dreft…and then set the washer on power wash, extra rinse and fastest spin setting. Water set warm/cold. They then hang in my workshop/furnace room in my basement to dry. It stays a constant 80 dry degrees in winter. They dry perfectly overnight in there.
I’ve had a couple winter turnouts from sstack for aboout 8 or so years that have gotten washed this way about once a week all winter long. They’re still as waterproof as the day I bought them without having been re-waterproofed once. Not sure about other blanket brands, I’ve never kept other brands long enough since they didn’t hold up as well as the sstack ones.
Dryers ruin waterproofness on sstack blankets, but the washer hasn’t so far.
You can wash them in warm water in a muck bucket, but it’s a lot of work and takes longer to rinse, ring out and dry.
I don’t want to put them in my washing machine because I killed a 3 year old washer that way! One of the straps got hung up and it did something to the motor and it died (cheaper to buy a new one than to fix it!) …but the pressure washer sounds like what I need to do.
Doncha all have a blanket cleaning service in your area? I drop filthy T/O blankets off at the local tack store…one week later, the T/O blanket reappears all clean, fresh smelling, wrapped in a plastic bag…all for $11!
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I’m a sneaker …
I sneak into the laundromat as well… the xtra large machine works great. They say detergent does affect the waterproofing. I go to walmart, purchase camp dry (waterproofing agent) and spray a light coat on.
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I have a commercial washer in the tack room, just for blanket washing.
Everyone should have one!!
Hair and dirt doesnt bother it, because it gravity drains. Unlike other washers that have a pump to remove the water.
I wash pads, polo wraps, my house rugs, everything in it!
Get yourself one!! 
I hose off first, then scrub with scrub brush if I want them really clean. If it’s really bad, I will throw them in my washer, but I cover all the metal with socks and hair elastics. I roll up the leg straps and surcingle straps in the socks also. That way there’s nothing to get caught in the machine. My local laundromat will let me wash blankets, but I live a long way out in the country and it ends up taking half the day. I do rinse out the washer before my husband gets home, though. I operate on the “if he doesn’t know, it won’t hurt him” method. I’ve been know to use his hair brush to brush the dog after a bath too. I do wash it out afterward. Really gets a chuckle out of my daughter!
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Bath Tub
This is a no-brainer. Easy to do, but required three rinses to make sure no detergent irritants remain in blanket.
Cleanup can be a chore, but what else is new?
Also, it’s the inside of the blanket that’s really important. Outer dirt is only a cosmetic issue. Dirt on the inside can be really harmful to your horse’s skin.
Yes, me too! Along with a high tech dryer (aka, a shower curtain rod to drip dry on).
I found mine on Craig’s List. It is an older Maytag front-load coin operated machine that uses regular household electrical current. I think the guy still has one left if anyone is interested.
I downloaded the manual from Maytag and reprogrammed it for longer cycles and an extra rinse. Works great on medium weight wugs, but heavier or larger than that might need a second run through (if they are filthy). I do knock the dried mud off a bit first with a stiff brush (on the horse) or a stiff broom (on the aisle floor).
I am amazed how quiet is it. Much more so than the old Kenmore it replaced. But that old standard top load got abused for 12 years after we bought it at a local auction for $10 and hauled it up out of the basement ourselves. I tried to kill that thing for years by abuse so I could get a front-load - as the spindle was hard on my blankets! But no, it just kept going. I finally found the Maytag and gave this one to my hay guy, who is a dairy farmer and he is still using it!
SCFarm
We have a local dry cleaner/laundry that will do horse blankets.
Another one who goes to the Laundermat, except I don’t sneak, lol. This past summer I loaded up my car with 6 blankets/sheets and my boyfriend. Walked in, got strange looks (live in a small town, this isn’t anyplace ritzy), and threw them all in the big washers. Started them up, went across the street with boyfriend to get some dinner, came back. Took them all out, got more strange looks (lol), and drove home and hung them up to dry outside.
Nice, clean blankets.
If it’s during winter, I wait 'til the mud dries and brush the blanket with a hard brush while it’s on my horse.
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[QUOTE=BoysNightOut;4530750]
Another one who goes to the laundromat, except I don’t sneak, lol. This past summer I loaded up my car with 6 blankets/sheets and my boyfriend. Walked in, got strange looks (live in a small town, this isn’t anyplace ritzy), and threw them all in the big washers. Started them up, went across the street with boyfriend to get some dinner, came back. Took them all out, got more strange looks (lol), and drove home and hung them up to dry outside.
Nice, clean blankets.
If it’s during winter, I wait 'til the mud dries and brush the blanket with a hard brush while it’s on my horse.[/QUOTE]
My husband and I do the same thing.
