I know the washing machine is a no-no due to the likelihood of shrinkage. How do you clean your wool sheets? Mine is looking a bit grungy, but I don’t want to accidentally shrink it.
1 Like
I take mine to the dry cleaners.
2 Likes
A cold-water gentle cycle and a very small amount of Woolite type detergent should be fine for it. Shrinkage or ‘felting’ is caused by heat & motion, so if it has so far survived being used as a cooler on a warm wet horse, it can be washed.
8 Likes
I used to dry clean mine …. Now I wash them as you recommend. It’s been fine so far.
Dry cleaners use chemicals – are they safe for a horse? Especially as a sweaty horse will likely get some of those chemicals dissolved into the sweat, so the chemicals would stay on the horse’s skin for a while, unlike human clothing that is taken off.
This! I use Melp or whatever though, the wool/sheepskin wash from Mattes. My coolers have leather chest straps so I figure it can’t hurt.
2 Likes
For all my wool items (blankets, socks, etc and horse items)
Washing machine, cold, with woolite.
Line dry or in the dryer on air for a bit then line dry.
Never an issue with shrinking of any of my wool items.
4 Likes
Like the others, I machine wash in cold water on gentle cycle and line dry. I’ve been doing this for years and have had no shrinkage or felting.
dry cleaner
I switched to fleece for exactly this reason! Having made a Cob size out of my 82 inch cooler.
Thanks everyone! My dress sheet has been needing to be washed for a while, I was just scared to do so. I washed it on gentle cycle on Friday with a very small amount of free and clear detergent. It dried on my back deck and finished drying in my house. It looks so much better. Fingers crossed it fits like it did before!
I stopped using fleece due to the static. I keep buying various fleece coolers/dress sheets and I just don’t end up liking them. They never fit how I want and they just don’t seem to absorb moisture as well as the wool.
2 Likes
I wash mine with cold water on a delicate/hand wash cycle in a front load washer. The internet seems to agree that a traditional top load agitator washer is a big no-no! I use just a little bit of lavender scented Castile soap, once again per internet consensus. I’ve washed multiple wool coolers this way with no shrinkage. They look and smell significantly better post-washing!
1 Like
for those who wash themselves–do you have leather buckles?
Mine has a leather buckle. It could probably use to be conditioned post-wash, but other than feeling a little dry, it seems to be fine. It is black leather with a brass buckle.
thanks
I am a person who tries to do things the easiest way, that is why I can say that I have managed to ruin TWO, not just one, lovely wool coolers by washing them in my washing machine.
I took the advice that washing machine with cold water is fine (front load machine) and some how I forgot the first horrible failure and tried it a second time and now own two wool coolers that do not even come close to fitting the creatures they used to fit and have funky wrinkle patterns from the wool shrinking differently than everything else.
1 Like
if it makes you feel better I’ve done this with several $300 fleeceworks show pads. Let them dry in the sun. BAD IDEA!
1 Like
I have a Mattes half pad that I wash occasionally because the quilting is white and my saddle tends to stain it. I wash it on gentle cycle with Melp and it has come out fine every time. No shrinkage. I washed it a couple weeks ago and it was sopping wet for literal days. I considered putting it in for another spin cycle but just left it on the back deck to dry. Granted it’s fall and not extremely warm, but I have done the same in the summer too with no issues.
1 Like
I’m pretty sure the sun shrunk it. Florida sun. i think i’m going to try spot cleaning from now on. I love sheepskin pads for showing, but they are so pricey it’s painful when they get messed up. i try to brush them vs. wash so maybe i wash 1-3 times per year.
1 Like
Mattes instructions say to tumble dry on air only for a while. I think this helps. But if the pad comes out soaking wet, that’s a machine balance issue on the spin cycle, and usually fixed by putting in more items to the load. If I had one come out like that, I’d wash again with some towels or other pads.
2 Likes
