Coin Operated or Do-it-Yourself?

7/18/2016

I posted a picture on Facebook the other day of my laundry pile. Not my laundry of course, but my horses' dirty clothes. Based on the comments and likes the photo received, it got me thinking about what a universal problem horse laundry can be.

Only part of the every day stuff.

In the last year, we upgraded our old, top load washer for a much larger front load machine. Horse laundry has gotten much easier. In the top load machine, I could wash two pads at a time and maybe a girth and a pair of gloves. With our larger front load, I split the 5 dressage pads, half pad, 2 girths, and 3 pairs of DSB boots into two piles and washed it all with ease.

Since it is either HOT here in California, or only moderately cold, I always hang everything to dry, no dryer needed. But what do you cold climate folks do? It's hard to line dry when the temperatures are freezing (literally!).

So, do you lug it all to the laundromat, do it at home like me, or are you one of those lucky souls with a washing machine at the barn?

It's time to air our dirty laundry. Let me know how YOU do it!

Austen link

7/18/2016 06:23:41 am

I'm lucky enough to have a washer/dryer at the barn, and the barn staff does all the laundry for us (so their machine and septic system aren't ruined by careless launderers!). That's a crazy benefit I've never enjoyed before!

I still do all my show pads and anything I'm worried about damaging at home, though. In my apartment sized stackable washer/dryer. It's not the best, but it gets the job done. Just have to remember to run lye down the drain of my utility sink (where the washer drains) every so often to clear out the hair. Honestly, the huskies probably create more of a problem than the horses in the hair department, though. Before moving to MD, I did all the laundry at home.

No matter where I do the laundry, I always vacuum it before I toss it in. That makes such a huge difference in how well the washer is able to do its job. Does anyone else do that?

Humidity is the real issue here. Things often take forever to dry. I will actually throw my polos and saddle pads in the dryer for a short period of time (on low) to help them along. Everything else sits out by the dehumidifier until dry enough to be taken back to the barn. If it's sunny enough, I'll hang it out to dry on the fences at the barn. That'll usually do the trick!

lytha

7/18/2016 06:51:53 am

Austen, I like your idea of vacuuming first. Similarly, I blast my girth or pad with the hose on full power before washing, to get most of the hair out. Sometimes that takes care of the stuff altogether. I use a slicker brush on the wool regularly.

Karen, as you know I have a new washer and A DRYER (after 9 years of hanging things up even in Winter). I'm not ready to put horse stuff in yet, they are still so shiny new. And the salesman/installer said, "Horse blankets? No. Horse saddle pads, OK. Girths, anything with metal, protect in a laundry sack." This is such a horsey land even the washer/dryer sales people know their horse equipment.

I've done 24 loads in my dryer in the 4-5 weeks that I've had it. J says that is way, way too many. I just love doing laundry now, cuz no hanging up socks! SOFT TOWELS! Sorry, I'm just so excited. I wash my sheets like twice a week now......I'm like Oprah Winfrey.

Bakersfield Dressage link

7/18/2016 10:46:40 am

A funny story for you, Lytha. When we were in Italy (along the Amalfi Coast), we rented a very cute apartment/house with a washing machine, no dryer. Like every other house, the clothes line was along the balcony as there were no yards since all of the homes were built into the cliff or hillside.

Since we had been traveling at least a week, we were eager to get some laundry going so that it could dry and and be repacked. It stayed light so late that it wasn't a big deal to hang our clothes at 8 or 9 that night. Remember that we were on the Mediterranean Sea and it was hot.

Sometime in the night, I woke up to hear rain thundering on the patio. I rushed outside hoping to bring the clothes in before they got too wet. No luck, they were DRENCHED. Wetter in fact than when they had come out of the washer. We left them hanging in the rain and throughout the day where they did dry. The rain stopped almost as quickly as it had come. :0)

7/18/2016 10:40:06 am

Fascinating! It never occurred to me that humidity would be the problem, although it should have since I have had that problem line drying clothes when I've been in central America. It is so dry here, that things come out of the washer almost dry. I hang more than half of my regular laundry on a drying rack that stands next to my dryer. Even in winter it dries quickly.

I've never vacuumed stuff. I never really thought my stuff got that hairy, but I might give that a try!

Oh ... SOMEONE ELSE DOES YOUR LAUNDRY?!?!?!? Best. Benefit. Ever. You win!

Jan link

7/18/2016 06:44:15 am

I'm lucky that my barn also has a washer/dryer. I try to wash Penn's fly sheet and mask on Saturdays after he comes in and while I'm riding. We have a big industrial fan that's near Penn's stall, so I just hang things on his blanket bar and they're ready to use again later. Sometimes I'll wash boots or saddle pads there, but the washer is small and I worry about things being damaged.

I have a giant top load washer- it was the biggest on the market when we got it (bigger than most front loaders too). I prewash some items (like sandy DSBs) in the big sink we have in the laundry room, and I scrap hair off with my Groom Ninja (I might try Austen's vacuum method- I've never had much luck with it in the past though).

EVERYTHING gets hung dry in the basement. I'm lucky that we have a full basement under the entirety of our house, so my laundry room is something like 14x14' and I have another 20x6' space too. The previous owner put up wire lines throughout, so it's easy to hang dry everything. Anything I need to dry faster sits in the air blown out of the dehumidifier.

7/18/2016 10:49:21 am

Having a big space to let everything dry would be really nice. Most of the time my patio chairs do the trick. Lately though I've had to move stuff to the garage because of a certain 8 month old lab puppy. LOL

It's fine though because my garage is hotter than hell so stuff dries super fast in the summer. :0)

Carol link

7/18/2016 07:56:03 am

I take my winter/fall blankets to the local wash/mend provider for a low cost wash, once a year. I don't have mud, and washing only once helps maintain the factory waterproof. I use a thin baby liner under my saddle pads, I wash the baby liner often but my nice saddle pads stay clean longer. I do wash pads and polo wraps in my washer . I don't have flies, so my fly sheet is just to keep my horse clean during show times. I wash it in a bucket of soapy water.

7/18/2016 10:51:49 am

I don't use a fly sheet anymore, but when I did, I used your technique: fly sheets and masks get dunked in a bucket. I don't use a baby liner, but I rotate pads so they last longer. Speedy's stuff hardly ever needs washing as he isn't a huge sweater. Izzy on the other hand sweats like a 17 year old boy so his stuff is always super gross! LOL

Stampy and the Brain link

7/18/2016 09:28:16 am

I wash all horse items at home, including winter blankets. I specifically bought the biggest size non-commercial washer and dryer available so I could do my own. Love my LG front load washer and dryer!

I do vacuum my saddle pads and girths if they are very hairy prior to washing and it helps a ton! Otherwise I just rubber band socks onto the ends of the girth to keep the banging to a minimum. I also use the air dry feature on my dryer to remove hair after washing without causing shrinkage.

7/18/2016 10:53:29 am

I love the socks tip. As I listened to my girths clanking around in the washer, I winced every time. What a racket. I am definitely going to try your tip next time!

jenj

7/18/2016 09:30:01 am

Since my house is my barn (or vice-versa), everything gets dumped in our giant front-loader. When the motor on our 4 year old washer needed maintenance, the repair guy did suggest that when I kill our current machine, I should look into an industrial model. I don't know how he knew, but he did...

7/18/2016 10:54:28 am

With TWO riders, your laundry needs REQUIRE a super-sized machine. LOL

Olivia link

7/18/2016 10:56:58 am

We only do horse laundry at the laundromat so it doesn't get done nearly as often as it should. But I hate doing it at home. Whatever clothes or linens I was next inevitable get horse hair on the.

7/18/2016 11:07:37 am

Ugh ... nothing would ever get washed. I don't even know where a laundromat is!

After washing horse stuff, I'll either do a load of breeches or a load of cleaning towels and rags. Then I gradually introduce my nicer clothes after a load of jeans or house towels. :0)

Val

7/18/2016 11:15:23 am

Horse laundry is a huge issue. I will only buy thin saddle pads that are easy to wash. I always hang them to dry in my basement or outside and I definitely pull off excess hair before washing. If they are realIy grimy, I hose them off first. I also try to wash something unimportant after horse laundry because I worry about leftover barn germs.

I also try rotate my saddle pads so they don't get too messy or beat up. The worst problem is cleaning the winter blankets. I have to send them out to be cleaned. It is not cheap, but my blankets have survived a long time. If they don't get used much, like this past year (he wore one for a week), then they live in my garage without cleaning until next winter. The local laundry mats get very unhappy if you show up with horse blankets. I have seen signs that ban them. They must destroy the machines or create too much filth.

Micaylah link

7/18/2016 11:21:53 am

growing up I always used my parent secretly in the middle of the night. Now I so some stuff at home but mostly how much I suck at doing my own laundry it just piles up and I buy more clean stuff. I'm terrible.

LoveLaughRide link

7/18/2016 12:25:25 pm

I do most everything at home. My big winter blankets (anything 300g or over) I get done at the local tack shop because my machine just isn't quite big enough. Anything that gets washed in the winter (and fall, and spring, oh the joys of Alberta) get hung over the laundry room door to dry. If I've got a ton to do it gets spread around the doors of the rest of the house. (thank goodness for supportive spouses)

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Not-So-Speedy Dressage