Here at horserugs.me.uk we appreciate that horse rugs can be an expensive part of your equestrian kit. For this reason we not only advice you to ensure that you have the right horse rug and a horse rug that fits your horse properly, but we always want to teach you how you can make your horse rug last longer.
Horse rugs are big pieces of kit and can be difficult to handle and clean. Although a summer horse turnout run may be light and small enough to fit in a washing machine in contrast a heavyweight winter horse turnout rug may be far too bulky.
Although many of us do wash out horse rugs think carefully before you do so as it reduces their working life. Some other things to bear in mind when it comes to the cleaning and maintenance of your horse rugs:
Always follow any instructions given by the manufacturer. A good starting place is the washing instructions label on the horse rug, check also their website. Do note that washing your horse rug could affect the horse rug’s waterproofing. Consider taking to a specialist cleaner if you don’t want to have to re-waterproof the horse rug yourself.
As with humans, some washing powder can cause allergic reactions in horses. You can purchase special horse friendly washing powder. In any event we’d recommend using non-biological powder.
Before you put a horse rug into a wash machine ensure that you have taken off excess hair and mud. You really don’t want this clogging up your washing machine or pipes.
Trying and ensure that any straps and metal fittings are removed before you put the horse rug in the machine. If you can’t remove the horse rug straps and fittings then try covering them with a tea-towel or old sock! This will stop the fittings against the side of the washing machine drum or getting caught.
Get someone to help you. A larger horse rug will be heavy when wet. Think about where to store the horse rug while it is drying. If you’re washing the rug at the end of the season do not put them away whilst they’re still wet. This could cause your horse rug to rot.
If you want more information on horse rugs and caring for your horse rugs then we recommend two books, Rugs and Rollers by Jane Holderness-Roddam and All About Rugs by Vanessa Britton, both of which are available in our book store.
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