Services –
Well, the short and tall of it, is that we’ll wash, reproof and repair all of you equestrian items; rugs, numnahs, boots etc
Washing –
All items washed are laundered in 50lb washing machines, these are the largest size available and also the size that Nikwax recommends for the use of their products to be fully effective. Often some of our competitors use smaller machines, which means rugs are not able to move about adequately in the drum and hence do not wash to our standards.
For turnout rugs we only use Nikwax professional rug wash. This pure soap based product ensures that any reproofing agent held in rugs material will not be destroyed.
Indoor rugs, are washed using Fairy Non Bio detergent, our philosophy, well, if it’s good enough for babies skin, it’s good enough for sensitive horses!
Reproofing –
Rugs are reproofed using Nikwax professional rug reproof. A lot of our customers are fairly unsure whether they need their rug reproofing or not. The advice from Nikwax is to have your rug reproofed at least once a year.
What is reproofing? Reproofing is a lot like waxing your car. It is the first line of defence from the rain. The reproofer, will help the rain to ‘bead up’ and run off the rug quickly before it has time to soak in to the rug, just in the same way that wax on your car will help water ‘bead up’. The second line of defence is the rubber like material on the underside of turnout material, you’re likely never to see this unless you’re unfortunate to get a rip in the rug. This rubbery material stops the water from penetrating through to the inside of the rug. The key here is that if it rains and the water doesn’t ‘bead up’ then it needs reproofing. In some cases when the rug is quite old the rubbery material will disintegrate, and even with fresh reproofer the rug will not stay water tight for long, in such a situation we will advise you.
Drying –
Would you put anything that wasn’t 100% cotton in a tumble drier? Neither would we. That’s why we don’t use tumble driers. Most other equine laundry companies do use them, but we’ve heard numerous stories from our customers who’ve had their rugs dried using tumble driers in the past and either had them returned two sizes smaller than when they were sent or have had scorch marks on them where they have not been able to move around the drum freely.
We have specially built drying rooms where your rugs are hung out full length to drip dry using a combination of specialist equipment. This ensures we are able to dry out all rugs fully and check their progress on a regular basis. Indoor rugs dry fairly quickly, but often turn out rugs hide pockets of water for a lengthy period. We manually check these and ensure no such pockets exist before the rug is bagged.
Repairs –
We can repair pretty much anything, although if we think the repair is economically unviable then we’ll let you know before we start. Our staff uses industrial sewing machines together with professional material to make your rug as good as new.