18 kg washing machine

[EventingMum]

Anyone thinking about a washing machine for rugs etc just a heads up to say Caterkwik have just emailed that they have an 18kg machine with a few external scratches in their sale for £529.99, a saving of over £300! I have no connection with them other than I have one of their machines (paid A LOT more as they lower the normal price just after I bought it). It's great for big turnouts etc and as questions often come up here about washing machines I thought I'd post!

 

[poiuytrewq]

I wish! A good buy for someone

 

[Andie02]

Just a heads up for anyone wanting to regularly wash a lot of rugs. You need a really good powerful commercial washing machine, suitable for horse rugs, which is a totally different animal altogether. Commercials are hard wired, and don't have a drain pump, they have a drain valve which literally dumps the water, it's also a much bigger drain outlet. With a drain pump, blockages from hair etc. are much more likely to occur. Even some of the commercials are not up to the job for washing rugs, as they do not use enough water especially for rinsing, also some of them dump the water when they get up to temperature, so therefore they don't wash for very long at the required temperature, which is useless for mucky rugs. With a really good quality programmable machine you can design your own programmes to wash longer, and increase the dip levels for the water intake. Commercial machines are generally bolted down on to a concrete base, by way of a steel plinth, so that they don't move when they spin.

 

[vickyb]

In my horse owning days, when I was constantly poverty stricken, I always used to wash my rugs in the summer only, and use a large plastic dustbin and a small broom as a washing dolly to agitate them, after having given them a good soak in a biological powder/liquid. I would then hang them on a fence, rinse them off with a hose and leave to dry in the sun. They always came up beautifully, even the jute ones (yes, it was that long ago!)

 

[Kaylum]

We used to go to the car jet wash £1 go for our stable rugs could get a few done at a time . Messy when you had to get them wet through back into the car.

 

[Andie02]

We used to go to the car jet wash £1 go for our stable rugs could get a few done at a time . Messy when you had to get them wet through back into the car.

Good grief, that's not a good idea, they need washing with a purpose made horse rug wash product to avoid any skin problems. If anyone contemplates jet washing turnout rugs, it can force the waterproof backing off.

 

[Kaylum]

Good grief, that's not a good idea, they need washing with a purpose made horse rug wash product to avoid any skin problems. If anyone contemplates jet washing turnout rugs, it can force the waterproof backing off.

I know this was a long time ago before rug washing companies were about and we only did stable ones.

 

[Birker2020]

Anyone thinking about a washing machine for rugs etc just a heads up to say Caterkwik have just emailed that they have an 18kg machine with a few external scratches in their sale for £529.99, a saving of over £300! I have no connection with them other than I have one of their machines (paid A LOT more as they lower the normal price just after I bought it). It's great for big turnouts etc and as questions often come up here about washing machines I thought I'd post!

If only I had the premises, I'd be looking at turning it into a business I think.
Its something I've thought about the last couple of years, although not sure I know enough about it. The trouble is the turnaround is so slow with some rug repair/wash companies its a nightmare and you end up waiting ages. I suppose they are a victim of their own success.

 

[EventingMum]

If only I had the premises, I'd be looking at turning it into a business I think.
Its something I've thought about the last couple of years, although not sure I know enough about it. The trouble is the turnaround is so slow with some rug repair/wash companies its a nightmare and you end up waiting ages. I suppose they are a victim of their own success.

I do small loads for my liveries - saddle clothes, boots, fleeces and fly rugs but don't do turnouts as drying them is a pain and I would worry about shrinkage/damage etc plus I think people like somewhere that also does repairs.