Best way to get mud covered tack clean? Tips and tricks please!

[becca1305]

I have started hunting regularly for the first time this season and whilst I am enjoying it immensely, I am enjoying less so the cleaning of my inevitably mud plastered tack afterwards! Does anyone have any tips, tricks or miracle products they would like to tell me about please?

So far the easiest seems to be hosing down the items of tack on which more mud than tack can be seen - girth and martingale usually, then tackling it all the next day with hot water and a cloth followed by leather balm/ conditioner. However am I missing a trick? Has anyone found a routine they think saves time/ effort or a product they really rate? Tips and tricks from mud cleaning pros very much welcomed .

ETA - Also advice on the best way to clean a hunt coat would be appreciated .

 

[twiggy2]

ideally I would wipe off wet mud with a damp cloth, wipe tack clean then put it up to dry somewhere away from direct heat but warmish and dry, then use a good saddle soap generously applied, occasional use of conditioner/balm is fine in my book maybe once a month but if you apply saddle soap to clean tack once or twice a week you dont often need a conditioner, the exception to this is for the girth breast plate and martingale as the sweat seems to dry the leather out.

personally I would never ever hose leather off

 

[kentridingclubber]

Having grumpily just done mine I have found to things which are handy. One an old toothbrush for nooks and crannies under saddle flaps is useful. Two a sponge with a (slightly worn) scourer pad on the back has proved useful.
I use wet sponge and scourer to get tack clean then I soap it.
However after Saturday (drenched doesn't cover it) I think I will need to use a conditioner of sorts as bridle straps are very stiff today

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Horseman's One Step. Not the cheapest, and you'll use quite a bit of it........ but unsurpassed IMO.

Alternatively..... get some synthetic tack.

 

[AdorableAlice]

Bucket of hot water for tack. Towel dry and horsemans one stop. If your coat is the real thing, cold water to wash the mud off, dry by the fire and brush it when dry.

 

[Clodagh]

Tack - warm water and a bit of washing up liquid. Elbow grease. Clean while sitting by Aga drinking gin waiting for stew to cook!
When clean lots of saddle soap. If it has got really drenched I use Balsam stuff.

Hunt coat - dry on a good thick hanger then brush with a proper coat brush. If it makes you sneeze use a hoover nozzle at the same time.

ETA - Really muddy bits of tack I immerse in the warm water/WUL combo to clean.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Yesterday was horrendous, wettest I've done for a long time!

As others - bucket of warm water, wash off, towel dry, leave while getting dinner ready & then soap/condition well.
Jacket - hang to dry & stiff brush after.

Never ever leave the tack till next day.....

 

[becca1305]

Thanks for all the tips chaps! .

I forgot to add I have to be careful what I use on saddle since its calfskin so glycerine saddle soap banned by my saddle fitter!

KentRC - yes I've found conditioner definitely needed after a wet day!

MiJods - I tried horsemans the other day (use it normally on tack) it did the job well but I used so much I think I should start buying shares in it!!

AdorableAlice- thanks for the coat advice and I am definitely going to use hot water for tack, makes such a difference in ease of mud off!

Clodagh- I may try immersingy girth/ martingale in WUL instead of hosing that sounds like I good trick to get the plastered stuff off!

The fuzzy furry- Wasn't it just?! I went out twice in the week and both times my skewbald came back looking like a true appaloosa! And my tacks the worst its been so far! I know I'm a very naughty person leaving it, I had been doing it but recently its always been late and dark by the time I've driven home sorted out my horse and the others, and then I'm a bit knackered tbh! Unfortunately I'm not allowed to clean tack in the house so if its freezing wet and dark down the yard it kind of finishes me off! Must try harder . Do you think tack shouldnt be left overnight because its bad for it? Or because its harder to clean the next day?

Thanks for all your tips and tricks, I will be trying them all out I should think!

 

[jess_asterix]

There was a good feature in H&H 2 weeks ago on hunting kit cleaning!

Tack - All taken apart and washed off with warm water and then towel dried and left to dry abit more whilst I wash stirups, bits, girths and wipe saddles.
Then they are all soaped, Horsemans or Lincoln Leather Balsam (smells amazing!!) and then bridles are put back together and hung on the CLEAN ONLY rack ready for the next day hunting. Saddles are also cleaned with soap. We use synthetic girths so these are machine washed if really dirty. Then saddle flasks and whips are wiped and cleaned.

This is all done once tea has been moved from the bottom oven to the top and the kettle is on, whilst the gin is chilling!

Coats are hung up on wooden hangers and left to dry for a day or 2 and then brushed off with a soft clothes brush.

Boots are wiped with warm water and soles scrubbed then left to dry on some newspaper before being polished by the boot fairy (I am lucky!)

 

[JenHunt]

i wash everything in cold water ( a hosepipe if its that bad!), then use old fashioned glycerine soap, leave it to more or less dry somewhere warmish. It gets another going over with the soap later on, then the night before hunting i use CDM leather balsam/effax lederbalsam/similar over girth, breastplate and stirrup leathers as a sort of waterproofing.

must work, my bridle is 20 this year!

 

[Maesfen]

I used to have 15 sets of hunting tack to clean on a Saturday by myself (the others did the horses) so got into a sort of routine.

Two buckets of hot water, one with a dash of washing up liquid too and some terry face cloths (could be a tea towel cut up too) plus an old pan scourer. Do one bridle at a time to avoid getting it mixed up; totally strip it, put bit into clean water, use soap water to wipe off leatherwork. Things like leathers and girths would get the Clodagh treatment of a dunking in the water which makes it much easier and if it's been a wet day you're not going to make it any wetter are you so not going to harm it more. Use a nail or matchstick to clean holes and once clean, wipe over with a towel then hang up to dry with cheek pieces, head piece and browband in place but not put in keepers, you need the air to get to it to dry it; hang the reins and noseband hanging straight down, clean the bit and hang up on hook too; move onto the next bridle (if like me, I like to do all the bridles then all the saddles) and do it all again. Same with the saddles, strip off, irons in the water etc. Saddle would be put back onto the rack with leathers and girth hanging straight on extra hooks, never let damp tack dry curved or wrapped up. Also make a point of checking stitching as you go. Numnahs would get in the washing machine. The tack would be given two days and then would be oiled or soaped as appropriate and reassembled ready for hunting again (we had exercise tack for normal days); remember back then all we had was glycerine bar soap, Neatsfoot, Hydraphane or Flexalan, nothing like the selection there is nowadays but we also had the bonus of working with decent English leather, far better than most you can find now; my Wycherley bridles are at least 40 years old and still as good as new.

The boss used to allow the hunt coats to dry then brush off well if just mud but any stains like a cow pat would be washed off with cold water immediately. The hunt boots were washed off too, stuffed with crumpled newspaper for a few days to dry then the trees would be put back in; he would add polish but not buff them until the day before hunting again, then add more polish and buff properly; he was old Army so a bit of a stickler about them!

 

[Ditchjumper2]

Maesfen.....I think we had the same teacher!!

 

[Maesfen]

Lol, could well have! Happy days, would go back to it like a shot.

 

[The wife]

We do ours immediately after sorting the horses as find fresh mud and sweat comes off easier than dried. Hot water and a dash of washing up liquid, cut up tea towels make great but sensitive mud removers. We water brush all the congealed mud off breastplates and girths with minimal water. Wipe all mud off, paying special attention to holes and around buckles, another wipe with clean warm water, towel dry and then allow to air dry for a few days if really saturated, otherwise we soap with old school saddle soap and put away.

A radio, portable heater/radiator and an Irish coffee make the job go quicker and easier