Equine washing machine

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Pwllhen18

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Hi all,

I'm contemplating starting up my own equine rug washing business, just me, one machine washing a few rugs, equipment etc!!

what machine would you all recommend as there's so many to choose from!! Links etc appreciated!! TIA x
 
Pwllhen18 said:
Hi all,

I'm contemplating starting up my own equine rug washing business, just me, one machine washing a few rugs, equipment etc!!

what machine would you all recommend as there's so many to choose from!! Links etc appreciated!! TIA x
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Just be aware that if you are planning on doing this from home you are probably not permitted to do this if you have restrictive covenants on your property.

It was something I was thinking of doing when we move to Mum's as she has a large insulated double garage which could double up really well as a drying room. But the covenants and restrictions on household insurance sadly prevent this.
 
The one we had, similar to theses, had to be bolted down as it was an industrial one. You wouldn't do rugs with anything other than an industrial machine. An ordinary drum wouldn't be big enough or robust enough. The ordinary machine wouldn't last long doing rugs.

You may not be able to run a business from your home but you'd need to check your deeds. If there's restrictive covenant you can try and get it removed. But you'll need a fair amount of space to do it all in.

maglaundryequipment.co.uk

Equestrian

Equestrian Laundry Equipment A dirty horse rug will have an impact on your horse’s health. A dirty horse rug will have an impact on your horse’s
maglaundryequipment.co.uk maglaundryequipment.co.uk
 
We have a girbau. As above, it’s bolted to the floor.

Not sure of the drum capacity but it can take a 2-3 light turnouts plus a few small bits (boots, numnahs…) at a time.

Had it nearly 8 years and it’s had minimal work - the door seal and one heating element replaced iirc
 
I can't advise on a suitable washing machine, but to reiterate that you need a lot of both outside and undercover drying space to hang the drying rugs out on.

The place I use (really good, been operating over 20 years) has moveable racks and they push the airing rugs outside when it’s dry and bring them back in overnight/when wet. They do not spin the turnout rugs as it damages them, they have to drip dry.
 
Birker2020 said:
Just be aware that if you are planning on doing this from home you are probably not permitted to do this if you have restrictive covenants on your property.

It was something I was thinking of doing when we move to Mum's as she has a large insulated double garage which could double up really well as a drying room. But the covenants and restrictions on household insurance sadly prevent this.
Click to expand...
Hi

Many thanks for your reply, I will definitely look into this, as have never run my own business before. We live on a farm in the welsh hills, so I'd like to hopefully take over a corner of a shed/barn!! I'm horsey mad from birth so something I've been thinking of for a long time!!
 
Tiddlypom said:
I can't advise on a suitable washing machine, but to reiterate that you need a lot of both outside and undercover drying space to hang the drying rugs out on.

The place I use (really good, been operating over 20 years) has moveable racks and they push the airing rugs outside when it’s dry and bring them back in overnight/when wet. They do not spin the turnout rugs as it damages them, they have to drip dry.
Click to expand...
Many thanks for your reply,

I'm hoping to knab a corner of the barn and in time drying racks are definitely on my wish list. It's always something that's been on my mind, and with 12 of my own it'll definitely be well used!!
 
blood_magik said:
We have a girbau. As above, it’s bolted to the floor.

Not sure of the drum capacity but it can take a 2-3 light turnouts plus a few small bits (boots, numnahs…) at a time.

Had it nearly 8 years and it’s had minimal work - the door seal and one heating element replaced iirc
Click to expand...
Thank you for replying,

Never heard of a Girbau before thank you will look onto this x
 
Parrotperson said:
The one we had, similar to theses, had to be bolted down as it was an industrial one. You wouldn't do rugs with anything other than an industrial machine. An ordinary drum wouldn't be big enough or robust enough. The ordinary machine wouldn't last long doing rugs.

You may not be able to run a business from your home but you'd need to check your deeds. If there's restrictive covenant you can try and get it removed. But you'll need a fair amount of space to do it all in.

maglaundryequipment.co.uk

Equestrian

Equestrian Laundry Equipment A dirty horse rug will have an impact on your horse’s health. A dirty horse rug will have an impact on your horse’s
maglaundryequipment.co.uk maglaundryequipment.co.uk
Click to expand...
Many thanks for your reply,

I will definitely look into this, as have never run my own business before. We live on a farm in the welsh hills, so I'd like to hopefully take over a corner of a shed/barn!! I'm horsey mad from birth so something I've been thinking of for a long time!!
 
Pwllhen18 said:
Many thanks for your reply,

I will definitely look into this, as have never run my own business before. We live on a farm in the welsh hills, so I'd like to hopefully take over a corner of a shed/barn!! I'm horsey mad from birth so something I've been thinking of for a long time!!
Click to expand...
I would imagine if you don’t have near neighbours and you’re farming you’d be ok!!

An industrial machine would probably need special electrics and as I said bolting to a concrete level plinth.

This last bit wasn’t done properly at the yard I worked at so the machine got the spin cycle and tore itself off the wall and all the way across the room!! The noise was deafening.
 
On the cater wash website if you click the reconditioned and graded link then click the laundry picture scroll to the bottom of the page there is a minor box damaged one at £800 +vat ( presumably never used) that's a saving of over £300 . They are recomended by Robert Whitaker in the adds in H& H
 
Parrotperson said:
I would imagine if you don’t have near neighbours and you’re farming you’d be ok!!

An industrial machine would probably need special electrics and as I said bolting to a concrete level plinth.

This last bit wasn’t done properly at the yard I worked at so the machine got the spin cycle and tore itself off the wall and all the way across the room!! The noise was deafening.
Click to expand...
I will definitely look into it, really hoping I can make it work, been thinking about doing it for ages, x
 
Another thing you need to be aware of is where the discharge from the contaminated wash waters is going. You may need permission from the sewerage company to discharge to a sewer and if you are not on mains drainage then you won’t be able to discharge to a soak away and it’s unlikely a domestic septic tank or cess pit would be able to cope with the quantities.

A local rug wash company closed down for this reason as they were not able to connect to mains drainage.

Other things to consider would be if you had multiple machines would your electrical supply cope?
 
poiuytrewq said:
Do you need 3 phase electric for the huge industrial ones? I’m not sure but -*think a friend who has a prospering rug wash business had to have it. Might just be another something to check!
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You do need a proper electrician in to fit them yes. I think some sort of transformer is involved. But it’s worth doing the f you want to set up a business. Those big industrial machine wash rugs really well.
 
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