Lifespan of turn out rugs

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Bubblewrap

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Having had many horses and ponies, I have acquired, over the years, a lot of rugs! I have a lovely Weatherbeeta heavyweight, which i bought 12 years ago for my big boy, it was very expensive at the time - £250 +, but has stood the test of time and gets sent away for cleaning and reproofing every year. It's still my go to rug in very cold weather and seems waterproof. I certainly have my favourite first choice rugs and then my second, third choices if these get too wet during winter!
A gave a friend, who used to own a saddlers so is very knowledgable, a pile of rugs that didn't fit any of my horses, and would fit her daughters new pony. Some newish, some older and she sorted through and said some of them were worn out and not worth reproofing.
So I was wondering, as I've never thought about it before, but do rugs get to the point where they are still in good condition, i.e. not ripped, but are just worn out?
 
I have never had a rug successfully reproofed. None of the wash-in re-proofers work IMO and the spray on ones seem to wear off after a couple of wearings :( I have some turnout rugs that have survived one or two washings, but then they all seem to lose their waterproof in the end. I know I wash them too often but I hate dirty rugs. I do use nikwax but it isn't fool proof, and I am having to learn to sit on my hands or fork out for new rugs.
 
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I have an original Rambo rug - green and at least 25yrs old. Brilliant, and up until last winter never proofed or washed. Will have to see how it holds up this winter.

I tend not to wash them at all, and my horses live in them 24/7 in the winter, even though they are in at night.

Most of mine are at least 7/8 years old, and are only replaced if they get trashed beyond repair.
 
I don't send my TOs to be washed, I agree with Wagtail, they are never quite the same afterwards.

I have nylon lined rambos so they can be lightly scrubbed by hand and warm water to get the grease off the inside and the liners can be washed, I spray the mud off or use a coarse brush to get the worst off the outer before putting them away. They don't smell, and they don't ever leak! i've had some of them for donkeys years. I'd be seriously annoyed if someone sent them away for cleaning :lol:

I do think the cheaper polyester rugs do wear out eventually, but they last longer if they don't get washed IMO.
 
My oldest turnout rug is a Rambo it's must have been bought in the late nineties it's been washed and reproved many many times .
It's padding is thin now but it's a great well fitting rug .
The shortest I had a new rug was one morning I came back to see J naked and plying with something in the mud , it was the shredded rug .
Tatts least endearing habit is tearing off his friend clothes .
My Oldest PE is five years they last and wash well .
I always spread mine with fabsil before they get used I wonder if that's why they last
 
I think I need to start using liners and stop washing my turnouts. I can wash fly rugs and stable rugs as much as I like. I once made the mistake of jet washing a turnout rug and completely un-proofed it duh! Occasionally I will leave turnouts on horses to dry out after they come in. The trouble is, if they lie down in them then they get urine and dung on them and will start to smell. I wish I had a rug drying room because I don't like putting cold wet turnouts back onto horses after I remove their cosy stable rugs in the morning. My horses always have at least two turnouts of each weight so I can at least try to get them dry in between, but even then it's not always possible.
 
I've had a few rugs that have lost their waterproofing, some have been washed and reproofed some haven't.
I sometimes wonder if it's just luck
 
I have a Weatherbeeta turnout that's around 20 years old. I agree that they last longer if not washed. I think if it's a decent rug to begin with it makes a difference. I do like new rugs though so I've ended up with a small mountain of them!
 
I have some WB rugs that are over 10 years old and still good and some Amigo/shires rugs that have been patched and patched again and still waterproof that are 8 or so years old.

I never wash them either as don't think re proofing ever works. I like liners and do wash them every now and then. I also don't do stable rugs so rugs are worn inside and outside so they dry on the horse which I think helps too.
 
I too have never washed a turn out rug .... my oldest turn out rug is 10 years old and is a Mark Todd. My horse is a real mud-monster and so far this hasn't let us down.
 
My l/w and m/w t/o rugs are washed and reproofed twice a year and my h/w rugs once. All horseware ones, mostly Amigos and Rhinos. I have never had one leak, just a bit of storm seepage with detachable necks. Have I just been lucky?
 
I don't get my turnout rugs washed - at most will hose off the outer and give the lining a hand scrub. I find this keeps them waterproof for years. But I do try to use under rugs as much as possible, so I can pop them in the washing machine regularly, then the layer next to the horse is kept clean.

I also find that opting for the higher denier rugs generally means they last longer, both in terms of being waterproof and resistant to rips.
 
My feeling is the older the rug the better the quality, not washing and re proofing seems the way to go. Ancient Weathebeta Masta and Rambo are outlasting PE's by double their life, 10 yrs old plus
 
I wash my turnouts myself once a year with Nickwax and never had a problem although I never use reproofing products. I don't wash no-fill rain sheets though.

I've got a Rambo I bought in 1993 that is still going strong. I think the better quality rug you start with the better it will last. I use mainly Rambo and Bucas.
 
I am another who doesn't wash and reproof my turnout rugs.

I'm a big fan of liners though and they get washed regularly.

Rambo's and Rhino's are great and last for years.
 
alwaysbroke said:
My feeling is the older the rug the better the quality, not washing and re proofing seems the way to go. Ancient Weathebeta Masta and Rambo are outlasting PE's by double their life, 10 yrs old plus
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Agreed. I still have a Rambo rug that I bought 2nhand with a horse in 1991......... it isn't my first choice simply because my current rug shredders have ripped the tail flap off, but it is still waterproof!
 
I dont bother washing TOs - as soon as spring comes around they get a brief wipe down with a sponge to get any excess mud off and then a top up of reproofing spray (probably completely useless but makes me feel better). All the rugs however have liners and the liners get sent away to be washed come spring or replaced if they've worn through). Means i can afford to get away with having two no fills for each horse and swapping between them when the weather turns. My old boys Amigo's were all second hand when i got them and he wore them for a good four/five years (horsewear)... but the big ginger girls have all just been replaced (shires) :'(
 
I've got a 20 year old weatherbeeta turnout and it is still going strong. It isn't even that high a denier. It is a heavyweight and therefore isn't in constant use, so that probably helps. When I buy a rug I would expect it to do 10 years.

I get my turnouts washed and reproofed every two years usually. I wash the insides myself the other year. Mine have been fine and just as waterproof as ever (and I'm in wet old Wales with my ponies on an exposed hillside). The only rug I've been disappointed with as it started to leak after just one season was the Swish, but noone else seems to have had that problem so I must have a Friday afternoon version. I try to buy as good quality as I can, I wish they made the lighter weight turnouts in heavier fabrics.
 
I only have cheapo rugs. They usually end up a bit ripped by the end of the year, but then so do the expensive ones. I've never had any problems with anything that has been washed and repaired
 
I have some secondhand rugs that must be 15years old, when they get bad I rinse them in plain water in the washing machine. I have older Rhino and Amigo 12 which the material seems to be more supple and snags less.
I have a mud thug whose rugs last year ended up dripping in mud, and we are on clay so I have sent them away to be properly washed and reproofed, so we will see....
 
I chucked my second oldest rug this summer - it was 27 years old but I still have a green jute rug which is ancient. Don't use it but have a strange emotional attachment.....

I don't wash my rugs nor do I use liners. Also don't do stable rugs - dry t/o's on the horses and leave over night so they double as stable rugs once horses are in.

I find if the rugs are aired well and changed regularly then they don't smell and the dried mud just falls or brushes off. I air them well before putting away for the summer.

Am I a rug slut?
 
My oldest Rambo Duo is 10yrs old and has been washed and re-proofed countless times, so have all my turnouts come to think of it. Always do them and never had a problem. Agree the better the quality the longer they last. Rugs do wear out eventually with horses rolling, the sun fading and weakening the material. Nikwax told me that and its true, Ive seen affected rugs. I do rugwashing for a business and see a lot of the same rugs coming for repeat wash and re-proofing year after year. Must be doing something right!
 
I used to wash rugs myself with hosepipe and a quick scrub with a brush but I'm too short on time these days so they all go off to be professionally done and reproofed... Bar one 10 yr old Saxon that I've now given away as doesn't fit current horse I seem to have more success with this method than when I did them myself although I do have more expensive tastes in rugs these days so that could be why! I just hate smelly, muddy rugs plus they seem to start rubbing when they get a lot of grease on them and they're easier to store in their nice little bags. Also a few of them this year needed bigger repair jobs than I'm happy doing! Current oldest rug is a nearly 4 yo PE and an Amigo l/w of similar age. Interestingly the lw seemed more waterproof after its wash for some reason as it was a tad useless before.
 
We've a 3 year old Rambo Duo that's used indoors and out, it's shrunk in the wash a bit so the front inner is wearing at the front - horse has grown - and it's now a bit snug! Wash the inners regularly, washed the outer first time this summer, have hand re-proofed with Nikwax, not really been cold enough to try it out yet, but outside looks good as new apart from a couple of scratches on side!
Does anyone know if I can use 6'3 inners with a 6'6 outer of the Duo as am thinking of buying the right size now? Am thinking I could extend the fastenings perhaps?
 
Ive had Areborn rugs that have lasted 14 years, though they didn't get the heavy wear they would in the UK (as I was living in Spain, so probably 1/3 the use a UK rug would have) I gave most of them to a charity before I moved back to the UK a month ago, I reproofed mime with a spray as I found it much more effective than the wash in type. The straps tended to go on mine, but that's due to them being sat in the sun and the UV deteriorating them.
 
we get the heavy duty horseware rugs and they last very well. got sick of flying through cheap rugs constantly.Got great deals at the horseware factory bargain sales and still have them going on 6 years now.
 
ive got Fal rugs, the original UK made ones and they are still like new 15 - 20 years on. tough as old boots, so snags not ripped, and still totally waterproof. And my horse is a disgusting wallowing hippo so really tests his rugs.
 
Wagtail said:
I have never had a rug successfully reproofed. None of the wash-in re-proofers work IMO and the spray on ones seem to wear off after a couple of wearings :( I have some turnout rugs that have survived one or two washings, but then they all seem to lose their waterproof in the end. I know I wash them too often but I hate dirty rugs. I do use nikwax but it isn't fool proof, and I am having to learn to sit on my hands or fork out for new rugs.
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I stopped washing and re-proofing mine a few years ago and they are definitely lasting longer. The thing is that you can now get really good quality rugs at very reasonable prices now so sometimes it is far more cost-effective just to buy a new rug every few years.
 
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