Reproofing turnout rugs

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TheRedMare

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I'm getting myself a bit confused over reproofing turnouts... I have several that I was looking to spruce up while the weather is nice for drying them out again and it seems to be quite expensive if I send them to someone else to do.

As the rugs aren't very dirty, I was planning to do them myself though. We used to clean rugs by laying them on the floor, hosing down and scrubbing with rug wash and a broom. As they're not as dirty as those, I was going to lightly scrub and spot clean where needed. Then I was going to reproof them as if I was reproofing a waterproof coat, with spray or aersol.

All rug reproofers I'm finding though are wash-in ones which aren't what I'm looking for here. Is there something that I can use to spray on or paint on like before without washing the rug with a special reproofer?

The rugs haven't become leaky or anything, I just want to take the chance to refresh them this summer ready for Autumn and Winter. They were perfectly fine at the end of Winter and the lightweights used through Spring were all good too. :)

Thank you in advance!
 
I wash mine with the hose and a brush, I use no rug wash on the turnouts, then leave them as they are, if they were waterproof before they will still be waterproof after a hose down as long as you dont use detergent, I have done this for years and rarely send them away for cleaning unless they require repairing.
 
As others, I don’t wash turnouts, and have always sprayed them to waterproof them. The Fabsil stuff sounds good though, and might look at that, but does it spoil the breathability?
 
I cleaned some rugs the way you described about 2 years ago and painted them with fabsil. Everyone leaked badly after a short while, I wonder where I went wrong.
 
If they aren’t too dirty and they are still waterproof, I wouldn’t do anything! My experience of washing and reproofing turnouts is that they are nowhere near as good afterwards.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions! I'll definitely pick up some fabsil, just what I was looking for!

And, thanks for the reminder to not be too finicky - they are horse rugs after all and they're there to do a job, not look spotless! Got a couple of repairs to take care of first, I think, and then will spot clean what needs doing. At least the stable rugs are easy to do, as those do get a bit dirtier being in the stable (lying down in poo etc).

Cheers!
 
I have used a large storage tub to soak mine in reproofer (Nikwax) before now, after washing in detergent (and rinsing thoroughly!). Does the same thing as washing in - I seem to remember it was more effective at reproofing that way, too! The fabsil does sound handy, though!! Most important thing is getting all detergent out before the reproofing phase as this is what hinders the reproofer sticking.
 
OLDGREYMARE said:
I cleaned some rugs the way you described about 2 years ago and painted them with fabsil. Everyone leaked badly after a short while, I wonder where I went wrong.
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I'm the same as you :( I've tried Fabsil and tent reproofer, both with poor results. I now buy cheap rugs and bin them or layer them when the proofing starts to fail.
 
OLDGREYMARE said:
I cleaned some rugs the way you described about 2 years ago and painted them with fabsil. Everyone leaked badly after a short while, I wonder where I went wrong.
Click to expand...

That happened to me too! It was an old tin of Fabsil - I wondered if that was the reason? I painted it on with a brush - 3 coats! Still the bleddy things leaked!
 
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