Browsing the Chronicle of the Horse I found an article on cleaning non-leather tack which talked about using OxyClean and scrubbing the pads to get the stains out. Since we had a bottle of spray-on OxyClean, I figured I'd give it a try. I usually use Zout and just sprinkle that on the stain and throw it in the wash, but it wasn't working. Scrubbing might have helped, but I decided to try out OxyClean.
What you need:
- Bottle of OxyClean
- Scrub brush
- Lots and lots of elbow grease
And the after pictures:
Much better! They're not perfect, but they're a lot better than they were. The pad on the left is a very thick one, while the one on the right is a thinner cotton pad from Dover Saddery. It's definitely a lot easier to clean a thinner pad!
I ended up washing three pads and used over half the bottle of OxyClean. I sprayed both sides of the pad and got to work on one side. It took a lot of scrubbing, rinsing, spraying and scrubbing some more. Once I finished a side I would spray it again to let it sit while I did the other side, then come back to it and give it one last scrub before tossing it in the wash. It took forever and made my wrist very sore, but I'm pleased with the result.
One piece of advice, don't use a toothbrush when doing a large area! I needed a bigger scrubby brush to cover that area, a little one just doesn't cut it!
Do you have any other good ways to whiten pads? I'm always looking for ways to get them looking better!
I use Tide Stain Release spray. I brush off any excess dirt/hair with a stiff brush, and spray the dry pad with the Tide spray. I fill the bathtub up with hot water and immerse the pad fully and let it soak for 1-3 hours, depending on how nasty it is. After 1/2 hour of soaking, I use a standard kitchen sponge with the scrubby side to scrub the underside of the pad and get all of the dirt off of it. When the pad is done soaking I put it through the wash. They come out sparkling clean every time. The water in the bathtub is always almost black when I take the pads out of it, and when I drain the tub there is a layer of dirt and other nasty stuff lining the bottom of the tub. GROSS!
ReplyDeleteI soak them overnight in Oxyclean, starting with hot water. Some of them have slight stains on the underside if they are brushed cotton, I don't want to scrub that with a brush anyway. But the outer surface is sparkling clean. This gets colored pads clean and bright also.
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