# Cleaning a Wool Felt pad



## evilamc (Sep 22, 2011)

I bought the strip hair kit, it came with 3 "brushes". One LARGE one, for horse, a small face one and one for saddle pad! The saddle pad worked AMAZING on my 5 star pad!

Heres a before and after, I spent maybe 5 min? I did wash it after getting most the hair off and it looks brand new now.


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

Everything I was going to say has already been suggested! All I can say is not all vacuums are created equally. Honestly you can pick the worst of it out by hand if you need to. Is this directly on the horse? I would try to keep if off the back at least enough to keep it clean, get another layer under there.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

Yogiwick said:


> Everything I was going to say has already been suggested! All I can say is not all vacuums are created equally. Honestly you can pick the worst of it out by hand if you need to. Is this directly on the horse? I would try to keep if off the back at least enough to keep it clean, get another layer under there.


Yes, I asked manufacturer about using a baby pad underneath it to keep it clean, but they said while other pads can be placed over it, this pad was designed to be right against the horse. The pad solved my saddle fit problems, so I'm not about to mess with the design of it.

Well, even if I can't get all the hair off, as long as it's clean and free of dirt it's all hair one way or another, whether it's wool or horse hair.

I just wanted to know if there was a specific tool for cleaning wool that I didn't know about. I know cleaning wool after it's sheared off sheep can't be easy, but then I believe they do use lots of chemicals in that process. I don't know much about that though.


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

horseluvr2524 said:


> Yes, I asked manufacturer about using a baby pad underneath it to keep it clean, but they said while other pads can be placed over it, this pad was designed to be right against the horse. The pad solved my saddle fit problems, so I'm not about to mess with the design of it.
> 
> Well, even if I can't get all the hair off, as long as it's clean and free of dirt it's all hair one way or another, whether it's wool or horse hair.
> 
> I just wanted to know if there was a specific tool for cleaning wool that I didn't know about. I know cleaning wool after it's sheared off sheep can't be easy, but then I believe they do use lots of chemicals in that process. I don't know much about that though.


I have sheep (Shetlands, a wool breed) and the wool is washed in it's natural form with lots of soaking and minimal agitation (maybe chemicals in commercial use but I'm just talking about doing it by hand) there is no tool used that I am aware of other than a bucket and hands lol, as I said you don't want to disturb the fleece pretty much at all.

But that's also raw wool and not felt. Getting hair out of felt is completely different!

They do have those stiff brushes for velcro cleaning but I wouldn't want to ruin it. Your best option is likely to professionally clean it. Maybe once a year after shedding season? lol Weird that they don't want even a baby pad, but I guess that's the point of buying something specific.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

I don't worry about removing all the hairs, I brush out most of the hair that will come out and scrub with a brush, rinse and hang out. The hair that is left becomes part of the pad, a custom horse hair/wool hybrid, worth more money I am sure.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

Yogiwick said:


> I have sheep (Shetlands, a wool breed) and the wool is washed in it's natural form with lots of soaking and minimal agitation (maybe chemicals in commercial use but I'm just talking about doing it by hand) there is no tool used that I am aware of other than a bucket and hands lol, as I said you don't want to disturb the fleece pretty much at all.
> 
> But that's also raw wool and not felt. Getting hair out of felt is completely different!
> 
> They do have those stiff brushes for velcro cleaning but I wouldn't want to ruin it. Your best option is likely to professionally clean it. Maybe once a year after shedding season? lol Weird that they don't want even a baby pad, but I guess that's the point of buying something specific.


Interesting info on the process of cleaning wool, thanks! I've always wondered about that, as I've pet sheep before that were very greasy and dirty.

Yeah, honestly I don't see how a thin baby pad would affect the way the pad works, but I'm sure the manufacturer's know a lot more about the pad they designed than I do. Shan has been so happy with this saddle pad that I really don't want to do anything to screw it up.

I'm thinking maybe I should just use some bar soap or similar thing to remove the ground in sweat stains. They didn't come off with the hose last time. :-?


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

Hrmm... careful about the soap, you don't want anything that would harm the pad and irritate the horse. I'm not saying NOT to use some type of soap...just be careful what you choose. Buying a wool cleaner may be a good option. They have ones designed for use on horse products so would probably be easy to rinse out.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

Good idea, thanks. I'll look into those.

Even though I had just cleaned the pad last week and only ridden in it once or twice since, when I took it off yesterday after riding two hours it smelled like dirty gym clothes! Yuck.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

This is what I've found so far...

5 Star All Natural Dry-Clean Sponge, 5 Star Equine Products-outfitterssupply.com

Leather Therapy Saddle Pad & Blanket Wash- Tack Care


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

If you were to put a thin cotton cloth under it that would solve the hair problem and not make any difference to the fit. All the racehorses had cotton pads under the numnahs as they were easier to wash and dry. Use to make them out of old bed sheets.

As for the hair - good luck picking it off!


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