Drying Wet Rugs

Daffy Dilly

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Dec 5, 2004
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I need a way to dry wet and muddy rugs, as the current one isn't working as well as we need it to; we just have rugs laid over things.

I really don't think the walls could support a rug rack, 3 or 5 armed, ideal as that would be; they can't hold a saddle on a rack all too well. I'm not sure how I'd brace them, and if it would be at all possible, but I'm going to look into that. We have sort of open beams (not spaced too far apart), and I was thinking about putting a curtain pole between two of the beams with regular supports on both sides. Then I'd either use those expensive horsey coat hangers or improvise a way to hang them up.

I wondered if you had any other suggestions? Can't take the rugs home, can't install an airing cupboard (I'd love to) and hanging them on a string or whatever would be rather impractical. :rolleyes: :(
 
Assuming you have some suitable beam/wood:

I tie the back end of the rug up using the leg strap rings; clip them (using the leg straps themselves) onto either baler twine tied round the beam, or (as I just organised yesterday) those rings that you screw into wood, the sort of thing that net curtain wire used to be hung from; high enough off the ground so that the full length of rug can hang down. Should of course be wide enough for the rug to hang full width as well as full length.

mine is strategically placed in front of my hay, and the damp side of the rug faces outwards (so the wet isn't getting on the hay).

Works fine - usually pretty dry by the next morning!
 
What about putting nails in the beams, thats what we do at our yard, and hang the rugs up by putting the D rings off the leg straps on the nails. ;) less hassle than putting a curtain pole up
 
We have a long washing line hung up along the length of our barn (there are only stables along one wall). Everyone can then hang up their rugs opposite their stable to dry. Sometimes, I take them home and stick them on a radiator if I really have to, but I don't like to do this.
 
Like Sez we have a washing line along the length of the barn, and we also have a wooden 'rack' which takes two/three wet rugs. Not ideal, but they do dry overnight if you leave them hanging up!
 
I have many ways, depending on the urgency to dry them and how wet they are, if they are damp they go in the barn over the rails, if a tiny bit wet then he has a bale twine makeshift line in his stable which the rug goes on and is kept dry and handy for the mornings, it is kept there when its dry too so i dont have to keep going in and out of the stable!
and when they are really soggy we have a rug rack in the boiler shed, so it goes in there and in the morn its really cosy and warm, we call it the hot shed and its roastin in there! really quick way of drying them and they arnt cold when we pop them on in the morn either!!
We also have a rug rack in the feed alley to put them on, sorry this prob wasnt much use but a bale twine makeshift rug rack does the job!!!
 
I have those cheap clothes rails from argos arranged in my garage (each rail holds one rug) and I have my tumble dryer in there which is constantly on the go and creates a bit of warmth to dry the rugs - once dry i then brush off the mud. OH is always twisting cos at the mo there are 6 rails all adorned with wet dirty rugs :D
 
leave them on! if they are not wet inside, they will dry much faster on the horse. if they are taken off and you can't heat them, then the damp that was kept on the outside bythe horse's body heat will penetrate and they will be damp in the morning.
 
He take our home and put the in the garage that being a problem for you though a lot of people on my yard but two chairs together and let the air get to them only if they wet on the underside too though. If they are just wet on top like the others have said levae them on the horse
 
Sultan's is always wet underneath, usually just the bottom but it can be damp elsewhere too depending what mood he's in; if he runs around he gets sweaty. :rolleyes:

Daffy's is normally damp around the bottom on the inside where he's kicked the mud up a bit. We towel dried them today which made Daffy's rug almost dry in most places, and it helped a bit with Sultans. Will have to see how we get on as a washing line isn't feasible, I used to have one in the tackroom but there just isn't the room with three of us in there.

We've been thinking about it, and the problem is that there isn't any air circulation in the tackroom. So it either has to be in the stables or outside, but when it's dry on the inside and we're desperate to dry them I'll leave one on overnight.:)
 
scoobiedoo said:
I have those cheap clothes rails from argos arranged in my garage (each rail holds one rug)
They also have a horsey coat hanger in the new DH catalogue - most probably more expensive than a cheap argos one though:rolleyes: I think the DH one is £20...
 
Also what he have done is got some cheap broom handles from the market, £2.50 drilled two holes in either end and threaded some strong clothes line throught it. We have two and they both hold around 5 rugs just for storing so would defo hold 1 wet rug.
 
I have a washing line (one that could easily be put up in the stable) I attached one end to a rafter, looped the other end over a rafter a few feet away, then tie two loops in the dangly end (one right at the end the other part way up), using the loops I attach them to something (a bolt/clip/rail).
When on the end loop the clothes line is low down and you can put the rug on/off easily, then you pull it down to the second loop and the rug is up in the rafters out of the way but in the dry :D Make sure you put it along a wall though or your pony gets dripped on :D

J x
 
we lined all our stables with a pole on which yoiu can hang rugs - this is ok if they are not too wet and we can hang dry rugs there for storate.

otherwise they come in the house and are put over the boiler, or we have one of these rug racks with a heating element in it _doesent work all that well to be honest, but will get them more or less dry over night.

the only real way I have found is to have enough spares so that you have one on and one drying!
 
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