Sort of realized towards the end of last week that if I was showing again this week (eeeeee), I needed to do some show prep! I did a pretty good job with about 90% of my supplies coming back from the show in April getting packed away neatly (like emptying out my hay transport bags and folding them nicely, and packing everything I needed for shows into two tubs that could easily be moved into my horse trailer), but one thing I DIDN'T address when I got back from my show was my white breeches and pad.... because fundamentally, I am lazy and hate laundry haha. Luckily, past me remembered to
scotchguard the fuck out of all the whites, so I went into it hoping the clean up wouldn't be too terrible.
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| Literally sat on my papason chair in the Taj MahTeal for almost four months before I realized I should probably... you know. Clean it. |
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| A friend had recommended fels naptha bars for cleaning whites, so I bought some (back in april lol) but wasn't making much progress scrubbing the stains with the bar directly, so I messaged her and was like "WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?" |
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| One side was significantly worse than the other. |
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| Apparently the secret was to wet the stain first, then scrub with a brush and some shavings of the soap bar. I couldn't find a decent sized brush so I did most of this with a toothbrush lol. Will have to add a better brush to my shopping list! |
I tossed the pad and my breeches into the wash on hot with some crumbs of oxiclean I found at the bottom of a tub (also added to my shopping list), and hoped for the best!
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| After the first wash. Definitely better, but not sparkling. |
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| Scotchgarded more breeches. |
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| Once dry, definitely clear there was more work to do. |
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| More scrubbing. Then an oxiclean soak. |
A few weeks back when I was trying to get the most bang for my buck on a Smartpak order, I also bought some effervescent brush cleaner because my brushes were.... embarrassingly gross. I have a really nice set of Leistner brushes I only use for lessons and shows, but I was terrified to clean them because they're wooden backed and I didn't want to fuck them up (because it was an expensive set!). But since Ruby has a 3 pm photoshoot Friday with
THE FANCIEST PHOTOGRAPHER I knew it was time to bite the bullet and clean them. Wanted to stretch the cleaner as far as possible so I cleaned my everyday brushes too (#cheapskate lol).
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| Um yikes |
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| So gross. |
I took my packing list and went through and verified about 80% of my stuff is ready to go. I washed some schooling pads and I'll start sloooooowly packing the trailer this week so I don't fuck up my back. HJ's surgery got bumped to Thursday and the show secretary had enough scratches to get me into two more classes, so it's gonna be a whirling vortex of chaos this weekend 🥴🥴🥴
Yeah that's about how I felt after cleaning my brushes. Best of luck with the show weekend!
ReplyDeleteHaha it was weirdly satisfying though! And thank you!
Deleteooh I love the brush cleaner!! I got some on my last Dover trip, and I pride myself on at least rinsing my brushes once a quarter, if not a full clean with shampoo, and holy ew. It works so well. Glad most of the stains came out, I haven't dared look at my whites in case I'm not showing.
ReplyDeleteI... Need to be better about it 🤣 same with washing saddle pads, which I also did this weekend lol.
DeleteI was pretty good about IMMEDIATELY washing my whites after my first two shows, but since show 3 they have sat around (in my car no less, oops) until now. but today is the day I get them out to clean them!!!! (cause I need to put tools in my car lol.)
ReplyDeleteI think I just sort of had a mental block about showing again since April was such a trainwreck (ha I crack myself up) and then I originally was going to this show as a non-compete so I sort of put it out of my brain until I was like "oh shit wait I better do something!" and now here we are 🤣
DeleteHow did the Leistner brushes do being washed? I have a set that I've owned since 2015ish and I've never washed them because I have been scared to get the wood wet.
ReplyDeleteI made sure to keep them in a pan shallow enough the wood backing stayed dry, and knock on wood everything looked good when I put them away. I haven't used them yet, but will at the show!
DeleteCool! I'll have to attempt to clean my filthy brushes. They're every day brushes, so I'm prepared for them to be extra nasty!
DeleteI did find the instructions they came with - I had very helpfully tucked it into the pocket of the grooming bag lol. If you don't want to track down the effervescent brush cleaner, the instructions say to just use a few drops of horse shampoo 😁
DeleteThat brush cleaner is interesting . I usually just throw them in a soapy bucket. And I’m kicking myself for not scotchguarding my pads!
ReplyDeleteIt's never too late to start! Next time you wash them, Scotchgard after lol
DeleteI'm going to have to steal these tips for the saddle pad and breeches! My usual MO is to figure that if they got stained it is because they were contacting something and will be again therefore will not be exposed for people to see and judge LOL!
ReplyDeleteSteal away! Most of the stains probably will be under my saddle, but those were from my old saddle and the flaps were clearly gross, I keep the flaps on the Fairfax was cleaner now since it's a monoflap 🤣🤣
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