December 9, 2014

Tuesday Tack Tips: Revitalizing Tired Fleece

My fluff haz no protective force field??
Whether synthetic or manufactured by sheep, fleece-lined boots, saddle pads, even bedroom slippers suffer much the same trend as I do:

Problem

Over time, pressure & perspiration cause loss of fluffiness, burrs & sticks can get tangled in seams & fabric, and embedded dirt just gives an overall impression of dinginess.

While my own condition barely registers on the Give-A-Shit Meter, your fleece, assigned the important task of cushioning, cooling (if it's the real thing), & caressing your horse's sensitive skin, deserves far better!

Fortunately for both of us, the solution (for the fleece's condition, at any rate) is simple, quick, & nearly foolproof (I'm not going to say I have NEVER scraped myself with...any object that fits in my hand).

Top: Teh Fluff Lives Again!  Bottom:  Iz Next...
Observe -->

And you're done!  For those who particularly love grooming, now you even get to groom your horse's outfits!!

Simple Solution

In the photo, all I've done with these Dover Pro Sport boots I borrowed for Encore & his new game of "How Many Of My Own Legs Can I Kick During Playtime?"

*insert owner disapproval here*

...is a short soak & pre-wash on 'gentle' in my garage-sale washing machine (Remember when you put the clothes in FROM THE TOP?  And they only came in white?  The horrors I somehow manage to navigate daily...).

After a brief air-dry, I dug out my wire dog-grooming brush that I'm fairly certain is old enough to vote (and I'm almost as certain you can find at your local Dollar Tree,if you don't have one lying around)...and I spent a whopping three minutes brushing the top boot's fleece & velcro.  You can see how much grit is gone, especially if you click to embiggen, compared to its as-yet-un-groomed mate below it.

In addition, the loft is restored & Encore's legs are now wrapped in the revived soft fluffiness of his own personal leg-clouds.  Or weird analogy of your choice.

Hey, I've just spent 10 hours in December hunting inch-long rare fish in swampy ditches full of sticks & 10 degree-C water.  You get what you get...

What are you waiting for??  GO FIND FLUFF IN NEED!

I believe these come pre-fluffed...

14 comments:

  1. nice tip - never thought about using those wire brushes for anything other than my cat... but def see how they could be useful for this

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    1. I didn't either -- long ago, BFF mentioned that her daughter used it for some sheepskin slippers, but I'd forgotten all about it until I was staring at this fleece, trying to figure out how to get all the little bits out without standing there for 2 hours fixating on picking them out by hand like a hyperfocused monkey!

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  2. Replies
    1. Glad to share -- it's my very favourite type of cleaning: zero effort, nearly zero time, instant gratification!! :D

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  3. Oooh, good call! I think I have one of those brushes and I definitely have fleecy boots.

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    1. May all your fleece rejoice in its refluffing! The best part is the re-softification (I just made it a word). :)

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  4. Oo thanks for this post I have a shipping halter I'm wanting to spruce up!

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    1. It's even better on real sheepskin -- I need to use it on my beloved seatsaver, it's just matter of having the two items in the same room at the same time (harder than you might think, LOL)!

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  5. What a great advice! I was close to that when I used MY OWN wooden brush to revive my lambskins after washing - but that did not work out toooo well ;)

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    1. Hmmm, yeah, I don't think the wooden spikey bits would be close enough together. I remember as a kid watching people card wool at our county fair (I raised 4-H lambs for a couple years) & they use wire brushes for that as well...only I'm just now putting that together after finally getting home from the ditch on the coast...so I can drive to a ditch down by Charlotte tomorrow, ahhahaha!

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  6. I have a craigslist washer and dryer. Cheap is good sometimes.

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    1. Oh the dryer is even more special -- washer was an estate sale when someone's granny died, dryer was in a garage sale b/c the house had caught on fire. Hey, it still works 14 years later, looks fine to me & it was $60!!!

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