Washing a waterproof blanket

[Sondra]

I have a "waterproof" blanket. I took it to the laundry mat to wash it in a big industrial machine. When I took it out the blanket had held a hugh amount of water! It was trapped by the seams and I had to take it outside and squeeze the water out where I found a weak seam area. There were bucket loads of water that came out, plus it made drying time that much longer!
Any ideas of how to wash? The blanket did not come with any instructions.
Thanks

[artemis]

I am suprised that they let you use the machine! Horse rugs are banned in my area (they leave hairs) I just scrub mine. Remember that it will probably need re-proofing.

[virtuallyhorses]

First what sort of blanket is it? Synthetic, canvas, cotton?

If you wash any rug in normal washing powders or detergents it will destroy some of the waterproofing. There are special washing liquids for waterproof items that you can get from outdoor stores and (usually) saddlery shops - one I have used is called Techwash and it is very good. You can immdeiately tell the difference between these washes and normal detergents as they seem 'oily'.

Anyway - with most heavy rugs you are better off just laying them out on the concrete and using a waterblaster with no detergents or plain water and some scrubbing to get the mud and muck off. Failing that have them professionally washed and reproofed (doesn't cost much).

Synthetic rugs will hold water as you have described between the outer waterproof area and the inner shell , simply because it is waterproof! Under normal circumstances water doesn't go there but when it does the waterproofing will hold the water there just like filling up a plastic bag. I have tended to cut small 'release holes' in the inner shell of my ones along the bottom to ensure that water can drain away as I have seen them sometimes do this on the horse under unusual conditions.