Cleaning a saddle pad...help!

[PonyGirlAsh]

Hi everyone...hope this is the right area to post this topic in! Anyway, I was given a saddle by a friend who no longer rides today, and having never owned my own saddle before, I'm a little clueless about the whole situation. I am going to take the saddle to my trainer and see if it will work for both the horse I ride, and for myself, and I think I need to take it to the saddle repair, as some of the stitching looks a little...old. In the meantime, however, I would really like to get the saddle pad it comes with nice and shiny white again. I believe it is wool, but could anyone tell me the best methods to clean both wool and cotton (english) pads? I don't want to shrink it!!! :) Any info would be great!

[sidesaddlelady1]

Hi everyone...hope this is the right area to post this topic in! Anyway, I was given a saddle by a friend who no longer rides today, and having never owned my own saddle before, I'm a little clueless about the whole situation. I am going to take the saddle to my trainer and see if it will work for both the horse I ride, and for myself, and I think I need to take it to the saddle repair, as some of the stitching looks a little...old. In the meantime, however, I would really like to get the saddle pad it comes with nice and shiny white again. I believe it is wool, but could anyone tell me the best methods to clean both wool and cotton (english) pads? I don't want to shrink it!!! :) Any info would be great!
By pads do you mean quilted numnahs or saddle cloths which go under the saddle or do you mean that the saddle is lined with fabric? If you are talking about saddle cloths the cotton one should go in the washing machine but don't use biological detergent as horses have sensitive skins and could be irritated. As far as the wool one is concerned, wash it by hand, gently, in lukewarm (tepid) water and a special detergent for woollens - do you have "Stergene" in your part of the world? Rinse very thoroughly in several changes of lukewarm (tepid) water until the water runs clear. Squeeze out the water gently and lay out the saddle cloth onto a thick towel and roll up the two together to squeeze out the water. Unwrap and dry the saddle cloth in the fresh air or over a drying rack indoors but do not put it on or against a direct source of heat. (If the saddle is lined with fabric it may be very old & you should be very careful as wetting it too much can make the flocking go lumpy. In this case I would consult your saddler.)

Good luck with your saddle. If looked after properly, which means removing sweat and mud and other dirt and then saddle soaping it regularly and adding a little oil occasionally if necessary, there is no reason why a saddle should not give you many years of service - two of my side saddles are around 80 years old.

As you say you haven't had your own saddle before perhaps the following hints might help. I find that if you clean your tack (saddle, bridle, etc,) before it gets too dirty it makes it much easier. First of all remove sweat and dirt from the leather by rubbing it hard with a cloth wrung out in warm (not hot) water which has a little washing up liquid added to it - not enough to make a lot of foam. Let the leather dry then take a sponge which is very slighty dampened and use it to rub in the saddle soap well. If you get foam from the saddle soap your sponge is too wet and it defeats the object of using saddle soap. In fact (and this is the disgusting part) I was taught to spit in the saddle soap because that gives you just the right amount of moisture and also there are supposed to be enzymes in spit which deter mould. I do it when I use solid saddle soap and it seems to work very well. Hang up the saddle on its rack to dry then buff up the leather to a sheen with a clean soft cloth. If you oil the leather be sparing with the oil as to much can make the leather slimy. In the UK we can buy a very good spray cleaner to get off the sweat and dirt before soaping and a spray conditioner which takes the place of the saddle soap. If you can get something similar in America then they do the job quicker and as well as the elbow grease method but are more expensive.

[PonyGirlAsh]

It is a wool saddle cloth that is separate from the saddle (sorry, the terms aren't too familiar!!) Thank you so much for the excellent advice and for taking all the time to write it! I'll post again here once I try everything and let you know if I have any other questions. I'll probably have the saddle fully cleaned if I need to take it into repair, so after that I'll be sure to keep it in good condition! Thanks again!

[PonyGirlAsh]

Had a closer look at the pad, and decided that it has seen its last day...going to buy a new one and start fresh! :)

[PromiseMe]

Well if you still decided to keep it...

for wool pads... you can machine wash them as well USUALLY. (some people hand wash them too, to be on safe side)
Since wool is usually backed by leather, i believe - similar to sheepskin, you can get special detergents for leather to usein your washing machine. For example Melp or leather therapy wash. Not too cheap though
And often it can come out lookign new.

Just wash it in cold water (so it doesnt shrink) and put it on delicate setting.
Do NOT put in the dryer. Let it air dry, in the shade, not over vents. It migth take a day or two depending how think it is.