Every year during the summer when the climate is dry and the horses spend most of their time outside in the field, we like to take the opportunity to wash the stable and this year we also painted some.
We have tried three different methods.
- Power washer
We use the power washer to clean the floors with a special floor cleaning head but unfortunately I don’t find that the power washer cleans the walls in a satisfactory way and is just too rough.
- Power drill brush
This worked in some situations but the brush we got was a little bit too weak and only on some stains I found it to be best to go in with this tool first and then use method number 3.
- Scrub brush
Last year I used a regular dish brush to scrub the entire stable which was fine but not super effective. This year though, I found a scrub brush with the handle on top of the brush and it was game changing.
Another advice I have is to go heavy on the soap, the more soap the more effect I usually find.
To remove the water from the stalls we use an industrial vacuum cleaner that can suction up the water and then let it air dry with the help of an industrial heat fan. This usually gets the job done in a few hours and the straw will usually take care of the rest if the floor is still a little bit wet.
The walls outside of the stalls we just went in with a dry brush to remove dust and spider webs and in some areas we had to go in with some soap and water but we kept this to a minimum. We then went in with the same silica paint that we used in the tack room. This made such a huge difference and I’m so happy we took the time to do it.
Next year we will be repainting the walls inside the stalls, but we haven’t decided if we will just touch up the paint or if we want to go in with another color. When we first moved in I wasn’t sure I liked the red and yellow but it is growing on me. The gray on the back walls is still giving me a bad vibe though. Having so many different colors makes it a little bit chaotic.
What do you think, should we keep the colors or try something else?
We also cleaned and repainted where we keep the manure. Here we had to go in with the power washer. The result is so satisfying!
