WHAT WE DO

Why Clean a Horse Rug: The ammonia in urine and manure act like an acid on fabric which can have a detrimental effect on the life and strength of the material, making it easier for your horse to rip and destroy their rug. For this reason, it is highly recommended that rugs and blankets are cleaned on a regular basis, whether you decided to clean them yourself or use a rug cleaning service.

It is extremely important to wash rugs and ensure they are free of moisture prior to storing them for the season. Heat and moisture bake in all the ammonia, weakening the fabric, leaving permanent stains. Dirty items stored will also make a great place for spiders, insects and rodents to live.

Suddy Rugs knows the value of all equestrian rugs and blankets. We specialise in the cleaning of all types of horse rugs, horse wear and pet bedding, blankets and clothing.

Although all rugs will be returned to the client as clean as possible, it is important to know that stains and ground in dirt is sometimes impossible to remove and your rug may return with ground in dirt or stains that cannot be extracted.

We use either Nikwax, RugSafe or Harper's detergent and reproofing products to wash and re-proof all types of rugs which is the only recommended products for horse rugs, saddle cloths and blankets.

We can also clean and repair dog beds, blankets and coats.

The products are designed to be kind to your horse and pets and are the only recommended items that will ever be used. Not only are these products safe to use on your horse or pet wear, they are safe for the animals skin too. These products will not affect the colour and appearance of the item.

Rugs are only washed at the manufacturers recommended temperature and instructions.

Each rug will be individually treated per load and once washed, if re-proofing is required, the rug will go through another cycle to enable the re-proofing liquid full coverage.

No tumble dryer's are used in the drying process as they can damage the fabrics within your rug. All rugs are air dried naturally to prevent any shrinkage or damage.

SERVICES

Wash, Dry and Reproofing

During the wash and drying process, all care is taken to ensure that all rugs are treated with the upmost care, however, no responsibility will be accepted for damage caused during the laundering process; especially if there is already damage that you have decided not to repair. In some cases (particularly older or inferior) materials/fabrics will disintegrate in the wash, and we will advise when collecting whether we feel that the item would not withstand the washing process.

Laundering is done in a commercial washing machine with the appropriate program and temperature selected (>30 degrees) and following the manufacturers recommended washing details for the type of item being washed (washing in high temperatures can damage the waterproof nature of the fabric). The chemicals are also chosen with the fabric type in mind and we use only the best products available to the market.

Unusually, brands of horse rugs, clean differently, and although Suddy Rugs can guarantee that each rug will be individually washed at the manufacturer's recommended temperature, and rate, not all rugs will look brand new when they return to the owner. Some will look amazing, however, some will still have marks on from the ground in, heavily soiled item that Suddy Rugs has been given to clean, which makes it virtually impossible to get off.

An example of this is a well known branded rug which can be washed 2-3 times and still have marks on that is impossible to shift. Suddy Rugs will endeavour to produce the best results possible, however, cannot guarantee that we will be able to remove all deeply ground in soiling.

All items are hung to dry, air dried, to prevent any damage or shrinkage. Natural drying also prevents rot, mould and mildew growing on the rugs.

Waterproofing: Manufacturers recommend reproofing your rugs at least once every 12 months after they are 1 year old.

Even the sunlight in the Winter has enough UV light to breakdown the waterproof qualities of a turnout rug. All detergent and waterproof liquid used are specialist products that do not strip waterproofing and will not damage the fibres of the rugs.

Waterproofing can only be done if the item is laundered first and will be reproofed after the pre-wash cycle to ensure that the whole rug is treated.

If the item is old, and we feel that it is beyond re-proofing, or will not withstand another re-proof, we will advise you at the time of booking the laundering, as it may be considered an unworthy task.

Suggested notification (found on a rug label):

"It is impossible to have a rug that is 100% waterproof. The most that you should expect is that it will keep the worst of the bad weather off your horse. Ideally, you should always be prepared to change a rug that has been subjected to heavy rain for a spare one and allow the original to dry off, unfortunately, anything leaks after too long exposure to extreme weather conditions. Do not wait for things to go wrong to have a contingency plan. You should not expect to go through the whole winter on just one rug."

It is also important to ensure that the right type of rug is being used for the weather conditions to give the rug some chance of keeping the worst of the weather off your horse.

Antibacterial washing is an additional service when needed.

Once cleaned, all items are bagged and tagged, ready for collection or delivery, allowing the cleaned rugs to be stored for future use.

We use either Nikwax, Harpers or RugSafe products to wash and re-proof all client's rugs, blankets and saddle pads.

Re-proofer restores the Durable Water Repellency (DWR) of rugs and helps maintain their breathability.

De-Hairing

De-hairing is something that all customers ask us about. We do our very best to de-hair your item, however, it will never be completely hair free when it is returned.

Fleeces that are particularly hairy will incur an additional fee to remove the huge quantity of hairs that fleeces regularly entrap as hours of work goes into the de-hairing process. Unfortunately, no matter how much time is spent on de-hairing a fleece though, at some point we have to admit defeat so please be aware that although the majority of hair will be removed, not all hair will be eradicated.

Velcro, (hook and loop tape) will be cleaned, de-haired, and cleared of foreign bodies (such as hay) to enable it to re-fasten correctly, free of charge.

Repairs

We offer a full repair service – from a broken front clip to a major overhaul!

We have a heavy duty commercial sewing machine that will tackle most challenges.

All rugs must be cleaned prior to any repairs being carried out. No work will be undertaken to repair a dirty rug without it being cleaned first. Dirty/Dusty rugs damage the sewing machine and blunt the needles, this will not be considered at any cost.

For repairs that are noticed during the cleaning process, you will be contacted to approve the repair (no repair will be undertaken without the client's agreement) and you will be given a quote of what is necessary, and you can decide whether to go ahead or not.

All repairs, rebuilds and major patches are quoted before any work is carried out and only carried out under complete instruction from the client. No work will be completed without the client's approval and agreement to avoid confusion.

Suddy Rugs will do everything in their power to keep the cost of repairs down and where possible will use secondhand products and materials (unless the client instructs otherwise) which will be from recycled, damaged rugs that have been washed and reproofed ready for dismantling and recycling. We will do everything we can to colour match wherever possible, however, cannot guarantee that the colour will be an exact match or the same material; this will depend on the recycled rugs that are in stock.

Please enquire if this is a requirement.

This will be discussed when any repairs are identified before working on the item.

Buckles, clips and fastening repairs are quoted accordingly, it is rare to get a good quality second hand buckle and in most cases all replacement buckles will be brand new.

Should Suddy Rugs agree to repair a rug that has been cleaned by the owner (this will be on an individual arrangement only, once the cleanliness of the rug has been assessed), any additional work, including velcro cleaning, will be charged as extra.

Tack Cleaning

Do you have an important event to attend and want your tack cleaned and prIstine?

Do you have no time to clean your tack yourself?

Why not let Suddy Rugs have your saddle and bridle, clean it and re-oil it for you?

Ask for a quote and a returning time-scale.

Deliveries and Collections

Due to the increasing costs of utilities and fuel, and with fuel being at an all time high; to minimise overheads, collections and deliveries will be organised around similar areas on the same day.

Limits have also been set to how many rugs are economically viable to collect.

The minimum number of rugs within a 15 mile radius of Hastings is 5 rugs.
up to 25 mile radius of Hastings is 10 rugs
and over 25 miles of Hastings is 15 rugs.

Please contact us on the Contact us Form to arrange a collection.

Your collection may be within a couple of days or a couple of weeks, dependent on the delivery schedule, however, once back at Suddy Rugs workshop, they will be given the priority they deserve and a delivery date will be arrange with you when we are back in the area to deliver your freshly laundered/ newly repaired rugs.

You can however, delivery to my workshop if you would like and work will commence on your rugs as soon as possible.

Suddy Rugs operates a payment on collection/money up front of any wash and reproofing service being carried out, however, repairs are trickier to charge before the rug is cleaned and the repairs are identified.

We will contact the client with the cost of charges and rugs will not be delivered until full payment has been received for all services.

All Rugs will be returned to you as soon as possible after payment has been received. A suitable delivery date will be arranged with you within the delivery zone areas and timeframe. Suddy Rugs is committed to return your rugs within an acceptable timeframe, however, due to delivery zones, area specifics, and your payment timeframe, this may be a few days or a few weeks. Please ensure that you have accounted for this when requesting your rugs to be collected for service.

All Rugs will be individually tagged and documented by Suddy Rugs on collection. These tags stay with the rug from collection to delivery and throughout the wash/repair cycle.

We will always photograph your rug when we deliver and send you a WhatsApp message of where it will be located and what condition it has been left in with delivery time, and location information.

Should rugs be uncollected, an invoice not acknowledged, or a non-payment is received, rugs will be stored for a maximum of 4 weeks only. Charges will be implemented of a £5.00 per item, per week storage fee 7 days from completion of the work carried out, if other arrangements have not been agreed. After this time, Suddy Rugs reserves the right to sell the rugs for reimbursement of the costs that we have incurred.

Obviously, charges will not be incurred if payment has been received but delivery is not due until a date in the near future due to delivery scheduling zones.

Satisfaction Guaranteed

Suddy Rugs guarantees your horse rug will be individually washed separately, and at the correct manufacturers temperatures and instructions for the material with the appropriate chemicals for the type of fabric.

We can guarantee that in the unlikely event your horse rug is lost or damaged by us, we will provide a like-for-like replacement as long as it is proven that loss and/or damage has been caused by Suddy Rugs.

All Rugs will be individually tagged and documented by Suddy Rugs on collection. These tags stay with the rug from collection to delivery and throughout the wash/repair cycle.

We will always photograph your rug on delivery and send you a WhatsApp message of where it will be located and what condition it has been left in with delivery time, and location information.

Should you be unhappy with our services we guarantee to work with you to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

RUG CARE

DO NOT Wash the rug yourself with a domestic detergent. Detergents will destroy the waterproof qualities of the rug and will remove any waterproofing that the rug may have retained. Detergents also break down the waterproof membrane that is applied to the inner surface of the rug material.

DO NOT use a bio-type washing detergent on any horse rug. Detergent affect the waterproof qualities and will put your horse at risk of skin allergies.

DO NOT wash rugs with a power or pressure washer, this will destroy the waterproof membrane on the inside of the rug material, this makes the rug useless as a turnout rug. Pressure washers also push the dirt into the rug, the outside may look clean, however, all the dirt has been pushed deeper into the rug.

DO NOT store your rugs wet and damp. Mildew will attack the lining and disintegrate it very quickly. Always give the rug a good airing if you are not using it, never put a wet rug into a bin liner, this will also disintegrate it.