The end of the winter is an ideal time to clean and safely store your winter horse blankets for the summer. Storing horse sheets, turnout rugs, horse blankets, and coolers properly can help ensure they last and will not be damaged by rodents, mildew, or rot through the humid spring and hot summer months.
When temperatures start to warm up, it's time to clean and store your horse blankets. The easiest shortcut to cleaning horse blankets is to start the process on a horse! Put the blanket on a horse and, using a stiff grooming brush, brush as much of the dirt and dust out as possible. Turn inside out and repeat. If the weather is warm enough, hose down the blanket while it's on a horse! Hand to dry of a clothesline or fence (away from curious mouths!) This will not get the blanket "clean" by any stretch, but a bit of prewashing will help a washing machine wash it cleaner.
Many tack stores offer blanket cleaning services or taking them item to the drycleaner might be a good idea. Drycleaners usually have standard washing machines in extra, extra large capacity and, upon request, will fold and store your blanket in a waterproof plastic wrapping. This type of cleaning may run $10-$25 per blanket, but may pay off in horse blanket longevity.
Once cleaned, try to store your blankets up off the floor. You may choose to store within airtight containers/giant ziplocks bags, or store in more breathable containers. If you store in a breathable container you may want to include mothballs or some type of rodent repellant. Even a dryer sheet might be enough to deter most pests. Store your blankets up off the ground. Storing in see through containers with name/blanket type/and size written on the outside will make locating blankets in the fall much easier.
