Cleaning your horse grooming brushes is very important, but can be such a pain. Soaking, scrubbing, rinsing, drying- it’s not a chore I usually look forward to! However, my best friend and I recently started making brush-cleaning fizzy bombs that contain natural ingredients that don’t leave residue and make the process a lot easier! It’s almost fun now to clean my brushes! Below is a video of me cleaning my grooming gear with one of my favorite scents of our brush fizzies. Watch the video below!
Cleaning your brushes regularly can extend the life of the brush, and let’s face it, horse stuff is expensive and we need to make what we do have last as long as possible. A clean brush also cuts down the time you spend on grooming, because you’re not depositing dirt from the brush bristles back onto the horse. Also, certain skin conditions can be spread by dirty brushes, so you need to clean them to prevent that (especially if you’re sharing brushes between horses, which is not an ideal situation, but I understand that sometimes you don’t have a set of brushes for each horse and have to use communal brushes).
Wow, it’s February already! January felt both extremely long and like it went by in a flash.
Today I wanted to write about a fun project that my best friend and I started two weeks ago, and we’re having so much fun with it that we’re hoping to really branch out! There’s a little backstory though that I’m going to talk about but not go into too much detail about because I don’t want to paint anyone involved in a bad light. The story I’m about to tell is true, but I won’t be calling anyone out.
A while ago, I purchased some brush cleaning items from a small business. I liked the brush cleaning items enough that I recommended them to another friend, who placed an order in summer 2019 with the same business. Weeks passed and the order never showed up. After several attempts to contact the seller, my friend got a message saying that this person had suffered an injury, that someone was coming to help them fill orders, and that they’d get their items soon along with a free gift to make up for the delay. So, they waited another few weeks for their order to show up, but it never did. It still, to this day, has never arrived, and the seller disappeared off the face of the Earth instead of continuing to communicate with those who were waiting for their items.
Since I’m a small business owner myself, I totally understand getting behind on things- especially if an emergency happens. But what I don’t understand at all is getting an order from someone and then not only not delivering the item that was ordered but also not communicating. So, since we were all disappointed by this turn of events, Kennedy and I decided to do something nice for our friend. We decided to learn how to make “bath bombs” that would clean horse brushes!
First, we had to do some research on the ingredients that we’d need. We wanted our brush cleaner to have a satisfying FIZZ when added to water, to smell nice, and to be antimicrobial. But they also couldn’t leave any residue that would be difficult to rinse out. We decided on a recipe and some secret ingredients to use, then set to work on our prototypes.
Filling molds with our prototype mixture
As with any new product prototype, we ran into some issues with the first batch. Since we only had two of our molds and we wanted to make four different scent blends on the day we were making prototypes, we decided to try to “kiln dry” our brush fizzies in an oven that was set on a low temperature. Little did we know that we had added too much of our wet ingredient and there was a chemical reaction going on that made them puff up out of the molds! Plus the heat from the oven made the edges hard and almost melted? So that experiment did not work at all!
Once we got those out of the molds, though, we started to get the hang of things. The batch that got messed up turned into our testing batch and we used every single one of them that day to clean brushes with because we were having too much fun tossing them in the water and watching them fizz. Plus, the amount of dirt and grime they got out of our brushes was insane! I’d cleaned Glory’s brushes a few weeks prior, but even then the water was coming out gross and dirty. As we mixed and tested, we came up with fun names for each of our scent blends.
Now that we had our brush cleaners made and tested, I got to do the really fun part- design packaging! We wanted a label for each individual scent, as well as a label that would go on a larger bag to contain a collection of different scents. By the time I got to designing packaging, we had come up with six different scent blends (and now we have two more on the way, for an even eight!)
“Run for the Roses”- A romantic floral scent that will take you to the Winner’s Circle. This blend was inspired by the wreaths of flowers given to winning racehorses.
“Florida Cracker”- A bright and sunny scent evocative of warm and sunny days. This blend is made from orange and lemon and has a zesty, bright scent! (This was the first blend I created and the initial batch is what is pictured in the image where the brush fizzies puffed up and didn’t come out of the mold correctly, but the ones in this photo turned out perfectly now that we have the recipe down!)
“Winter Ride” – A wintery blend of pine and cinnamon, reminiscent of a ride through a snow-covered forest. This is one of my favorite blends. It smells so nice and like you’re riding through an evergreen forest! The cinnamon also reminds me of the cinnamon pine cones you can get around Christmas.
“Cubbing Season”- A woodsy scent that brings to mind early morning Autumn hunts. This blend is so nice. It really reminds me of the woods in Fall because of the oils that Kennedy put into it!
“Spring Invitational”- The scent of a warm breeze in your face as you gallop cross-country. The best word to describe this blend is “green”. It’s not exactly a floral scent, but more the smell of nature.
“Muddy Boots” – Tea Tree Oil and Mint pack a powerful punch for extreme muck and grime. First of all, I am so proud of the name I came up with for this blend. This is like our “super cleaner” for when you really need to fight some nasties. I did add quite a bit of mint though because it has come to my attention that not everyone likes the smell of tea tree oil as much as I do.
We have two more blends in the works, “Mare Stare” (Dragonsblood) and “Foal Watch” (Lavender), but I don’t have photos of those.
And here’s our big packet of assorted scents! The large bag holds four of the four-packs, so it contains 16 brush fizzies. We’re hoping to start selling these to other people who want a fun and easy way to clean their grooming stuff. The tabs fizz really nicely when you toss them in water (Click here for a video!), they get the gunk out of the bristles, and they rinse clean very easily. So, we met all our requirements for brush cleaners!
After we had these packed up, we delivered them to our friend who never got her order from the other seller. She was so happy that we surprised her with these that she cried a little! I can’t wait for her to test out her cleaners and tell us how she likes them. We really enjoyed using our test ones!
How do you like to clean your brushes? Let me know in the comments!
My favorite thing to do with my horse is spending time brushing her. I love to ride, and to drive, but I find that even just going and brushing Glory on a day when I’m not feeling great is enough to boost my mood. There’s something magical and satisfying about just spending some quiet time talking to my horse, brushing the mud off her coat and picking her feet, and getting the tangles out of her long tail.
Maybe you’re new to horse ownership and don’t know what sort of grooming items you should have in your arsenal? It took me a long time to find the tools and products that I really love and that work for me. So here are my favorite grooming tools and products and why I chose them.
I have no affiliation with these products and this is not a sponsored post. This post does include Amazon Affiliate links that provide me with a small commission if you click on one and purchase something, at no extra cost to you!
Sleek-EZ
Photo from Sleekez.com
My horse gets a super long winter coat because of her Cushing’s. Because of this, I have tried a LOT of shedding aids. The Sleek-EZ and the Grooming Gloves are my favorites out of everything I’ve tried, but let’s concentrate on the Sleek-EZ for a minute. I have the large Sleek-EZ and I absolutely love it. The size is perfect for Glory’s body, and it really gets the hair off! Plus it’s comfortable to hold too. My current one has lasted me through two shedding seasons already and will soon be on its third, and though it probably could use a new blade it’s still going pretty strong. Bonus, I’ve noticed it’s also very good at bringing up dust and dander when I’m using it!
Grooming Gloves
The newest addition to my anti-shedding-season arsenal are a pair of grooming gloves. I didn’t think that these things could do as good a job with getting out the winter hair as my Sleek-EZ, but boy, I was wrong! I like to slip these on each hand and go to town, massaging Glory with circular motions and watching the hair come out like crazy! After ten seconds of using them the first time, I was a changed woman. The long winter coat doesn’t stand a chance against a good pair of grooming gloves. These gloves have also taken the place of my curry comb for everyday use with getting caked on mud out of Glory’s fur. She loves having her neck scratched with them!
Stiff Brush
Any equestrian will tell you that a grooming kit should include a good hard brush. After I use my grooming gloves and/or Sleek-EZ, I use the hard brush on neck, body, and upper legs to get the majority of the dirt, dander, and loose fur off my horse. My hard brush has nylon bristles with a wooden handle.
Flick Brush
After I use the hard brush, I go over where I just brushed with a flick brush– a long-bristled soft brush that really gets into Glory’s coat and throws the dust off. I use the brush with a flicking motion, hence the name! Again, this brush isn’t anything special, just nylon bristles and a plastic handle.
Flex Finishing Brush
I finish up my body brushing routine by using a short-bristled soft brush on my horse. I go over her face with this same brush, as well as over her body and legs to make sure I’ve gotten as much dust off as I can. My soft brush is “hinged” so I can cup it in my hand and make it curve, which is why I like it as a face brush as well.
Hoof Pick
I like my hoof pick to have a plastic handle, a thick metal pick, and a brush. I find the thinner picks with metal handles to be hard to hold, and I like having the brush so that I can clean the flat of the hoof as well as the grooves, without having to use the pointy metal part too much!
Mane and Tail Brush
I have been blessed with a horse that has a thick long mane and tail. Though her mane isn’t as long as some horses, it’s still pretty long, especially up near her poll. Her tail is long and fairly thick, and I love that it falls naturally into pretty little ringlets. But it can also be a giant pain in the rear to brush! I do use a detangling spray/leave in conditioner, which I’ll talk about later in this article. But for my brush, I like a nice hefty handle that’s comfortable to hold, and bristles with the round plastic bits on the tips. I love the big circular head of my current brush because I feel like it covers more area with each stroke, making the process a little faster.
Thrush Buster
Glory has little feet with deep grooves, which makes them a great place for thrush to grow. She spends 99% of her time in a dry lot that has great drainage, but still gets muddy when we get more than a moderate amount of rain. We keep a bottle of Thrush Buster on hand for when we need it for both the horses! (Though, if we can find something that works as well as this product and won’t stain our hands purple every time we use it, we would definitely switch!)
Eqyss Avocado Mist Conditioner Spray
My best friend and I use this on both our horses and we love it! We spray this on manes and tails to get the tangles out. Not only does it condition and get knots out easily, it smells AMAZING. Sometimes their tails are even easy to detangle the next day or two after we use it because it’s so good.
Eqyss Equine Spray Marigold Scent
We bought this once when the store was out of the avocado spray, and we don’t like it as much as the product above this on the list. However, I do use this every few days on Glory’s coat to help with her dry skin. I can brush her for thirty minutes and still have dust coming up because her skin is dry during the winter, and I don’t have access to hot water and heat lamps to give her a bath when it’s cold! So, after a ride or as a step to a grooming session, I will spray this on her coat, especially her back and flanks where the skin is the driest, and then work it in with my flick brush so it gets down where it needs to be. I’ve found that doing this a few times a week, along with regular brushing, helps keep the dandruff down until I can give her a proper bath.
And those are all the tools, brushes, and products that I use on a regular basis in my grooming box! I hope this post gives you an idea of my daily routine and maybe helps you out if you’re shopping for your first grooming kit. What brushes and products do you use to groom your horse? Let me know in the comments!
