Next time you’re at the grocery store, pick up a box of baking soda for the barn. You’ll be surprised at how many uses you’ll find for it there.
• Scrub out water buckets and troughs. Combine a few tablespoons of baking soda with just enough water to make a paste that you can use on a sponge to scrub buckets. The baking soda is abrasive enough to remove “gunk,” but rinses away easily with no chemical residue.
• Clean bits and metal stirrups. Apply some of your baking soda paste to a toothbrush to clean the metal parts of your tack.
• Freshen your horse’s laundry. A sprinkling in a load of saddle pads or leg wraps will help deodorize the material while brightening the colors.
• Deodorize drains. Pour a half-cup down a stinky wash- stall drain, then follow that up with a half-cup of vinegar. The mixture will bubble and overflow, so don’t be surprised. After five minutes, flush the drain with water.
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