7 Easy Steps For Cleaning Horse Trailers (2023 Guide)

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You have bought a brand new horse trailer for your darling horse. It is luscious, appetizing, and attractive at the same time. You have taken it to rides, adventures, and competitions like a tomboy. Your trailer served you well in every adventure and the only price it asked is to keep it clean and dirt free. This is because dirt and dust can affect the integrity of its parts which can ultimately affect the peak performance of the trailer. 

That’s why it is your responsibility to keep it clean and tidy as you do with your other dearest things. Moreover, cleaning is also crucial if you want your trailer to last for a longer time. But is it possible to keep that shine intact as it was when it had been bought fresh? Yes. It is. All you have to do is to follow this mini guide on how to keep your horse trailers clean.

Let’s dive in to find out what these magical methods are to keep your horse trailer sparkling more than ever.

1. Beginning with Exterior

Let’s begin the cleaning of your horse trailers with the exterior. Do you know why it is important to keep your trailer exteriors clean? This is because it helps protect your metal trailer frame and paint to last longer. The process is no less similar to washing your truck or car. You must take an automobile washing soap and start washing exteriors with soap and water. We will also introduce you to how to clean your horse trailer.

You should use a microfiber cleaning cloth or a wash mitt to wash exteriors. The tires, edges, corners, and wheels should be cleaned carefully. You should always start with the top roof of the trailer so that the dust from the roof can not contaminate the clean walls you have just washed. 

Since you have now cleaned the exteriors, the next step is to make your trailer’s exterior pat dry. Microfiber swiping clothes are the most used by the majority of owners for cleaning because they are soft on trailer surfaces and protect the trailers from getting scratched. Wax is another care you need to give to your horse trailer. You should wax your trailer once every six months. 

You can leave your trailer outside in the sun to make it dry. But you should never keep the tires in the sun as extra heat can damage them. In case there is less space to store the indoor stuff of your trailer; you can buy a trailer cover to protect stuff from the sun. Around 27℅ of horse trailer owners indicated that they clean their water tanks at least once every week. Horse trailer hygiene is a very important stuff that every horse trailer owner should undertake.

2. Floors Cleaning

It is not wrong to say that the floors remain the dirtiest part of the whole horse trailer. It signifies that it needs some extra steps to clean the floor properly. Moreover, if you do not regularly clean the floors, they may undergo rotting, making them weak, which is dreadful for your horse. Rust and horse urine remain the biggest source of dirty floors which can, in turn, cause holes in the metal floors of the trailer. 

This often occurs with aluminum trailers and that’s why double-D horse trailers have rumber flooring, which is the most comfortable and easiest to clean. To start cleaning the floors, remove all the interiors, such as supplies, rubber mats, tacks, and extra hay from the trailer. It’s time to sweep debris, hay, and dust. 

After sweeping, you need to take water and bleach in a 10:1 proportion. It means 10 times the amount of bleach. Use bleach and water two times to clear everything. Once the bleach water is dry, raise the end of your trailer to let the extra water slip out from the trailer. You can use a pipe to let pressure water flow extra dust from the trailers. Make sure to use pressure water at the edges and corners of the trailer.

3. Keyholes and hinges

Doorknobs, keyholes, and hinges are often the most neglected parts of a horse trailer. These smaller areas are the toughest but are important to clean to prevent them from rusting. Let’s start cleaning with tiny keyholes. For this, you need to take your keys and dip them into the big Vaseline jar. Now take the keys and insert them into the keyhole multiple times and then turn the key inside and around the hole smoothly. You can use this trick with any kind of keyhole. 

Hinges often make that creaky irritating sound while swinging because they are not cleaned well. You can use a WD-40 bottle for hinge cleaning. Just spray it after every few months for the smooth functioning of your trailer’s doors. Clorox wipe is the most used item for door handle cleaning. It kills the remaining germs and bacteria. Hence, you can use it every next month to keep your trailer germ and contamination free.

4. Window Sills and Horse Trailer Roof

Trailer roofs require more money to get repaired if they get damaged. That’s why it is necessary to clean the horse roof carefully. Make sure to buy a roof cover beforehand. A decent horse trailer roof cover not only protects metal from sunlight but also protects tires and window seals. Extreme sun rays can create holes or perforations on the roof. What if a hole is created on the roof of living quarters? 

It can damage a considerable part of the trailer. You should also clean the rubber portions of your trailer properly. Rubber is known to get weak and stiff with time. That’s why it is significant to double-check these portions. The seals and cracks of windows must also be noticed, and any damage should quickly be resealed.

5. Padding of Horse Trailers

It’s time to sweep out the padding of horse trailers. For this, you have to take dish soap and a wet microfiber towel. Dip the towel in the dish wash and clean the paddings of the horse trailer thoroughly. Take another dry towel and wipe the wet areas of the paddings carefully. Any tears or tips in the paddings should immediately be resealed. 

Double-check if any metal parts or sharp endings are not present in the paddings. If there are any sharp things found in the paddings, you should immediately heal the damage to avoid any serious leg injuries to your horse. To fix little tears in paddings, you can use dental floss. By using a large needle and dental floss, you can tie the tears of your paddings. In case the wear and tear are large, you should meet a professional person who fixes these huge repairs of horse trailers.

6. Tires Tiding

It’s time to clean your horse trailer’s tires thoroughly. Although tires don’t undergo wear and tear, they still undergo damage with age. The main reason behind it is that the trailers remain standing in the sun and changing weather for weeks and months. This lets the rubber of tires degrade and weaken over age which ultimately leads to the final blowout of tires which can cause serious accidents. 

If you don’t want such accidents to happen, you should always change your tires every five to six years. Your tires may not appear faded even after a long time because the trailer has not been used much, but still, it gets tarnished over time due to extreme changing weather conditions. That’s why you should never take a risk with tires, as they may blow out anytime in between the road taking you to the road of heaven in minutes.

7. Preparing Rust-free trailers

It’s time to find out how to remove that stubborn rust from your trailer, making the trailer fragile over time. Especially if you own a steel trailer, then rusting remains the biggest challenge in front of horse trailer owners. Not only steel trailers but other metal trailers also have steel parts that can undergo rusting. If your horse’s feet get rubbed against these rusted trailers, or even if it is the slightest injury, your horse may obtain a serious tetanus infection. 

Don’t worry about cleaning these rust spots. These patches are not at all stubborn to leave. It just requires a quick touch-up to get clear. To clean the rusting spots, you have to first rinse the spots thoroughly. Let it pat dry until we move on to the next step. Now you have to sand or cover the rusted area with steel wool, a sanding disc, or an electric sander. 

Electric sanders remain the best option to use as it only requires light pressure to cover all the rusty area and clean it wholly. Further, you should use grain sandpaper to remove all the rusty marks left after cleaning the rust. Wash again thoroughly to remove dust and debris from the affected part. Use up to three coats of primer and then paint the area. Your trailer is now rid of all the rusting, and it will start shining as if it is new.

Wrapping Up

Hence, it was all about the 7 best tips for cleaning horse trailers. So, what are you waiting for? You just have to implement all the above-mentioned tips, and you will observe that your horse trailer will start appearing as you first bought it.