Dust, Dust and more Dust!

 This week we completed the big job of cleaning out and dusting our tack room. We were just putting away some clean towels and found rat and mouse droppings on a high shelf prompting the self-appointed assignment. Our goal is to sweep out and clean the tack room on a regular basis, but when the rats and mice move in we realize we have waiting a bit too long.

We have found it most efficient and effective to take everything out so we can clean the walls and shelves of the tack room. This allows us to see everything and remove as much dust as possible. If you have room, move all the items clear of the door so you can sweep without getting all your items dusty again. Or you can use a vacuum if that's possible for your set up.

Once everything is out and the walls and shelves have been cleaned, we begin the process of putting everything back in its place. As we touch each item we decide if its something we want to keep then we decide where it should be stored and why. 

Do we use it all the time? Or is is seasonal? We don't give our horses baths in the winter because its too cold, so the shampoo can be put away in a less easy to reach place during the late fall and winter months. However, we keep the soap close to the front so its easy to reach when we need to clean our hands or wash a piece of equipment. 

Medical stuff, especially the items for humans, should always be easy to find and clearly labeled. Think about sending a non-horse person to get the medical kit...could they find it? Bandages and wraps for horse injuries should be stored, but they can be put away and clearly labeled for the eventuality of a horse injury.

In total it took somewhere between an hour and a half and two hours to take everything out, clean it all, and put everything back that we decided to keep. 

Now that its all clean and reorganized we know right where everything is and what we have. We even added a few things to our list to buy. The items we use all the time are easy to see and access...it makes us more efficient and effective with our time.