Understand Hair and What You Need to Know to get it Clean
One of the most common questions we see on social media is: “How do I get my horse’s tail clean?”
There are heaps of methods and products out there, but the real breakthrough comes when you understand the hair shaft, the pH of a healthy horse, and how different products interact with the hair. Once we learnt this, getting tails truly clean became much easier.
So let’s break it down.
Understanding the hair structure
The outer layer of each hair strand is covered in cuticles — tiny overlapping “scales” you can see under a microscope. Dirt and stains settle into the hair shaft, so to remove them, you first need to lift or open those cuticles.
The importance of pH
A healthy horse’s skin and hair sit at a pH of 7–7.4 (humans are slightly more acidic at 6.4–6.9). pH measures how acidic or alkaline something is on a scale from 0 (very acidic) to 14 (very alkaline), with 7 being neutral.
Alkaline products open the cuticle and allow cleaning agents to reach the cortex of the hair — great for stain removal, but they can leave hair dry or prone to breakage if overused.
Mildly acidic products flatten and smooth the cuticle, making hair shinier, softer, and easier to brush.
Why stains are so stubborn
Because stains sit inside the hair shaft, the first step is always to open the cuticle. Once lifted, you can effectively remove dirt, stains, and product build‑up.
