Recirculating bathing system Questions

[Peaster]

I have been hearing about recirculating bathing systems hear on the board for awhile now and am now in the postions of possibly using one and have a few questions. I understand that some like them and some hate them but I want to try it for my self. I'm tired of systems that just "spray" shampoo on the dog and you still have to hand scrub just about everything to get it clean. So here goes

What kind of tub set up do you need?

For those of you who made your own what type of "pump" did you use?

For those of you who do use one regulary would you be willing to share your "bathing" sequence? fill tub, add soap, add dog, start machine.... I have never actually Seen one in use so am trying to get a better mental picture of the flow...

Any other advice you might have

Thanks again for all the great advice. This board is just awsome!

[Dolly]

I have a Super Sudser in my WGT. I always park with a tilt towards the drain for the system (on the right side of van). I fill the tub with about 1 ½ inches of water that covers the drain, usually the water level never even touches the other side of tub due to the tilt. Squirt some shampoo in, turn the sudser on, bath the dog’s body, legs and tail. Drain the water, pour conditioner over the body, then I spray the head with fresh water, degrease inside of ears, tearless shampoo for head, I do this manually with my hands. Spray off shampooed head, rewash again with tearless shampoo. Then I rinse the entire dog off (by then the conditioner has done it’s job on the body). I wouldn’t ever go back to hand washing. This is so fast and easy, does a fabulous job with removing dead hair, and skin scales. You use less water and shampoo during the washing cycle and the dogs come out squeaky clean !!

Happy Dog Washing !!

Dolly’s Barking Bubbles, LLC

www.dollysbarkingbubbles.com

[skye97]

I used a makeshift one while working at a salon in southern CA, and it worked great - really penetrated the fur and got the skin and coat clean. My only complaint was that a lot of dogs came in really sandy and filthy, so I usually had to change the shampoo in the middle and bathe them twice. I still like it better than the Prima, though. It seemed to get the dogs a lot cleaner, without all of the exhausting scrubbing.

Also, I always used tearless shampoo for the first wash, and would use it on their heads/faces first before the water got dirty, and let it soak while doing the second wash on the body.

[petloverx]

Years ago I made one and it worked fine. Last year I bought a Hanvey model. We decided to spend the bucks to cover us for liability reasons. I love it. I add about 1/2 to 1 pump of shampoo as it's filling to about the end of the full size tub. Soak them down good, then turn it off. I add some more diluted shampoo that is in a sprayer pump...like for yard chemicals...scrub them some more...turn the recirc back on and run it over them...then rinse from the hose. I don't put in conditioner...I do that seperately. I don't always use it..mainly on large or hairy dogs, but I wouldn't groom without one.

[FurMama]

I have a Hanvey Bathing Beauty. I fill the tub till the water is at the line on the pump. Add shampoo. Spray the dog thoroughly, washing the head with tearless shampoo separately and clean the ears. Usually one shampoo gets the coat squeaky clean (although there are some that need a second shampoo with clean water). I rinse with the regular hose. Then condition same as shampoo. Rinse one last time with fresh water. Cats don't like it. I use it on all size dogs but the big hairys are where it truly shines!!! To see the Hanvey in action, google Hanvey and watch the video.

[lexapurple]

Same as furmama. I also spray all suds with Suds out by Davis before I start rinsing the dog. by the time it is rinsed suds are gone. I love it for any dog, especially with thick and long coats like my cocker. It truly saves time, gets him cleaner and makes it easier to rinse him well. I do take my time washing and conditioning him but it only takes me 15-20minutes as opposed to up to 40 min if bathed by hand.
My tub is regular human tub raised about 2.5 feet above the floor and unfortunately it doesn't drain very fast. I was going to invest into custom made grate and kept putting it off because of the cost. Than one day I drove behind grocery store and they had whole bunch of coke crates sitting by the dumpster. I had a light bulb moment and took several with me. I tied three of them with zip ties, side side, and cut a hole big enough for BB to fit in. I used old bath mat on top of it to prevent dog toes getting caught in it. I been using it for almost a year now, and it works great and didn't cost me anything.

[petloverx]

Another tip for getting suds out is spraying diluted fabric softener on the bubbles. Works great.