Auto-washers are still a relatively new concept on many dairy farms, but they are becoming increasingly popular. Those who already have one installed often say it's one of the better investments they've made.
An auto-washer is essentially a simple piece of equipment installed in the plant room that takes the job of washing the milking machine out of the operator's hands.
Once milking is finished, the clusters are hung up and the parlour has been washed down, the auto-washer is connected to the milking machine. From there, it completes the entire washing process without any further input.
The acid and detergent are connected to the machine and it follows whatever washing schedule has been set by the operator.
Cost
There are a number of different brands of auto-washers on the market, so the initial cost can vary. Generally, the investment will be somewhere between €4,000 and €7,000, depending on the size of the parlour and the plumbing work required.
In terms of labour savings, an auto-washer can save around 20 to 30 minutes per milking.
Taking the lower figure of 20 minutes, that's 40 minutes saved every day or close to five hours per week. Over a 300-day milking season, it works out at 200 hours saved.
At a labour cost of €15/hour, that's €3,000 worth of labour time saved every year. On that basis, the investment could pay for itself in just over two years, although the saving won't necessarily be money directly in the bank.
For what is a relatively small investment compared to other parlour upgrades, that's a significant amount of time to get back.
An auto-washer won't necessarily leave the milking machine any cleaner than a properly completed manual wash, but it takes another tedious job off the list.
After spending a couple of hours in the parlour milking cows, being able to walk away rather than having to wait around for the wash to finish is probably the biggest attraction of all.
At Dairy Day 2026, on Saturday 14 November, there will be an auto-wash on display in the demonstration area. To get your tickets, visit here.
