Teat Preparation in One Pass
The FutureCow Teatscrubber washes, disinfects, stimulates and dries in a single pass, so every cow gets the same prep whoever is in the pit. We survey the parlour, fit it, service it and keep you in brushes.
The Point Is Consistency, Not Speed
Ask three people to prep a row of cows and you will get three routines, and the one at the end of a long shift will not be the one from the start. Contact time slips, stimulation gets rushed, and the gap between stimulation and unit-on wanders. That variation is the thing you cannot manage, because it does not show up anywhere until it shows up in the tank.
A scrubber does the same thing to every teat, for the same length of time, at the same point in the routine, whoever is holding it. That is the honest argument for one. What it is worth on your farm depends on your parlour, your staffing and your current cell count, and that is a conversation with your vet and your milk buyer as much as with us.
Four Parlours Where This Comes Up
Rotaries and Big Herringbones
Where the prep routine has to keep pace with the platform and there is no slack in it when somebody is off.
Relief and Changing Staff
When the person milking is not always the same person, a machine that does it the same way every time is worth more than a written routine.
A Cell Count You Cannot Explain
Where hygiene is being done properly and the numbers still will not settle, prep variation is one of the things worth ruling out.
Getting Rid of Towels
Laundry, storage, and the cost of doing it properly. The scrubber takes that out of the routine entirely.
What You Are Actually Holding
FutureCow's own drawing, and it is a fair description of the unit. The parts that matter in a working parlour: brushes that change by hand with quick-release tabs rather than tools, a bi-layer teat-end brush that copes with teat ends of different lengths across the herd, scrubbers cut to length for the parlour, antimicrobial brushes, an LED that actually lets you see what you are doing under the udder, and no drive shaft or casing to maintain. There are two models, standard and XL; FutureCow describe the XL as the lighter of the two.
Chlorine Dioxide, Not Iodine
The scrubber runs a chlorine dioxide solution rather than an iodine dip or a hypochlorite wash.
FutureCow's reasoning is that chlorine dioxide works without needing a long contact time, and does not dry the skin or leave residue behind the way the alternatives can. That is their case for it, and it is a sensible one, but the product and its approvals are worth going through properly before you commit — bring us and your milk buyer into that conversation early.
What is not in question is what comes out the other end: a teat that has been washed, disinfected, stimulated and dried in one pass, ready for the unit.
The Routine, Before and After
| Step | A towel routine | With a scrubber |
|---|---|---|
| Fore-milking | By hand, as now | By hand, as now |
| Clean and disinfect | Wipe, dip or spray, then wait out the contact time | One pass of the handpiece, washing and disinfecting together |
| Stimulate | However long the wipe takes, which varies by person | Built into the same pass, the same every time |
| Dry | A second towel, or the same one | Part of the same pass |
| Between cows | Fresh towel; laundry afterwards | Antimicrobial brushes; no laundry |
| What you keep buying | Towels, detergent, dip | Solution and replacement brushes |
Surveyed, Fitted and Serviced by Us
This is parlour equipment, so it is not something you order and find in a box. An engineer looks at the parlour first — the layout, the pit, the water and the power, how many units and how the routine runs now — and works out what fits and what it means for your prep time per cow.
We install it, we service it, and we keep you supplied with brushes and solution afterwards. If something stops at five in the morning, that is the same service and call-out team that covers the rest of your milking plant.
Questions We Get Asked
Will a teat scrubber bring my cell count down?
It removes the variation from prep, which is one of the things that can sit behind a cell count that will not settle. Whether it is the thing behind yours is a question for your vet with your records in front of them. We will not put a number on it and nor should anyone else.
How much labour does it save?
That depends entirely on your parlour, your routine and how you are staffed, so the honest answer is that we work it out with you rather than quote you somebody else's figure. Prep time per cow is the number to measure, and we can help you measure it before and after.
Do I still fore-milk?
Yes. The scrubber washes, disinfects, stimulates and dries. Fore-milking is still yours to do, and it is still the best look you get at the milk.
What does it use?
A chlorine dioxide solution. FutureCow's case for it is that it works without a long contact time and does not dry the skin or leave residue. Worth going through with your milk buyer before you commit.
How long do the brushes last, and can I change them myself?
Brushes are a consumable and they change by hand — quick-release tabs, no tools. Life depends on herd size and how hard the prep is, so we will give you a realistic interval for your parlour rather than a headline one.
Who fits it and who fixes it?
We do, both. Our engineers survey the parlour, install it and service it, and the call-out cover is the same as for the rest of your milking plant.
If you want to see one working rather than read about it, say so and we will arrange it — a scrubber is much easier to judge standing in a pit than on a page.
Talk to the parlour team or call 01786 474 481. The engineering department covers the whole of Scotland from Stirling, with counters at Ayr, Kinross, Lanark & Stirling. The rest of the milking plant is under milking equipment.