How much more work is fleece? How ong does it last?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Z

zez

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Apr 15, 2008
Messages
319
Reaction score
168
Points
340
I know this will have already been asked a hundred times but I've got to be quick as I have far too much to do today!

So, those of you who use fleece, how often do you change and wash it.

My boys are currently on shavings/hay but Max in moving inside this week so I'm considering towels and fleece as a way of keeping the mess and cost down.

I'll have 2 boys in a skyline Maxi XXl (so 4 ft by 2ft). I know I'll have to poo pick every day, but how often would i expect to do a full change and wash?

Ta xx
 
zez said:
I know this will have already been asked a hundred times but I've got to be quick as I have far too much to do today!

So, those of you who use fleece, how often do you change and wash it.

My boys are currently on shavings/hay but Max in moving inside this week so I'm considering towels and fleece as a way of keeping the mess and cost down.

I'll have 2 boys in a skyline Maxi XXl (so 4 ft by 2ft). I know I'll have to poo pick every day, but how often would i expect to do a full change and wash?

Ta xx
Click to expand...

Obviously it varies with each piggie, some spread it out others wee in one spot ( so it ends up getting soaked - I put puppy pads under the fleece in the high wee areas and change them as and when ) but as a rough guide: complete change - every 5 - 6 days.
 
Ok....in all honesty. How stinky? I've just had a single girl staying with us in T's room for a month. She was on shavings. I did a spot clean every 2-3 days (ie remove heavily weed areas) and then a full on clean each week. The day the spot/full clean was due was a little gross, but not too bad. Any worse than that? So what do you do on say day 3. I could never leave a pig on shavings without a spot clean for more than about 3 days. Is it that you can't see/smell/feel the wee cos most of it has sunk down into the towels. I'm trying to avoid pee pads/newspapers...i'd have to buy those and figure if I'm going to try this i may as well go fully washable and free! If i put say flannels or something extra under high wee areas so i can change those as and when needed will the top level of fleece really go 5 ish days?
 
4piggiepigs, what a great idea. I'm quite handy with a sewing machine (made my first cuddle cups last night) so think i could work out how to make one. I have fleece already. Do you use quilted mattress protectors (from where? ) for the absorbant bit? and what provides the waterproof layer? And finally...do you use anthing else under thes cage liners?
 
zez said:
Ok....in all honesty. How stinky? I've just had a single girl staying with us in T's room for a month. She was on shavings. I did a spot clean every 2-3 days (ie remove heavily weed areas) and then a full on clean each week. The day the spot/full clean was due was a little gross, but not too bad. Any worse than that? So what do you do on say day 3. I could never leave a pig on shavings without a spot clean for more than about 3 days. Is it that you can't see/smell/feel the wee cos most of it has sunk down into the towels. I'm trying to avoid pee pads/newspapers...i'd have to buy those and figure if I'm going to try this i may as well go fully washable and free! If i put say flannels or something extra under high wee areas so i can change those as and when needed will the top level of fleece really go 5 ish days?
Click to expand...

I don't use puppy pads all over, just two up the one end of each C & C where they lie ( and wee ) the most, that way I'm not doing washes all of the time. They don't work out at very much if you get them from Home Bargains ( 14 for £1.99 and they're a decent size, not like the tiddly ones from poundland) then of course under the whole of the fleece is an absorbant mattress topper. Megazorb in the hayloft. I'm pretty sure I'm spending a lot less than when I was using shavings all over ( and then megazorb all over - although that worked out better than shavings overall ).
 
I've always used fleece, at first I just used towels underneath. When I put them in a bigger cage, I started to get lots of problems. The fleece would get wet really quickly, I would clean them out and the next day it would all be soaked.
I then tried 3 layers of towels plus lots of newspaper but that didn't help. Next was vet bed, puppy pads and mattress protectors but they didn't work either.
I now use expensive washable incontinence bed pads and it keeps the cage a bit drier but it still does get wet at times. I'm at a loss as to what else I can try.
I still would recommend fleece though as I think its better for piggies than woodshavings but you need to get the right sort of absorbent layer underneath for it to work.
 
I know woodshavings isn't ideal, but we've used it for years with no problems, hence I'm not in a rush to change it. But I'm intrested as to if I could keep fleece clean enough to be happy with it as it'd be a much cheaper option, not to mention less messy!
 
zez said:
I know woodshavings isn't ideal, but we've used it for years with no problems, hence I'm not in a rush to change it. But I'm intrested as to if I could keep fleece clean enough to be happy with it as it'd be a much cheaper option, not to mention less messy!
Click to expand...

I'd say with just two piggies, and if you provide a littertray with carefresh in also so they do most of their wees etc in there then you are looking at changing the fleece/towels every 5 days or so and spot cleaning everyday.

The reason I changed for woodshavings is because of cost, mess and the fact not only am I breathing in tiny wood particles the piggies are too:(
 
AndreaJane said:
I don't use puppy pads all over, just two up the one end of each C & C where they lie ( and wee ) the most, that way I'm not doing washes all of the time. They don't work out at very much if you get them from Home Bargains ( 14 for £1.99 and they're a decent size, not like the tiddly ones from poundland) then of course under the whole of the fleece is an absorbant mattress topper. Megazorb in the hayloft. I'm pretty sure I'm spending a lot less than when I was using shavings all over ( and then megazorb all over - although that worked out better than shavings overall ).
Click to expand...

Thanks for letting me know about the puppy pads, I'll be going in there tomorow so will have to get some!
 
I have 2 indoor cages with 2 pairs of boys . I use fleece and vetbed in the cages . I use the puppy pads on one cage but not the other as I caught one of the piggies eating it . The other 2 get on fine with it . I find the smell isn't as bad using the fleece etc ... I tend to clean it thoroughly every 3-4 days and a spot clean every 2 . I wouldn't go back to using anything other than fleece etc .
 
Ok, when you mean a spot clean, what do you actually do. obviously not removing all the fleece, cos that's a full clean. So spot clean is.....? x
 
ah only the poo! The wee really soaks down so the fleece is ok for 5 days ish? Hmm, v tempting. Thank you
 
My spot clean is usually to lift out the smaller bits of fleece and tip any poops in the bin and put the fleece back . Or remove the poops ! It really takes no time at all really . :)
 
Mama guinea pig - am i correct in that you put small squares of fleece over any popular wee spots and then just change those as and when needed?

I have some fleece here....a pink blanket (not sure my 5 year old son will go for that in his room) and a blue one (much better!). The blue one is thinner and smoother feeling, it doesn't bobble. I think this is polar fleece...will this be ok?
 
My boys are on fleece with towels underneath to absorb. I clean up poops twice a day but mine mostly use their hay/toilet tray for pees and poops. I do a full fleece change every 4 days :)
 
Mine are on a double layer of fleece, with a towel underneath, plus newspaper under that. I change the whole lot every 5 days and there is no smell and the paper is not normally that wet either.

However they do have a hay loft which has a cat litter tray in it, lined with megazorb and then the hay on top. They sit up there and use that mainly so I change it every day. I use a hand held wet&dry vac to hoover the poos up daily - the piggies got used to it quite quickly and don't bother at all now :)

Jo x
 
I use newspapers and fleece at the moment but after 1 day (24hrs) it stinks so I clean out everyday and put new papers and fleece in. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong to be honest but no way could I leave it for 5 days it would stink the house out!

I am hoping that the cage liners I have ordered will make a difference, if only to cut down the cleaning out to every other day!
 
chilwell said:
I use newspapers and fleece at the moment but after 1 day (24hrs) it stinks so I clean out everyday and put new papers and fleece in. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong to be honest but no way could I leave it for 5 days it would stink the house out!

I am hoping that the cage liners I have ordered will make a difference, if only to cut down the cleaning out to every other day!
Click to expand...

It could be the paper that's ponging. Hope the cageliners work. :)
 
AndreaJane said:
It could be the paper that's ponging. Hope the cageliners work. :)
Click to expand...

Yes the paper pongs but so does the fleece, maybe it's not letting the wee through enough, I'm sure the cageliners will be better, I don't mind cleaning them out daily to be honest because they're not in their cages in the day anyway so it takes minutes which is fine :) I love my piggies stink or no stink lol!
 
Just wondered if anyone knows what sort of brush to use on the fleece to brush off all the hay outside, as I have noticed it gets a bit "fluffy" when it's been brushed so it's developing a pile on it :( If it's not brushed it has too much hay to go in the washing machine surely?

Thanks!
 
I use towels and two layers of fleece. I change them every three days. Three or four times a day I remove the poops.
 
The worst thing about fleece is the effect on your washing machine. I brush mine outside in the garden to get as much hair and hay off as possible, but I still have the washing machine man out every few months to unblock it. It kind of negates the money I save on woodshavings!

But for me it is an allergy thing, woodshavings are terrbile for my asthma so I switched and it is much better.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top