Preparing fleece for cage liners?

GeorgiaHarris

GeorgiaHarris

Junior Guinea Pig
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I recently made my cage liners for the first time and somewhere online that you only need to wash the fleece twice before using it to prepare it but ive found that my piggies wee is sitting on top of the fleece and is not being absorbed, the cage liner has also shrunk and no longer covers the whole base of my cage. Does anyone have any tips on how i should properly prepare my next lot of fleece so when i make more cage liners they will absorb the fleece and not shrink?

(My cage liners consist of 3 layers: 2 layers of fleece and a mattress protector in the middle) - this is what people had advised me to use on another thread i posted.
 
Get the not so shiny fleece and was it lots before creating the liner. Dont use softener also this stops it wicking
 
I paid expensive for ready made and wicked ones which have also shrunk and one I’ve thrown out. I’m using fleece in the little house and the dust free wood chips in the rest of the cage with a puppy pad underneath x
 
sport_billy said:
Get the not so shiny fleece and was it lots before creating the liner. Dont use softener also this stops it wicking
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Haven’t used softener just non bio zero fragrance laundry liquid. What do you mean by ‘was it lots before creating liner’?
 
You have to wash it several times before it will wick. I usually wash it 2-3 times on 30c wash. If I have enough in there I will do a 40c (longer) wash. I normally test mine after the second wash. If it takes a while for it to wick (liquid sits on surface till I move it around) then I pop it in again.

It’s best to get it wicking before you make your liners.
 
I find it depends a lot on the fleece how many times you have to wash it. I sometimes buy my fleece in a charity shop (throws or baby blankets). The advantage being that you only have to wash them to remove any fabric conditioner as they've usually been washed a lot. I agree that the shiny fleece takes a good few washes. I have one fleece which shrunk a bit, and I put a noodle bath mat over the end to cover the gap, and the piggies love it. It was a bit wide when I made it though, so it still fits widthwise.
 
Siikibam said:
You have to wash it several times before it will wick. I usually wash it 2-3 times on 30c wash. If I have enough in there I will do a 40c (longer) wash. I normally test mine after the second wash. If it takes a while for it to wick (liquid sits on surface till I move it around) then I pop it in again.

It’s best to get it wicking before you make your liners.
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Thankyou will definitely do this next time
 
I wash my fleece and mattress protector twice on a 60 degree wash before cutting out the liners to give it a pre shrink. I learnt this the hard way! I also make my liners slightly bigger than the cage (about 1cm all round), you can fit them slightly up the side of the cage, they do seem to shrink randomly from time to time and eventually become the perfect fit!
 
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