Cleaning: I've heard of this towel/fleece thing, answer these questions please?

[sdpiggylvr]

Hi,
I am building a C&C Cage tomorrow and I heard about this thing where you use towels and fleece over that to make a better, cheaper bedding. Does this work well? I've read the urine goes through the fleece and the towel soaks it up, and then you just wash the towels once or twice a week.

Isn't this unsanitary or GROSS? I don't want to wash urine fillled towels in my washing machine.

Do you use the towel/fleece thing? What do you think of it? Do you recommend it?

Thanks in advance!

[JD In Van]

I totally recommend it. And you have to keep in perspective, your towels aren't going to be dripping with urine. Heck with a stratigically placed litter box around where ever your pigs go most you might not have wet towels at all.

If you go the litter box route you're not totally free of litter but do dramatically cut your useage of it, it's easy to clean it much more frequently and the rest of the cage is MUCH easier to clean. (I just collect stray hay and vaccum up the poop every morning personally)

[twiztedlilfae]

You wash the whole thing at least once a week, towels and fleece, since the fleece gets dirty too. If you're worried about it being unsanitary wash the towels with a little bit of vinegar. Vinegar is antibacterial and is safer than bleach.

I love the fleece and towel combination in my pig's cage. It smells better, it's easier to clean, and it's easier on my girl's respiratory system and feet. Plus it's cheaper in the long run, it might be pricier in the beginning, but in the end it's cheaper and better all around.

I mean have you ever had kids or know anyone with kids? they pee on themselves when they're younger, do you not put their pee soaked clothes in the washer? I don't see how it's any different?

[MapleSyrup]

This is a good system, I love fleece! It's really soft and warm. I don't wash the fleece at home (Dad) we go to the laundry mat to do our piggy's laundry. Almost no people have problems with fleece.

I do reccomend when you wash the fleece, you should add vinegar as fabric softer, because if you use fabric softer, the water/urine would not come through, and thus, the pee will stay on top of the fleece, which is worse than having to wash the towels in the washer.

Also, it's much cheaper, looks cleaner, and you can choose your colors! I paid $6.99 for a yard of fleece in the fabric store. That's a lot better than paying $20.00 each week for carefresh! Also you don't have to do any work of cleaning the fleece, just throw in the washer, dryer and done!

It would help if you potty train your piggy, that would help in the long run, saving even more money! There will be some accidents, but that's ok.

[fieryone]

A washing machine is a cleaning device. While you're washing your dirty laundry you are also washing the machine itself, no? As someone else said, you can also use vinegar or bleach as well to clean the bedding and the machine even better.

Yes, I would recommend it over anything else.

[akstrohm]

Read the Fleece Project sticky in the bedding section. It will give you a good overview and answer all your questions.