Washing Fleece, Please Help!

[Salstar]

Hi everyone!

I havn't posted in ages, I've just been lurking around and reading posts. I guess I've felt I havn't had anything worthwhile to add. However I am in need of some help. I have been using fleece blankets with newspaper under it since I got my boys back in July 2005. I was washing the fleece weekly with detergent and vingar and then tumble drying it, but I found that it still smelt urinish. So I then started adding a cap full of Napisan Oxyaction Max and more vingar, but it still smelt. Now I am washing the fleece twice before I dry it. For the first round I use 2 cups of washing detergent, 1 cap of Napisan. When its finsihed I wash it again with the same amount of detergent and napisan but I also add about 700mls of vingar or about 3 cups. However it still smells. Is it just my boys?? I have a 2x9 cage that is split into a 2x5 and a 2x4. I have 2 boys in the 2x5 and one in the 2x4. Is there anything else I could add to the wash to eliminate the smell??

[Susan9608]

I've had that problem, too, with fleece and vet bed. I can't seem to get the smell out no matter what I do. And the worse thing is that my washing machine ends up smelling like guinea pig pee and I have to run a load of just water and bleach to get the smell out of the washing machine. Ugh. If you find a solution, please let me know.

[nikilovesdogs]

I'm trying to figure this out. Is fleece supposed to be a cost-effective alternative to the other disposable beddings? If so, how much less can it be if there is so much to pay for in:

- detergent
- water use (double per load if a rinse load is run)
- time spent washing
- other supplies?

I'm just curious. Thanks for any input!

[kimgrif]

I haven't had a problem at all, but I've just had the two girls in a 2x4 C&C.

Could it be that boar urine is so much stronger than sow urine?

And...are you using the vinegar in the rinse cycle? I use almost a cup of vinegar in the rinse cycle of my machine, and I've had NO residual odor problems at all.

[Susan9608]

I don't know if it's supposed to be cost effective or not - I thought the main idea was that it was supposed to be easier and require less maintanence than wood shavings. I'm sure it's probably cheaper than care fresh if you're buying care fresh for more than a few pigs, but I've never sat down and figured out the hidden costs, like electricity and detergent.

[C&K]

I spend $7.00 a week on Yesterdays News to cover 1/2 of my girls 2x5 cage, and 1/2 fleece for the other side of the cage. I am using only fleece for my fosters so far. If I where to use Yesterdays News for both cages entirley, It would probably be closer to $20.00 a week. Shavings too would run at least $15.00 a week for both cages. I don't even want to think what Carefresh would cost me.

I am very sure that 2 or 3 loads of laundry at home, per week, do not cost me 15.00. My fleece blankets I bought for $3.00 a pop, I got 5 of them, and they have lasted 7-8 months or so. They could use replacing now. I used old flannel sheets I did not use anymore underneath, so they where free in a way. $15.00 for 7 months worth of bedding is a steal. Maybe the washer costs me $5.00 a week, but that is probably high. Now spring is comming, I can dry on the line, so that is even less.

If you can wash at home, fleece is cheeper! Just my humble opinion!

As for smell, I have no idea what to advise, I am wondering if boars are more stinky with fleece? Maybe it has to do with your washer. I have a double loader that is only 3 years old. I use Tide Cold Water, but wash my bedding on warm, (Only stuff I was on anything but cold) with vinigar in the rinse cycle too.

[kimgrif]

Yep, I use Tide (but not Cold Water Tide) too. I have a Super Capacity washer, and I use the "full load" wash, on the longest cycle. I wash one load per week, which consists of a mattress pad, 2-3 towels, and the fleece topper. I also toss in any extra "pig laundry" like lap blankets and such.

So, Tide for the wash cycle, and vinegar for the rinse cycle. Large load, warm water, single rinse.

[suzilovespiggie]

I use the vinegar in the wash cycle and use hot water. If they appear extra dirty I wash them twice. I have not had a problem with smell.

[Salstar]

Thanks for the replys everyone! My washing machine is only 1 1/2 years old. I put the vinegar in the wash cycle like suzilovespiggie, and I also use hot water (everything else I wash with cold water). Maybe I should try the vinegar in the rinse cycle?

[jdomans]

We went out for a bit yesterday and the moment I walked through the front door I said, "Yuck GP funk." It wasn't the litter pan it was the fleece. Also we hadn't turned the AC on and it was very muggy in here. We are now putting a dab of Pine-Sol in with the detergent. I thought about Tide but it is way over the top for me to buy until I am out of school and working. This morning there is no smell at all. We broke down last night and switched the AC on. We should be able to open the windows again tomorrow.
As for boars, Doolittle is in here with us and he doesn't smell. Now if I had 3 or 4 boars I don't know.
Our water bill has gone up due to the fleece but my cage is so huge that shavings became an impossibility. When I had two girls and a 2 x 4 cage it was easy with shavings. The first time I cleaned out the existing cage I stood back and thought, "When school starts after Xmas, you will not want to be doing this." I switched to fleece. I use Yesterdays News in the litter pan under some shavings. It absorbs the ammonia odor.

[WEAVER]

For a while I was ready to give up on the fleece, I had two males at the time and the smell was awful not even to mention the boar glue. I found a solution that works very well for me. I use all color cheer detergent, 1/2 cup of vinegar added in with the detergent, I fill the bleech cup up on the side of the machine (I am not sure off-hand how much it holds). I wash everything on warm and set the washer to rinse the load twice. In the dryer I use nothing, you definetly DO NOT want to use a fabric sheet it makes the urine smell stronger and almost makes the fleece take longer to penetrate the pee through.

I am not really convinced the fleece is cheeper in the long run by the time it is all said and done. I do feel it is cleaner, a whole lot better for them and dust free. I like the fact I can "see" what their poops looks like, exactly how much, and if they are having any "issues". If I was not to have bedded on fleece I know that I would not have noticed the blood when Oreo had his stone. It was a brownish color and definetly would have blended in woodchips. I love the fact that the fleece is soft on their feet and mine like to flop down anywhere it does not have to be a bed It stays dryer and no woodchips stuck to piggy bums when you try and pick them up.

I do use aspen in my "kitchen" which is a 2 x 2 and I HIGHLY recommend that. In the doorway of the kitchen I use carefresh because it tracks less and I use fiddlesticks that I have made a bridge out of and that helps get the shavings off their feet and bum before the walk onto the fleece. On the otherside of the bridge I have a cheap kitchen through mat (the kind you can throw in the washer your grandma used to have) and that also helps catch whatever shavings may still be on them.

I really feel that I have finially "mastered the fleece" and it has taken me a long time but I am able to now say I LOVE IT, it may or may not be cheaper, but it is SOOO much better. I will never go back to shavings.

Good luck

[KPIGGY]

I use fleece and have not noticed the smell staying on after washing. I have a 2 x5 with a 2 x3 2nd floor with fleece on both also I use fleece for their bedding.
I wash with normally clothes detergent. I do two loads one with the smaller fleece and bedding and the larger fleece on its own. I have the machine on a 60 degree wash.

[C&K]

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I thought about Tide but it is way over the top for me to buy until I am out of school and working. This morning there is no smell at all. We broke down last night and switched the AC on. We should be able to open the windows again tomorrow.

You could buy a small box of Tide just for the guinea pig linins, I know what you mean about cost, but keep your eye open for sales, usually someone has it on. Even a small box with only a load or two per week would last forever. But, if you are happy with what you are doing now, then that is great!

I used to use cheep detergent too, feeling that Tide was too rich for my blood, having children and a mother in law who only buys light coloured clothes changed that. Other detergents just would not get them cleaned. We ruined so many outfits of theirs by not getting all the stains out before it went to the dryer. Besides, it seemed that our dark clothing was also suffering from early fading. So, we bit the bullet, switched to Tide, and for a family, despite needing to do one to two loads a day, it saves us money when compared to buying new clothes!

I found that adding the vinegar with the soap did not work as well as with the rinse cycle.
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[SandyF]

We have 7 boars, all housed on fleece and towels, and I don't have an odor problem with the fleece after laundering. I use a hypo-allergenic detergent, wash in hot water, and use about 3/4 cup of vinegar in the rinse cycle. No smell.

[Salstar]

Thanks for all the tips guys. I'm going to try the vinager in the rinse cycle and see if that helps.

[Emmett]

I add borax to the wash load with detergent and vinegar. It seems to help with the smell. Borax can be found at KMart or probably any other place that sells detergent.