Considering Fleece

[Haley0489]

I've been considering switching to fleece. Right now I'm using CareFresh and it's getting rather expensive. I use a 50L bag to fill by 2x5 and it only lasts me a week or two. That's roughly $50-$100 a month in disposable, one-time-use, bedding.

• Would you say fleece controls odor better or worse than CareFresh?

My pigs are in my bedroom, so any odor is a big deal for me.

• Would you say fleece is more or less maintenance?

• How often do you change your towels and fleece? What's the longest you could go?

The reason I like CareFresh so much, is I can get two weeks out of it with a couple midweek litterbox change-outs, and it controls odor sooo well.

Even if I had to wash my towels and fleece once a week, that wouldn't be a huge deal, as I do laundry every weekend anyway! I'm really just looking at maintenance and odor control.

[GuineaAddict]

I haven't been using fleece very long but I really like it. I sewed mine up like a pillow with batting in the middle and a bed protector thats plastic on the side facing out and so far I haven't had any problem with the smell or anything. I just couldn't imagine having to pick up pee laden towelsand having to carry it all to my washer and having to deal with all the seperate pieces.
Plus fleece is so customizable which makes it even more fun for me because I can buy different patterns and get into the fun of decorating the cage. Plus chips are expensive (like you said) and I hated how they always got kicked everywhere. And having to scrape them out of the cage and smelling the ammonia from the urea...I'd rather just stick to fleece. I have two right now (and soon more to come) that I just switch out and if one needs cleaned the other one gets put in the cage and the dirty one immediately goes into the washer.

[Newpiggiemom]

I tried fleece and wound up going to Aspen shavings. The fleece did smell with me after a couple of days. I used mattress pads underneath but it didn't work as well as I wanted. Carefresh definitely works better at odor control but lots of people swear by fleece. If you buy enough to switch out without having to wait for your current fleece to wash and dry, the maintenance isn't as bad.

[PrayerWarrior]

[FONT=Georgia]I started my pigs on fleece, so I can't really compare and contrast, but I can say this:

It does not stink at all. At least, for me. I have a 2x6, so I have two towels layered on each half. Change it weekly. The cage is literally 6-7 inches away from my head at night, and it doesn't smell at all. Hasn't been much maintenance, either. I have two litter boxes so I go in and pick up all the poops and discarded hay 2-3 times a day. Less than two minutes each time. I also have two sets of fleece, so I replace it while the other's washing, and my family just got new towels when the pigs came, so I got all the ratty old ones, haha.

Besides...they seem to really like it.
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[fourboys4now]

I use fleece and have been doing so for at least 3-4 months. I was skeptical and thought my luck I'd buy it and then hate it. I love it and the piggies do to. I change out and wash mine at about the 5 day mark. I line 2-3 layers of towels underneath the fleece. Daily I vacuum the poops out with a handheld vacuum. I do not notice urine smells, but if I delay getting the poops out, I'll get a whiff of that. My pigs really seem to like it. When I first put the clean in the cage they all lay around and stretch out like awww so comfy and clean.

[Haley0489]

I think I'll definitely be trying it out. Only way to really know if it's for me or not. My dad thinks the fleece idea is "gross," but my mom has no qualms about it, and is rather excited to be saving some money and making the piggers happy. Of course, I'll be thrilled if this means a cleaner carpet around the cage for me!