Fabric vs pine, etc

[familytyme]

After reading all the posts and looking at some of these great cages, we definitely need to make some changes at home. Right now, I use the pine bedding for our guinea pig (Chance). It's a pain to clean it and makes a mess. I love the look of the chages with the fabric in the bottom. I could very easily change that daily and keep it much cleaner for the little guy. I've read the threads about the fleece, etc and it seems to get more confusing. Is there a simple answer to what the best thing to do is if I decide to go this route?

Thanks to all!

[crazywiggy]

The simple answer to using fleece.... buy some fleece and wash about 5 times (no fabric softener). Get some towels or mattress pads, put on floor of cage, put fleece over the top. Every day, hoover up pos. Every week hoover then throw everything in the wash. Simple!

I find it much quicker to clean out this way, and it stays neater because there's no bedding everywhere.

Hope this helps.

[CRAZY4guineapig]

Yes, I am going to try fleece bedding. I am currently using Kaytee " Total Comfort" bedding but fleece sounds much comfier and much easier! Where can I find the fleece?

[Maisiepaisie]

Theres loads of gorgeous patterns of fleece on ebay or you can purchase it from a fabric shop or Ikea. You can also buy a fleece blanket sold at many stores that sell bedding.

[CRAZY4guineapig]

Ok, thanks! Do I just lay the fleece down on the corolplast? Or should I put newspaper or something under it?

[pignewton]

Put towels or mattress pads on the coroplast first, then lay the fleece on top of that.

[pigsforlife]

Yes, you need to put something absorbent underneath the fleece. This is because fleece wicks the urine through to the bottom of the cage, you need something underneath the fleece that is absorbent to absorb the urine. Whether this is mattress pads, towels or puppy pads, that is your choice. Newspaper can be used but it is not very absorbent. You should have - Coroplast >> Absorbent material >> Fleece

[envisionary333]

I'm a huge advocate of using mattress pads under the fleece, having tried shavings, carefresh, puppy pads, and towels before! They are easy to arrange, can be trimmed without fraying, are super absorbent, and dry much faster than towels do. You can get mattress pads at thrift stores, yard sales, or cheap stores like Walmart to get a good deal on them. Just thought I'd put in my two cents on what works best for me! I have 11 piggies and a very big cage, so I try to keep things as simple and efficient as possible.

[CRAZY4guineapig]

OK thanks. I will try to get the fleece thing started as son as possible.