Fleece Drying and Washing Questions

[CathiiPiggie]

When the fleece is new, and I wash 3x, can I let it dry naturally? I don't have a tumble dryer at home.

Also, should I wash the fleece separately to normal washing? I know everyone says it's a cheap bedding but surely the washing and electricity bills will go up?

[jm_1234]

Not compared to bedding. I found bedding dirty, dusty, and EXPENSIVE! Fleece is way cheaper. It is more work but in my opinion it is sooooooooo worth it. Yes you can let it air dry, thats probably better anyway because then it doesn't get all full of static which is a problem I have.

[MissJean]

You should wash your fleece seperately unless you want some fur on your regular laundry. Air drying is fine. I don't think doing an extra load of laundry a week from fleece will make a huge impact on your electricity bill, but I don't live in the UK.

[CathiiPiggie]

Thanks, fleece sounds like it should work out for me!

[danniduck]

Wash it separate! A lot of the time hay and fur will stick the the fleece. It'll get on your cloths if you wash it together. Also, you can't use detergent on piggy stuff. I understand that sometimes they start to smell a little funny so if they start to smell bad I wash them in baby detergent and than wash them another 3 times with no detergent to get the detergent out.

[spy9doc]

Also, you can't use detergent on piggy stuff.

Not sure where you got that idea, but it isn't so. How in the world do you propose to get things clean? Very few people can afford to wash the items 3-4 times, and quite frankly it isn't necessary.

I wash piggy items the same way that I wash my clothes.......warm water, unscented detergent, and with a small amount of Oxy-Clean (light colored items). Set the washer for a second rinse and add a cup or so of white vinegar to the final rinse. And, of course, dry without fabric softener or a dryer sheet.

[danniduck]

Not sure where you got that idea, but it isn't so. How in the world do you propose to get things clean? Very few people can afford to wash the items 3-4 times, and quite frankly it isn't necessary.

I wash piggy items the same way that I wash my clothes.......warm water, unscented detergent, and with a small amount of Oxy-Clean (light colored items). Set the washer for a second rinse and add a cup or so of white vinegar to the final rinse. And, of course, dry without fabric softener or a dryer sheet.

I've talked to a bunch of people who have had piggies their whole lives.

I don't do the 3 times wash method every time I clean the blankets. Water is usually enough. But after a while it does start to smell a little funny. I'd say I only use detergent about once a month. I was my blankets every week. (I almost wrote "wheek" instead of "week" haha!)

[Wildcavy]

I use dye-free, scent free, hypo-allergenic detergent on the fleece. Same as I use on the human laundry. I wash them on warm, gentle cycle and dry in the dryer on delicate. Sometimes I have to put them through the dryer cycle twice, because some of the pieces are more heavily constructed, but I've never had an issue with doing just one wash cycle. No smell, no pilling, no shrinking, pigs are happy.

Definitely do them separately from your clothes. Doesn't matter how much I shake, comb, or scrape there is always a bit of hair and now and again some rebellious poo that hid itself and ends up in the washer. Or manages to make it into the dryer trap ....

[Wildcavy]

Also I do about 4-5 loads of fleece per week, and my water bill hasn't gone up. Harder to tell with electric because our air conditioning runs on electric and that varies a lot, but it doesn't seem to make any noticeable difference.

[CathiiPiggie]

Well, it was either the detergent or the white vinegar, or possibly both but it helped the fleece wick the moisture through when washing it with nothing kept the fleece repelling any water.

[CathiiPiggie]

Thanks for the suggestions.
I just put Broccoli on his new fleece and he seemed to like it Well, if he wasn't purring about the fleece I don't know what he was purring at!

[Fred_uk]

My wife washes the GP cage fleece and other items in the family washing machine but not with our clothes. However, hairs seem to stay in the machine and get all over my clothes. She has tried a laundry bag but it didn't work. She has said she will run a rinse cycle with an empty machine before she does my clothes but it is driving me mad; what can I do?

[Zuidy]

My wife washes the GP cage fleece and other items in the family washing machine but not with our clothes. However, hairs seem to stay in the machine and get all over my clothes. She has tried a laundry bag but it didn't work. She has said she will run a rinse cycle with an empty machine before she does my clothes but it is driving me mad; what can I do?

For starters you can stop being so uptight about hair on your clothes. Hair will get on them when you handle your Pigs anyway so there is no sense in flipping out about it.

It doesn't really matter and there isn't much you can do to keep hair off of your clothes. Try a lint roller I guess.

[CathiiPiggie]

Yeah, the sticky paper rolls are amazing! Got mine from H&M

[spy9doc]

However, hairs seem to stay in the machine and get all over my clothes. She has tried a laundry bag but it didn't work.

Fred......the "secret"......if there is one.........is to thoroughly clean the fleece BEFORE putting it in the wash. I vacuum the fleece well, and then use a fur-be-gone brush (outside the house) to remove all possible hair. Of course, you could also use the sticky rolls to remove any remaining pieces.

The dryer does a superb job of capturing any left-over hair and there is no issue with it on subsequent loads.

[pinky]

I wash my guinea pig bedding with unscented laundry detergent and a cup of vinegar in the heavy duty wash cycle. Works well for me. I make sure there's no hay in there or it can clog your drain if you don't use lint traps. Hair is never an issue in my washer. It collects in the dryer screen.

[Owned by cavy]

I've talked to a bunch of people who have had piggies their whole lives.

I don't do the 3 times wash method every time I clean the blankets. Water is usually enough. But after a while it does start to smell a little funny. I'd say I only use detergent about once a month. I was my blankets every week. (I almost wrote "wheek" instead of "week" haha!)

I wash my blankets every week with my regular detergent and add in a cup of white vinegar. It doesn't smell and have had no issues with anything. This is the information that I got from the piggie bed spread website. Works great for us!

[shhhmandy]

I wash mine with my vegan natural soap. I use a free and clean soap since I am allergic to the world i use this it is a coconut oil based soap, works great and my piggy does not even sneeze anymore. Also switching to fleece will save me over $500 a year over the carefresh I was using (that includes washing the fleece and the soap and buying newspapers, and washing at the laundrymat) I am SOOOOOO glad I found this place becuase I never would have thought of fleece.

[Fred_uk]

For starters you can stop being so uptight about hair on your clothes. Hair will get on them when you handle your Pigs anyway so there is no sense in flipping out about it.

Given that you know little of my personal circumstances [i.e. I do not handle the GPs, they belong to my daughter] I find your comment offensive, despite your use of a smiley. I also work in a job which requires me to look tidy when dealing with people and not have hairs on my clothes.

Thanks to others who were more constructive.

[MrWhistles]

Over here in the US, me and hubby only saw the electric bill rise by maybe $2-3.