Drain clogage!!!

[PancakesWaffles]

So I usually clean my guinea pig's cages twice a week (I have two cages, three girls in one cage, two boys in the other) TODAY my drains in the basement backed up. I seriously think it's from washing my fleece. I vacuum it before I put it in the washer, but I bet that's what's from!

Has anyone else had this happen? Is there a way to get rid of more hair before I wash it?

I live in a basement suite and DO NOT want to be responsible for the drains backing up. I simply cannot afford to fix the drains because it's my fault and I can't afford to use shavings. I don't have coroplast in my cage either. Is there any other bedding or something that I could use!?

Help!

 

[loveforlife!]

Shake/brush off as much hair etc you can then invest in a few lint rollers! All the little hair will stick right to the roller! Hope this helps!

 

[Peggysu]

Guinea pig hair alone is not going to clog your drains. I wash so much stuff and have no problems. My parents at one time had two dogs and six cats living in their house and washing stuff with mass amouts on fur on it was the only option. Their washing machine is not new either it's actually quite old.

I wash my dogs bed and the guinea pig laundry in my washer and have no problem.

I have read that some people who are worried about fur wash the laundry inside a cover of some kind. I really see no need for that, but it's always an option if you are worried.

 

[lissie]

I use a human hair brush to brush the fleece before putting in the washer.

 

[Ash-Ro060708]

Unless there is also a large amount of bedding/hay/poo on the fleece I don't think just hair alone would cause the drains to clog, unless the drain pipes are in bad shape and already had something wrong with them.

I have 3 cats, 3 dogs, and 3 guinea pigs and I normally do 1-3 pet loads of laundry a week(1 or 2 loads pet beds/blankets a week, 1 guinea pig load every other week, and 1 pet towel load whenever I bath the dogs/cats) and I have never had a problem with my washer/dryer or drains.

I shake my guinea pig fleece outside and hang it on the clothes line for the day to air out and totally shake the bedding and poo off before I wash it.

 

[MaggieMae]

The hair wouldn't do it in my opinion, maybe any bedding that might be stuck to it? If you are using some type of litter box if you switched over to yesterdays news I feel like it comes off easier than say, carefresh, and it is less likely to clog anything.

I rinse my fleece and towels off in a sink because other people who use the washer feel that it is not sanitary otherwise. So a lot of the hair will come off in the sink. Maybe you could do this and place a filter in the drain so the hair would be caught in that, and then you could pull the filter out along with the hair?

 

[Cogni]

I agree with the others that it is more likely hay, not gp hair, clogging up your pipes, although if you have peruvians the hair COULD be a factor. (I have not cleaned out brushes with peruvian hair in them so I don't know the texture and length of shedded hair of that breed.) The hair from other piggies, including abyssinians, is too fine, soft, and short to create the kind of clog that human hair does.
There are also many reasons it could have backed up independently of any hay: tree root blocking the line under or near the house; galvanized pipe that rusted/silted up with minerals; paper other than toilet paper getting flushed (even facial tissue can clog because it is very absorbent, so don't flush a lot of that at a time); tampons or condoms getting flushed into old drainpipes that can't handle them, etc.etc.
I have had to pay a lot of money on various occasions, dealing with old drain pipes on older properties. I can't fix much myself so I am always hiring people.
Do you or your family own the property in question or do you rent it?

 

[mekat]

I'm sorry it happened. I have a three part cleaning system before it goes in the washer. I sweep all the hay, carefresh and poop I can get off. I then take a lint roller to it and go through several sheets of the sticky stuff. After I use the lint roller I go out side and shake out what ever I missed, mostly small particles like hay dust. I do have small amounts of hair that will be left over but it usually sticks to the agitator and I will just wipe it off once I am through washing. Since I share the washer I will run an empty wash with bleach in it after wards not because I think the washer needs it but just to be polite for the others who think the piggie bedding is gross. We have never had drainage issues but I only have two pigs and have only owned them for a month.

 

[PerthGirl]

I live in an apartment and I think my drain was also temporarily blocked up a bit, so I feel your pain.

In my laundry sink, I put the plug in (with the sink empty). Then I get my towels, shake them out so all the poop/hay/hair comes off into the sink, and pick up that stuff with gloves on and put it into a plastic bag and in the bin. I then fill a bucket with warm water and soak the towels before washing.

Might work for you?

 

[pinky]

The same thing happened to me about three weeks ago. Fortunately, my husband was near the washer and shut it off. It's in our lower level, so other than a wet floor, we had no damage. Our problem was with the pump that draws the water out of the lower level to the sewer line. The hair clogged it and the motor burned out. My husband said we need to put a lint trap on the washer hose to keep the hair out of the pump and drain.

 

[dkottler]

I bought an inexpensive upright vacuum cleaner ($35 at Target!) that I use to vacuum up the poo, hay and hair daily. I was using our expensive vacuum but wanted to keep that one "clean" so I invested in this cheap one. I love it! I use the hose with a brush attachment and it gets up everything off the fleece. Love sucking up those poos! Then I empty the bin on the vacuum after each use into a plastic grocery bag... which is very easy to do on this machine.

When it is time to change out my fleece, I first take it to a sink and hand rinse it out. I can't see putting it directly into my washing machine with all that pee in it. I just rinse and rinse until the water runs clear and then put in into a small bucket and cary it to the washer. I don't have any hair or hay left on it when it goes in the washer.

One thing I am amazed with is that I use a tray to put the hay into and the guineas will pee and poo in it so I have to clean it out everyday. There will be a mixture of hay scraps and wet poo that I take to the sink. I am surprised that I haven't clogged up my bathroom sink drain yet with this lovely mixture!

 

[ingrid]

I beat the heck out of our washer and dryer as I have been cloth diapering my daughter since birth, she is now 2. Although the poo is different than human poo I don't think that could be your culprit. Your bedding, if it is wood shavings, might do it. I agree that hair probably wouldn't do it, I do lots of hairy pet laundry as well and haven't had a problem.