Fleece Fleece vs Freshcare (Ultra)

*Carefresh... sry for the title..

Fleece is nice and soft for piggies. Fleece needs to be swept of poops twice a day by people. Fleece is easier on the wallet in the long run. Carefresh is expensive.

My personal oppinion and experience is fleece is much nicer and easier to keep clean.

They're both good beddings in my opinion. Carefresh is nice and soft, although it is expensive when you have a big C&C cage. Fleece isn't that expensive when you buy it and it lasts forever since it's re-usable. I really like fleece, it doesn't smell, and the piggies feel soft and comfortable. Every day i spot clean all of the poops and every 5-7 days i was all of the fleece and clean out the cage.

What does, "Imo" stand for? I can't really understand your original post, as fleece isn't expensive, and usually, piggies like the fleece better...(as long as you have a nice underbedding.)

IMO=In My Opinion.

trump_cinnamon said:

What does, "Imo" stand for?

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Imo stands for "In my opinion."

Oooooooh. ok. thanks. I think you should choose fleece; it saves tons of money in the long run, and the pigs love it!

I personally use fleece and think it's the best option out of all the choices out there. Carefresh gets expensive filling up large C&C cages while fleece only needs to be changed (along with the underbedding which can be towels, mattress pad, or shower curtain) 1-2x a week and washed. It's soft for the piggies and I find my girls laying down more and getting cuddly with the fleece vs. when I had aspen/carefresh. Sweeping or vacuuming the poops twice a day is good to maintain a clean cage and it really doesn't take long.

hilary said:

Sweeping or vacuuming the poops twice a day is good to maintain a clean cage and it really doesn't take long.

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What about the pee?

meghannmariexx said:

What about the pee?

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The pee wicks away from the top layer (the fleece) and goes to the underbedding, usually being towels as that is the cheapest way and easiest I think and it works well for many people. Check out this thread on everything you need to know about fleece. I'd highly reccommend switching to it, especially if you want to save money after the inital cost (which isn't even much, usually fabric stores have some great deals). The wicking happens because to prepare fleece you wash the fleece at least three times before using it to break down the liquid barrier.

Oh okay,
do you have any stores that I could get fleece from?
I'm in Canada.

Hmm, I'm in the U.S. so I'm not sure what you have in Canada though I'm sure some people who live there will reply to this. Do you have a JoAnn Fabric store? Or any "yardage" stores (fabric store)? Walmart does sell fabrics so you could find fleece there as well if you have one of those. Target has pre-cut fleece throws that you can use for your cage. One of them in my gallery is from there. Sorry if you don't have any of those, but I'm sure you can find it somewhere. Try searching fabric stores in your area online.

I have walmart, but not target, and I'm not sure about the other ones.

meghannmariexx said:

I have walmart, but not target, and I'm not sure about the other ones.

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Walmart should be fine but their fleece is a little more expensive than fabric stores. (Well, in my area) When you buy the fleece you will also want to buy "under bedding" which goes under the fleece. For under bedding you can use a shower curtain liner or towels.

Ok, thank-you.

A shower curtain isn't going to cut it. You need something that absorbs well-- a mattress pad, puppy pads, or towels are the most popular choices.

ferndalezoo said:

A shower curtain isn't going to cut it. You need something that absorbs well-- a mattress pad, puppy pads, or towels are the most popular choices.

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Thank you for correcting me, i've heard people say shower curtains before. Maybe that is why my cage seems to smell quite a bit. I think it's because a shower curtain doesn't absorb the urine, it just dries on top of it. I found a great priced mattress pad on Walmart's site. I'm probably going to go with the mattress pad since it seems like the cheapest way to go, would that help with the smell? (I pick up the poops 1-2 times a day and wash the fleece 1-2 times every week) If you don't mind i have a couple questions about mattress pads, what if the length is longer than the cage and the width is wider than the cage, would i have to cut it? Another question is, does it matter what type of mattress pad i get? Some say waterproof as others do not.

A shower curtain can make a good "subsitute" for a coroplast floor, but you'll still need something absorbant over that, and under the fleece, to catch the pee. I personally use beach towels, but someone I know uses a mattress pad, and it works well. What she uses is the one WalMart sells that is labeled "cotton-rich". If you buy a big one, you can cut it to fit, and make extras, too.

Personally, for me, carefresh is MUCH too expensive, and would be much harder to deal with as far as cleaning and changing, because of the size of my cage (nearly 20 square feet). I'd almost have to get in there with a snow plow to get it all out.

My 4, 2 were on carefresh in their previous home, and they LOVE the fleece. For a while I put carefresh up in the kitchen area, and they all walk on it funny now, so I took it out and put fleece up there too.

Fleece pays for itself very quickly. I use fleece in my cage and Carefresh Ultra in the kitchen area. I couldn't imagine the expense of using Carefresh in my entire 2x5 cage. So the initial expense of fleece is more, but it's much cheaper in the long run.

And I would check your local Goodwill (or similar) before buying a mattress pad at Wal Mart. I also use mattress pads and got two of them at the Goodwill for less than $5 each.