Cage Just finished my cage with the fleece

I use a kitchen spoon to scoop up poop. It's so much easier than trying to sweep it into the pan. See pic. I removed the long handle though. My cage is no longer 3 grid-deep.


For the hair, I use human hair brush to brush the fleece before putting in the washer. It works really well at catching the hair and bits of hay.

It makes a huge difference what type of broom you use. Mine is all soft and flimsy bristled. They bend REALLY easy and are really fine and smooth. It works amazing.

My boyfriend got one that is like a scrubber brush and I am thinking that is what we should use it for as it doesn't sweep a gosh darn thing.

He used a spoon before we got the broom and dust pan. Now he uses the spoon again.

Also I brush the fleece and sometimes use a pet hair sticky roller on my fleece. Some people throw it in the dryer first to catch the hairs in the lint trap thing.

I use the vacuum. It has a brush attachment that picks up hair and hay.

I'm so frustrated...any help is well appreciated!!! It's only been less then 24 hrs that my 4 piggies have been in thier cage & it already stinks!!!! The fleece looks horrible & is obviously not absorbing the pee to make it go to the u haul blanket. As of right now I am not a fleece fan...what am I doing wrong????

Hmm My fleece smells occasionally. I'm not really sure. My first post I put a stupid question that was already answered.. I'm thinking now

If your fleece is somewhat new...it doesn't work as well. Mine was the same way. I was regretting changing to fleece but The more you wash it, the better it gets. You just have to stick with it. There is no way I would ever go back to Carefresh.

Before I made a cage liner I was putting sodium bicarbonate between the towels.
I never used uhaul blankets so I dont know their level of absorbancy.
I'm using mattress pad under the fleece and it's just perfect.
But I had check how it was doing with water with pouring some on it before using it. I had one not letting it through and the one I use was just drinking water. Have you checked with your blankets?
But yes, some days the fleece stink, I dont know why, but rarely and very not often. Add vinegar when you wash it, will help. But I'm sure you knew that.

Now that I took down the loft/kitchen & put it on the same level they are mostly pee/pooping in there. I am going to wash the fleece today & hopefully that will help. So here is my next question: when you wash your fleece, do you just do a normal cycle. I will add vinegar as someone stated, anything else I need to know about washing the fleece? What about the u haul blanket?

I vacuum my cage with a brush attachment every other day or so. I've found that over time my pigs are "better" about using litter areas - they tend to "go" where they eat, so each place in my cage that has hay has a large litter box, and I also have a smaller one over by where they sleep which they also use.

Depending on how much they've "missed" I usually clean the cage out once a week, but sometimes it really needs it sooner and other times I have let it go longer.

I don't know about washing the uhaul blanket, but I wash my liners (fleece with attached absorbent layers) on hot with an extra rinse cycle... they always get clean

Same here, hot water and extra rinse.

I use an old kitchen spoon for scooping poops, and I also have a hair brush (coarse boar bristles) that I use for brushing the hay & hair up into a dust pan.

As for the washing, I always wash the piggy laundry in hot water. Also I do not use vinegar, although most people do. I use about 1/3 cup scoop of baking soda. I don't know if it is my water quality or the fact that I have a high effeciency washer or what, but the vinegar always left a bad odor on the laundry. Yuck!

I also have extra pads (various sizes ranging from 4x12 inches for tunnels, to triangles for corners and larger 12x18 inch for the under the ramp hidey) that I have placed in the more heavily soiled areas and I swap those out more often to keep the odor down...these are a must for under the hideys where they do a lot of pooping and peeing! Those I have to change out daily and sometimes 2 times a day. Some people use a thick washcloth for this area, or sew a thick wash cloth between layers of fleece for an easy pad.

I think, generally, males smell more than females and some guinea pigs just smell more than others. I have one female that seems to have more of an odor than the others. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with their body chemistry and how much of food they eat and water they drink.