Fleece Cleaning Fleece Poll - Dust Pan or Hand Vac

I actually use my dyson vacuum with the round attachment for dusting, I think. I fond it way more powerful than a broom and way easier to control than a hand vac. If I had to choose between broom or hand vac, though, I would choose broom.

No hand vac has survived long in this house, and I imagine it would start to smell quickly when vacuuming up poop without being able to clean it fully.
A dustpan works perfectly, as long as the fleece is flat & secure. I would't use a regular vacuum either.

Dust pan!
Too much work to clean out the hand vac. I think it's faster to just sweep/scoop and be done.

I am on my 3rd regular vac this year after problems with hay and poop. Sweeping wins out for me especially as I don't have to stop to pull 2 feet of fleece out the vac hose!

handbroom and dustpan! Got mine at the dollar store and it works perfect for me!

Brandi0509 said:

handbroom and dustpan! Got mine at the dollar store and it works perfect for me!

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same here!

I use a small dustpan and hand broom. I got it from WalMart for 2 bucks and it works great! Plus, I think a vacuum would scare my piggies.

I use a dust pan for daily cleanups. For a full cage clean I take the fleece outside and whip it around like a maniac!

I use a little bissel hand vac and it works great it has the filter area that I remove to empty the waste then i clean it all out brush the filter off and back on the charger it goes. I originally used a dust pan and broom and it took me twice the time. I also completely clean and sanitize 1-2 a week.

I've been wondering the same thing!

I've been using a small hand-broom & dust pan but it's not secured - so it is tricky!

HannibalLecter said:

No hand vac has survived long in this house, and I imagine it would start to smell quickly when vacuuming up poop without being able to clean it fully.
A dustpan works perfectly, as long as the fleece is flat & secure. I would't use a regular vacuum either.

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I use a big ol' serving spoon for daily sweepings. I have to sweep a few times a day and I dislike using the hand vac while the pigs are still in the cage. You can glide the spoon around and it actually picks up poop fast!

During full cage cleaning I'll use the hand vacuum if I don't feel like shaking the fleece outside for any reason. It gets off little pieces of hay so I don't have to worry about my washer getting gross. I rather have a shop vac, but the hand vac was cheapest.

I bought a handheld vacuum (since there is no way I'm vacuuming poop up with my Miele!)...I found it difficult trying to keep the fleece from lifting, even at an angle. And my pigs hated the noise. I only used it for a few weeks and now I use a broom and dustpan. I feel like it doesn't take any more time really to sweep since I don't need to fix the fleece after

Hand broom and dustpan. I'm glad I read this thread because I was considering a hand vac. Don't think I'll invest in one now. (I do have a pig who loves the sound of vacuuming, though -- she popcorns like crazy when we start vacuuming.)

spy9doc said:

What are you going to do when you are once again in the frozen North?? :eye-poppi Weather here in New England has been rather mild and I'm still able to take mine outsize to brush them prior to washing. I surely dread those sub 20 degree temps.

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I'm a tough Canadian! It's been pretty cold here lately and I'm still shaking the fleece outside! If I'm in a lazy mood I'll try to brush/shake off as much as I can into a garbage bag. Doesn't work as well as whipping it around outside, though!

I also like using a giant serving spoon because I can clean it more thoroughly than the bristles on a broom.

I love my hand vac. I tried sweeping but it wasn't for me. Mine picks up Hay up to 2-3 inches and cleans really easy. I just dump it in my compost. I clean my filter once a week and so far no smell.

I live in MN and when my apt used to have a deck I would take my fleece out and do that in all the weather. Now I have no access outside without dragging everything all the way across my apt and out the front door. So I just give it a good sweep and light shake then take it to the laundry mat to wash in those human sized front loaders... If it gets clogged o'well... But so far its gotten my fleece super clean! Its cheaper too! $6 to wash 2 weeks of towels, fleece, pads and beds. Then I dry them at home in the apt washers because they don't melt my fleece. Sadly after christmas here I'm gonna start pitching my older fleece since it got burned months ago and isn't looking so good anymore! O well it's 3 years old so I guess. I have tons more!

Normal vacuum for me. I do use a stiff brush (the kind of grooming horses) after vacuuming before throwing it in the wash, though. My guys don't care about the vacuum, even the timid girls, and I often find myself having to shift them out of the way all the time whilst I'm vacuuming because they're still strutting around the cage.

I prefer a hand brush and dust pan but there are different types and not all of them work as well as others. I had one brush with more rigid bristles but it didn't get up all the hay. I wanted to replace my dust pan so I brought a really cheap hand brush-dust pan set from Meijers. The brush has longer bristles and they're softer and more pliable. They easily brush up all the hay and droppings. I was really surprised because I just figured that a stiffer brush would be better. I take my fleece outside to shake it out when the weather permits but I just brush into the trash can when I clean the fleece indoors. I used a rechargeable hand vac but it smelled bad quickly. It couldn't be taken apart to clean the whole thing.