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Liners Preparing to make the fleece cage liners with UHaul

MamaGuinea

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So I am a knitter, not a sower, but this week I am going to attempt sewing some fleece cage liners on my dusty sewing machine. I've been doing some research online and here's what I've got: a bunch of microfleece blankets from Walmart in different colors/ patterns (washed several times to wick water), and UHaul furniture pads. I am planning to layer this way: 2 layers of UHaul on the inside, and a fleece layer on both sides on the outside. Some questions: (1) Do I need to wash the UHaul separately first? (2) How big should I make these pads? For a 2x7 C&C cage, should I make them into 2 or 3 separate sections? (3) Should they fit the cage perfectly or should they be wider, so they go up the sides? (4) Will the piggies burrow under these unless I find some way to attach them to the bottom of the cage?
 

Snugglybutt

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The uhaul pads do not need to be washed seperately. For my 3x5 cage, I just make a bunch of 1x2 or 1x3 pads. I like displaying many different patterns of fleece at once in my cage. Also, when making a giant liner, it is a lot harder than making smaller ones. Most of my bigger liners do not look as tight or professional as the smaller ones.

If you try to make the liners fit the cage perfectly, theres a chance you make them too small. You should aim to make them 1 inch bigger each side.

Lastly, my piggies do not burrow under the liners. Not sure how you could connect them to the bottom of the cage if yours did though.
 

PopcornPumpkin

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Just curious, what type of sewing machine will go through two layers of uhaul? My basic singer with jeans needles can’t, and I may upgrade...
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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One thing I will add to this:

I have noticed that my Uhaul pads shrink, therefore I have cut them larger than the cage and then washed and dried them several times before using them in a pad to eliminate as much future shrinkage as possible.

Take this with a grain of salt, it's just my two cents.
 

spy9doc

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(1) Do I need to wash the UHaul separately first? (2) How big should I make these pads? For a 2x7 C&C cage, should I make them into 2 or 3 separate sections? (3) Should they fit the cage perfectly or should they be wider, so they go up the sides? (4) Will the piggies burrow under these unless I find some way to attach them to the bottom of the cage?

Here are my thoughts. (1) No, they don't need to be washed separately, but I do so in the preparation phase. Fleece shrinks very little (if at all) but the uHaul shrinks quite a bit. Be sure to wash the uHaul in hot water and dry in a hot dryer 2x before beginning to sew. If you don't, the uHaul pad will shrink inside the fleece and you will have wrinkled and unsightly liners that will be smaller than you originally created them. Not something you want to happen after all the effort to sew them.

(2) Considering that your cage is to be 2-grids wide, I would make one piece liners (two grids seems to be the limit for larger liners....otherwise too difficult to handle). I've tried it both ways and the one-piece are far easier to work with for me. Having liners in two or more pieces just means that poop and other debris will get under the edges. Much more simple to just have to vacuum around the edges of a one-piece liner.

(3) NO, no perfect fit for reasons I outlined above. Make your liners 1in.+ larger all around so that you allow for some continued shrinkage over time. That also will prevent all sorts of things accumulating between/under the edges of the liner.

(4) The liners will essentially be too heavy for the cavies to burrow under them. Of course, there is always the exception.

(5) Sewing machine - There aren't many machines that can handle two layers of fleece plus two layers of uHaul. Many of us have found that you really don't want to use two layers because the liners then become unwieldy to handle and take too long to dry. One layer of uHaul seems sufficient. I bought a new machine when I started sewing piggy items. You want to find a balance between it being lightweight and yet will do the job. You don't want one that is TOO lightweight or it will walk around the table as you are sewing.

Here is the machine that I and others have purchased....Brother CS6000i. I located it in a store nearby, took it for a test drive, and then ordered it from Amazon because of their liberal return policy. It is currently listed at $149.
Brother CS6000i.jpg

(6) You should consider what you are going to put between the liners and the bottom of the cage. After using all sorts of different items, I settled on incontinence pads. For a long time I used puppy pads, but wanted to find a solution that is kinder to the environment, plus most of the pads have an attractant to encourage puppies to use them, and that attractant seems to lure guinea pigs as well!
I've never had a cavy who didn't love to chew the blue plastic edges.......and then ingest them. Not something you want to happen.

Incontinence pads are the perfect solution for me and last a long time.....which I didn't expect. Look around a source of the pads (I've given you a couple of links to start). You want the longest you can find to minimize the number of pads needed. In contrast to the liners, I alter the pads to the size of the cage with perhaps an extra half-inch all around. The trick with sewing these pads is that you sew the edges BEFORE you cut them. Sew your projected new liners with an overcast stitch and then cut the liner close to the stitches. Otherwise, the waterproof layer and the absorbent layers will separate after cutting and one can almost never put them back together. For your cage size, the 80" pad won't be quite long enough so you will need two pads for complete coverage.

(broken link removed) (34" x 36")
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003QSDFL4 (35" x 80")

In Summary:Do use the "search" function here on the Forum....it is the red magnifying glass in the upper right corner. You can find the answer to almost any cavy question that you may have somewhere in the archives of at least ten years of posts.Happy sewing! :cool:
 

Snugglybutt

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My basic $100 Singer sewing machine works fine with making liners, once every 5 or 6 liners the needle breaks, but that's because I am rushing or doing something wrong. My uhaul pads haven't shrunk at all, but my liners are only 3 months old, so they are relatively new. To keep my liners looking neat and lump-free, I sew a basic "border" around the liner (like the image attached) and a few more inside (not pictured). It keeps them from scrunching and makes them look nicer, in my opinion!

I agree with [MENTION=19714]spy9doc[/MENTION] , bed pee pads are a great material to have between the cage and the liners!
20180530_140942.jpg
 

MamaGuinea

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Thanks for all your advice, everyone! It is really appreciated. I am in the planning stages right now, and trying to figure it all out in advance. I have not yet tried sewing the 2 layers of fleece & 2 layers of Uhaul with my sewing machine. I assumed it would be fine - I have a fairly upscale Brother sewing machine (but I am a novice - the machine was a gift many years ago, and I am dusting it off at the moment, so I will be learning to sew at the same time...well, I don't expect perfect liners :) ).

If my sewing machine can't handle the 4 pieces of fabric, then maybe I could sew 1 fleece layer together with one Uhaul, and then flip two of these pieces back-to-back and sew them together by hand? The reason I wanted to do fleece on both sides is because I've read that the U-haul fabric wears out quickly in the washing machine if it is not covered with fleece on both sides. Also, many people talk about using 2 layers of U-haul as this is more effective at trapping the pee than just one layer of U-haul.

I do not have the option of making one long piece, since my fleece blankets are shorter on both sides than the 7x 2 cage. So I will have to make at least 2 pieces (2x4 for overlap - thanks for that idea!). I'm not sure if it is better to have 2 pieces that are 2x4, or to have a bunch of smaller pieces (like 2x2 or 2x1 fleece flippers). Thoughts?
 

spy9doc

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If my sewing machine can't handle the 4 pieces of fabric, then maybe I could sew 1 fleece layer together with one Uhaul, and then flip two of these pieces back-to-back and sew them together by hand?
I see no reason why you couldn't do this.

The reason I wanted to do fleece on both sides is because I've read that the U-haul fabric wears out quickly in the washing machine if it is not covered with fleece on both sides.
That's true....the uHaul will last much longer when enclosed with fleece

I do not have the option of making one long piece, since my fleece blankets are shorter on both sides than the 7x 2 cage. So I will have to make at least 2 pieces (2x4 for overlap - thanks for that idea!). I'm not sure if it is better to have 2 pieces that are 2x4, or to have a bunch of smaller pieces (like 2x2 or 2x1 fleece flippers). Thoughts?
I stand by my original thinking on this......personally, I consider smaller pieces to be a PITA! And, I would do it only if there was no other option.

My first thought is that you need to buy quality fleece if you are going to go to the time and effort to make nice sewn liners. I would recommend buying from JoAnn Fabrics and buying by the yard , but I don't believe that they ship to Canada. Why don't you send a PM to @sallyvh who also lives in Ontario? She has a large herd and has lots of experience with all things cavy. We've been having a conversation about fleece and I'm sure she can offer suggestions.

 

Snugglybutt

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On the topic of fleece, I get all my fabrics from FunkyMonkey. Located in Ontario and has great prices, shipping is I think $10 for Ontario or free instore pickup.
 

ItsaZoo

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I’m kind of late to the party here so the liners are probably sewn already.:) I use washable incontinence pads under the fleece. Some of my fleece blankets are single thickness and others are double thickness. I’ve made pads with woven or polyester on one side (smooth so hay doesn’t stick) then a layer of terry cloth (from an old towel) and a top layer of fleece. They do take longer in the dryer, but they’re cushy and absorbent.
 

spy9doc

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I use washable incontinence pads under the fleece....... then a layer of terry cloth (from an old towel) and a top layer of fleece.

After using other materials for years, I too use incontinence pads under my fleece liners and find then superb. It sounds as though you have arrived at a solution that works for you, but I don't recommend using towels for anything except lap time. Towels get wet.......and stay wet.....and odor builds up quickly. You really want a fabric/pad that has superb absorption AND one that dries quickly for the cage.
 

ItsaZoo

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That’s true about terry. It gets soggy and doesn’t air dry. If I use terry I have to double the fleece on top and then only use it in the playpen.
 
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