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Fleece What kind of fleece for accessories?

chickpea616

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Hi there!

Brand new member here - very new to guinea pig ownership, but enjoying every second along the way!

So I would like to make some fleece accessories for the pigs (we currently have 2): a fleece forest, some cool beds (nice DIYs on YouTube), etc. I was wondering if you need to buy special fleece for projects like that, and do you need to "prepare" it any special way? Or is it simply shop for a nice pattern, make the item, stick in the cage?

thanks so much! Looking forward to learning a lot here!

Terry
 

Soecara

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Depending on what the item is that you are going to make you may need to prepare the fleece by washing it until it wicks (wick in this sense meaning allows fluid to pass through).

Fleece usually has a coating on it that prevents liquid from passing through, you may need to wash the piece of fleece several times to strip off this coating. Do not use anything with fabric softener as this will re-coat the fleece which will make it not wick again.

To speed up the stripping process you can wash with hot water, put some vinegar OR bleach in with the wash (Only use one, never mix vinegar and bleach, and bleach won't have much of an effect on the colour of polyester fleece as it is a plastic fabric), or even leave it on a soak cycle with the vinegar OR bleach if your washing machine allows.

To test to see if the fleece will wick or not, get a container with a small amount of water in it, place a towel or other absorbent material on a surface, place the fleece on top (only have 1 layer of the fleece), then pour a small amount of water on top of the fleece and see if the water pools on top or passes through.
 

chickpea616

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Thank you for the reply! Since one of the things I'd like to make is a fleece bed, the prep steps come in handy, thanks.
 

chickpea616

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So I understand about washing the fleece and why, but can I use any fleece for say, a tunnel or hidey hut? I just purchased some cheap fleece throws at Walmart....can I wash those and cut them up for my project? Or is there a specific type of fleece I should be using....?


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wheekermommy

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I used blizzard fleece and another cheap fleece for my grid tunnels and forests with no issues. I don't see why it would need to be a certain kind if they aren't lying on it. If you are building an all fleece tunnel that they could climb and pee on/near, then I think you would just make sure its prewashed.
 
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