Blankets Review: UHaul blanket

[lissie]

Thanks I'm in California too.

 

[Vandenham]

Oh boy. I am happy to hear they held up that well. I actually called our local UHaul place today and when I heard that they were $8 here too (I thought I heard $15 somewhere), I told him I would be over in a jiffy to get four of them. The great thing is, when I told him what I was using it for he gave me the old blankets they were going to give to the pet adoption center right next door... for free! I was super excited. I can't wait to get them all sewn together and put them in the cage. This thing has taken forever to finally get all assembled!

 

[Nicolene]

I am still very happy with the blankets... We just got through day 8 of our cage and still no smell. It smelled a little yesterday, but I changed the towel in the kitchen area (soaked with pee) and the one under their pigloos (also soaked) and moved them and the smell was completely gone. I change the handtowel under their pigloos daily and the kitchen area 3 times a week. Right now all I smell is fresh salad and hay. I will change it tomorrow though, after I sew the new liner.

 

[C. Cole-Chakotay]

I'm washing my U-Haul blanket tonight and plan to use it under my fleece at my next cage cleaning (hopefully tomorrow). I'm looking forward to seeing how it works.

 

[Nicolene]

I didn't wash mine first.. hehe... was in too much of a hurry.. So far I've had no issues with it. I'm on Day 9 of my second cage change. Let us know when you've used it for a while.

I keep waiting for an issue to arise so I can post about it. I have heard that it can be hard to sew through, but I'm thinking I may keep mine pinned so I can wash the layers and hang each later outside to dry.

 

[Shurrim]

CavyLuver516 You put the sodium bicarbonate with your soap. Depends on load and machine size, 1/2 cup to a cup.

 

[C. Cole-Chakotay]

The only issue I had with my U-Haul blanket was how much it 'sheds' in the washer and dryer. I had it on the gentle cycle. I had another moving blanket that was the same way. Other than that, I think it will be fine.

 

[Nicolene]

Today was Day 14 since our last cage cleaning, and I finally got out to Uhaul to buy another blanket for another cage change (as opposed to waiting for everything to wash).

My cages was still not smelling, but the fleece was starting to look quite dirty, so it REALLY was time. Once I had the liner outside I unclipped all the layers and they still smelled less than 4 day old towels.

I'm absolutely in love with these blankets. I'm donating the majority of our massive stash of towels to a nearby rescue. Now all my bedding fits into one storage box... Whoo hoo!

 

[Vandenham]

Today was Day 14 since our last cage cleaning, and I finally got out to Uhaul to buy another blanket for another cage change (as opposed to waiting for everything to wash).

My cages was still not smelling, but the fleece was starting to look quite dirty, so it REALLY was time. Once I had the liner outside I unclipped all the layers and they still smelled less than 4 day old towels.

I'm absolutely in love with these blankets. I'm donating the majority of our massive stash of towels to a nearby rescue. Now all my bedding fits into one storage box... Whoo hoo!

I wish we could go two weeks without washing ours, but our piggies are not good with just peeing and pooing in the kitchen yet, so our bottom level is rather wet in the corners, they love their corners.

 

[Nicolene]

I wish we could go two weeks without washing ours, but our piggies are not good with just peeing and pooing in the kitchen yet, so our bottom level is rather wet in the corners, they love their corners.

Oh, ours pee all over too.. Cleaning the kitchen and pigloos often helps, but they still pee down to the coro. And, no, my home does not smell... I think it's helped that it has been hot and dry lately, seems to help dry the blankets out, so in the winter it'll probably be once a week. When I took the liner out today the only (large) wet spot was where the pigloos were the night before (I move them daily). I think the fact that the blankets dry over time as opposed to staying wet, like towels tend to, helps prevent it from stinking... I don't know, I'm still trying to figure out why this works...

 

[Holly&Fred]

Has anyone actually sewn a liner yet, with fleece and the layers of blanket? The fact that people are saying it dries faster than towels makes me think it will do well as a sewn liner, but I just wanted to see if anyone's gotten that far with it yet.

 

[Nicolene]

Apparently someone has tried, and had some trouble with the thickness and thread and needles etc. I have decided to keep mine pinned together for the time being. I like unpinning it and hanging each layer out to dry (on the balcony on hot days) after a wash.

 

[C. Cole-Chakotay]

I just put my U-Haul blanket in the cage under the fleece. I doubled it over and it fits very nicely.

 

[Holly&Fred]

I just got my liner sewn and put in, yay! I had no problems sewing through the layers, even with just a regular strength needle and thread. I had a few "not very good at sewing" issues -- I didn't do the topstitching quite right and the fleece ended up stretched too much and the sides curled up -- but when I put it in the cage that didn't seem to matter, it lays perfectly. I'll update again once I get some input from the piggies, when they go back in the cage after floor time. But so far, so good!

 

[sarahspins]

I made new liners today using the Uhaul blankets today and I had no trouble sewing or serging this stuff... I tend to use fresh needles when I start a project, but this stuff actually reminded me of working with Zorb (texture, thickness), except that it's obviously made from recycled stuff and it's loads cheaper So really it worked out just fine.

I'm super happy with how easy it was to work with.. I just hope it passes the test when it comes time to wash. If I find it "sheds" too much in the wash I may add a layer of cotton fabric and sort of "sandwich" it in between the fleece so that if it sheds, it's contained.

It took 5 yards of Zorb to make ONE 2 layer liner for my 2x6 cage, and that cost me $42 with shipping. One of these furniture pads can cover the same area for only $8! I plan on making another full liner for the 2x6 portion of my cage, plus two more liners for the 2x4 part.. then I'll be set, and I'll have enough scraps to make extra pads for the kitchen area and inside their houses. So that's 5 new liners for $34 in furniture pads.. that's less than I spent on the ONE Zorb liner I have!

 

[louie_joey]

Any idea if this blanket is available in Canada? I am going to search for it on Ebay if all else fails.

 

[sarahspins]

It should be... mine had canadian pricing on them? You can call up your local Uhaul dealer and ask.. the product code is simple "FP" if they need it.

 

[SquareWheels30]

I'm so excited about these blankets! We have a U-Haul center right down the street from our apartment complex, so I went to the website and confirmed that they do have them in stock at our center. They are $ 7.95 each here. I also saw that you could order and pay online, then choose pick-up instead of delivery. So I'm going to arrange for the pick-up of two of them as soon as my boyfriend is ready to go get them, hopefully this morning!

I have some questions for Nicolene and/or anyone else that has tested them already, about making a liner with them. As I understand it, what Nicolene and others have done is cut 2 pieces of the blanket to fit cage and lie the pieces on top of each other then put your fleece on top and sew or pin all 3 layers together and then you're ready to use.

My questions are:

When you say your fleece, is this fleece you've already made into a cage liner of a sort, or are you talking about just any piece of fleece that has been washed 3 times to make it wick properly?

If you choose to pin it together, what are you using to pin/clip it, how many pins/clips does it need to stay together, and do you think pinning it together and un-pinning for each wash could be a long term solution, or would you have to get it sewn together as soon as possible?

 

[Holly&Fred]

When you say your fleece, is this fleece you've already made into a cage liner of a sort, or are you talking about just any piece of fleece that has been washed 3 times to make it wick properly?

Any piece of fleece that has been washed to wick properly will be fine. I used an old piece that I had in my 2x3 before I expanded. Worked perfectly.

 

[Nicolene]

My questions are:

When you say your fleece, is this fleece you've already made into a cage liner of a sort, or are you talking about just any piece of fleece that has been washed 3 times to make it wick properly?

If you choose to pin it together, what are you using to pin/clip it, how many pins/clips does it need to stay together, and do you think pinning it together and un-pinning for each wash could be a long term solution, or would you have to get it sewn together as soon as possible?

I use the fleece I used to wrap around my towels, it was never sewn together. I pin mine with safety pins on the back, I use about 8 on a 2x4 liner. I have decided to keep it pinned for now, I think it dries a little faster when you have 3 loose layers tumbling in the dryer, though I may sew it together next summer, when I can hang it outside to dry. It only takes about 5 min to prep my liner and I usually do it when it comes out of the dryer, so it's ready to go next time I clean the cage, which I'm only doing once a week.