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Blankets Review: UHaul blanket

itzmeigh

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I was just getting ready to order my blankets. I don't know if it is all the time or not, but they have free shipping on orders of $25 or more right now.

$25 amounts to 3 blankets and one items of about $2 (a roll of tape.).

I was going to order 2 blankets anyway and that would have cost me $21.65 with shipping. 3 blankets and a trailer hitch cover ($1.25 and I need one anyway) comes to $25.10. So it will basically cost me $3.45 for the third blanket.

Just thought I'd point that out.
 

LightningPig1

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I went to U-haul (online) yesterday and saw they had quilted and denim blankets. Does it matter which one I get? Does one work better then the other or one safer? I'm going to be ordering a couple very very soon!
 

sstickly22

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Help!  I was sewing my uhaul blankets to my fleece and all of them shrunk a ton!  Does anyone else have this problem when washing them and have to stretch them out???  What happened here???
 

nvjenn

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I bought the denim ones and washed/dried them 3 times (like the fleece) before using them. 
 

itzmeigh

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I decided not to sew mine.  I did wash everything.  I'm not sure I washed the uhaul blankets 3 times.  I think just once.  But I haven't noticed any shrinking yet. But then my cage is pretty big and I was worried it would be too big and thick for the washer as all once piece.
 

RoxieJo

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Question- I have been using fleece with towels underneath and have decided to try the u-haul pads instead. My piggies will have a new c&c cage for christmas. The supplies (grids etc.) I bought are to do a 2x9 L-Shaped cage. The L shape of the cage means I will have to do 2 seperate pieces of fleece sewn to 2 seperate pieces of u-haul pad and meet them together where the L corner is. What should I do about the place where the two fleece pads meet in that corner? I don't want them to end up burrowing under the u-haul pads. I hope my question is clear, please let me know if it isn't. Also, I've seen several people say they use 2 u-haul pads under the fleece. Is that necessary, or would one pad work? Thanks!
 

pinky

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I tried the UHaul "furniture wrap" this week instead of my usual towels. I bought this blanket U-Haul: Moving supplies: Furniture Pad for $8 and cut 2 layers for the 2X4 side of my cage. It is very thin, like my fleece: and made of recycle demin. I pinned it to the back of my fleece to make a temporary liner (both blanket layers) like so: I lined my cage with it and waited for it to start smelling... 3 days average for us with towels (2 layers) but 7 days! with this UHaul blanket. AND to really test it we also happened to have lived through 5 days of record heat (100 degrees). For full disclosure purposes, we have a handtowel under our pigloos that we change daily, as well as a hay bin with newspaper that is cleaned twice daily. But we also had this with the towels, so it was a controlled experiment I washed the blanket today, it washed well and dried quikly, it did have that hot piggie smell fresh out of the dryer, like fleece does, but I aired it out over our balcony and it was completely fresh after. It didn't come out misshapen either. I LOVE this stuff, I am buying another one tomorrow so I can sew 2 liners and be done. Liners are so convenient... I'd say used mattress pad if you can get it on the cheap, or I would highly recommend this blanket. No more towels for us!
They look really nice. Are they 100% cotton? 
 

Nicolene

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Question- I have been using fleece with towels underneath and have decided to try the u-haul pads instead. My piggies will have a new c&c cage for christmas. The supplies (grids etc.) I bought are to do a 2x9 L-Shaped cage. The L shape of the cage means I will have to do 2 seperate pieces of fleece sewn to 2 seperate pieces of u-haul pad and meet them together where the L corner is. What should I do about the place where the two fleece pads meet in that corner? I don't want them to end up burrowing under the u-haul pads. I hope my question is clear, please let me know if it isn't. Also, I've seen several people say they use 2 u-haul pads under the fleece. Is that necessary, or would one pad work? Thanks!
Hi, first off, I have a L shaped cage and I love it! However I have one part of it fleece and the other is a large hay box for them to frolic in, so I don't have that problem. I would either pin them together or make one piece longer so they could overlay.I use 2 layers of blanket and I only have to change my cage every 10 days or so. If you use one layer you will likely end up having to change your cage more often, so try it, it won't be any harm done, but if you find it smelling much sooner than you had hoped you might want to try a second layer. I hope that helps.
 

Lauren326

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RoxyJo-you could use small binder clips to clip it together or saftey pins.  Or if your washer could handle the whole thing, you could sew it together.  You could only do 1 layer of the u-haul, but you would need to do a full cage clean more often then if you use 2 layers.   pinky-yes, they are 100% cotton.
 

Nicolene

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They look really nice. Are they 100% cotton? 
You know what, it doesn't say. I initially worried about that too, but that website and the packaging both say "made from recycled denim" and that is all I have to go on. It works though, so whatever it is, I'm pretty happy with it.
 

Nicolene

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Help!  I was sewing my uhaul blankets to my fleece and all of them shrunk a ton!  Does anyone else have this problem when washing them and have to stretch them out???  What happened here???
You know, I didn't wash mine initially, I just cut it and slapped it down in my cage. I used them a few times with no shrinkage, then one day my husband washed them and he kept hitting "10 more min" on the dryer because he was too busy to take them out and they shrunk like 2-3 inches! My other set is still the exact same size. So I have concluded that if they are overheated in the dryer they may shrink. When I do laundry I let them dry to the "regular" dry setting (my hubby like the "very dry" setting, and then I hang them over our patio fence to air out for maybe 10 min while I get the next load going. My other set is still the same size and the same shape. It looks just like the day I bought it just softer.
 

Thisisaline

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I was thinking since the uhaul blankets allow some of the pee to pass through to the coroplast before absorbing it back in and with free shipping above $25, i'd have enough to use 3 layers underneath making it even more efficient and allowing even less pee through to the coroplast. But would using 3 layers just give me an unnecessarily heavier laundry load?
 

Shahbazin

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When I first got my Uhaul blankets, I washed them 2-3x, cold, then hot or warm, then ran them through the drier each time. They made *lots* of lint the first 2 times, then not so much. I don't know if they shrank, I didn't cut them until I'd washed them well first (I think they did, a bit, though). I am using pieces cut to fit a 2x4 grid, & they are folded over to make 2 layers under the fleece. So far, they're MUCH better than the bath towels! They lay smoother, are lasting longer without smell, & I'm not getting the really wet spots like the towels - better absorbancy.
 

RoxieJo

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Hi, first off, I have a L shaped cage and I love it! However I have one part of it fleece and the other is a large hay box for them to frolic in, so I don't have that problem. I would either pin them together or make one piece longer so they could overlay.I use 2 layers of blanket and I only have to change my cage every 10 days or so. If you use one layer you will likely end up having to change your cage more often, so try it, it won't be any harm done, but if you find it smelling much sooner than you had hoped you might want to try a second layer. I hope that helps.
 Thank you- I think since the pads are so inexpensive I will go ahead and do 2 layers below the fleece. We have an old so-called "extra-large" petstore cage that we will be attaching as their hay palace  
 

RoxieJo

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RoxyJo-you could use small binder clips to clip it together or saftey pins.  Or if your washer could handle the whole thing, you could sew it together.  You could only do 1 layer of the u-haul, but you would need to do a full cage clean more often then if you use 2 layers.   pinky-yes, they are 100% cotton.
 Thanks-I was thinking of sewing the whole thing together, but we go to a laundermat and I don't know that their machines could handle it. Will try the binder clips and do 2 layers of u-haul pads 
 

TweedleDee

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Nicolene I just wanted to give you a big thank you for this post and all of your question-answering that lies within. I used your how-to advice to make my bedding and it's going great. I have one layer of fleece, two layers of u-haul pads, and a layer of incontinence pads under that. They are not sewn together, just laying on top of each other and the fleece is binder-clipped around the edge of the coro. I changed it for the first time this weekend (after 7 days) and there was only a couple little pee-spots that made it through to the incontinence pads, the u-haul and fleece were dry!

If I can do it as a first time pig owner anyone can! Thanks again.
 

Nicolene

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Nicolene I just wanted to give you a big thank you for this post and all of your question-answering that lies within. I used your how-to advice to make my bedding and it's going great. I have one layer of fleece, two layers of u-haul pads, and a layer of incontinence pads under that. They are not sewn together, just laying on top of each other and the fleece is binder-clipped around the edge of the coro. I changed it for the first time this weekend (after 7 days) and there was only a couple little pee-spots that made it through to the incontinence pads, the u-haul and fleece were dry!

If I can do it as a first time pig owner anyone can! Thanks again.


Thanks TweedleDee! I am still very impressed with these blankets myself. I am about 5 days overdue on a major cage cleaning (day 11) due to being in bed with the flu for the last 4 days (and hubby being clueless about fleece and pins and all that) and it is still holding up. Big clean up tomorrow. Is there any reason why you use the pads too? It always makes it throught to the coro on my cage, but I just wash it.
 

TweedleDee

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Is there any reason why you use the pads too? It always makes it throught to the coro on my cage, but I just wash it.

I'm just overly paranoid I guess lol I like that I can just scoop up the pads and do a quick wipe down of the coro. It is a lot of waste though, maybe I'll change my mind depending on how future cleanings go.
 

Lauren326

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So, I have been using the u haul pads for about 2 months or less. What I am finding out is that they are slowley disinigrating from washing. I keep finding very small holes in it & as I wash more, the holes are getting bigger & in more quanity. Anyone else noticing this?
 

Nicolene

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So, I have been using the u haul pads for about 2 months or less. What I am finding out is that they are slowley disinigrating from washing. I keep finding very small holes in it & as I wash more, the holes are getting bigger & in more quanity. Anyone else noticing this?

Holes?? No, mine look exactly like they did the day I bought them. I can't imagine why that is happening. I have 2 sets, so each set gets washed once every 2 weeks in cold water with a "free" detergent (free of scents and colors) and then they go in the dryer until they are just dry (I find overheating causes shrinkage).
 
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