Blankets Review: UHaul blanket

[Hdale85]

They definitely change, pretty sure it's made from recycled materials or something. I bought 4 blankets and they were a few different colors or shades of blue.

 

[Kimberly713]

Just how many times do you have to wash these things!? I've got three and my dryer isnt large enough to dry more than one at a time and theres no where to hang them up, so anyways I washed them twice together without drying to get alot of the lint off. Now one is drying but the lint is in huge amounts! like handfulls of it lol

So how many times did you guys wash them before it stopped shedding? Thanks

 

[jenga122]

We did 2 washes, then dried. Then we washed again and dried one more time. We also washed in warm water. We still get lint off of them now but not near as much as the first couple times. The first couple washes and dries got quite a bit of the shrinking out of it though and the extra lint.

 

[Hdale85]

I don't know, I may look into something else. With my 4 piggies in the kitchen area it doesn't seem to absorb quite enough and it's only been a few days since I changed the cage out. I tried to sew 3 layers in but my sewing machine wouldn't take 3 layers of the material + a layer of fleece. Going to look into using something else next weekend, probably browse the stores, maybe use the quilted blankets from U-haul.

 

[lissie]

Just for the ease of layering it in the cage, if you make the bottom pad with 2 layers of uhaul, and the top pad with 1 layer uhaul and 1 layer fleece. I think it should work. So it would still be easy to sew, and probably easier to wash/dry too.

 

[Hdale85]

Possibly, but I dont know that I like how what seems like half the uhaul pad washes out the first few times. There is a noticeable difference in density before and after washing.

 

[Kimberly713]

Possibly, but I dont know that I like how what seems like half the uhaul pad washes out the first few times. There is a noticeable difference in density before and after washing.

I noticed that too. I washed it about 3 times and just cut them up to size my cage and there's still tons of lint on it and it's thinner. I dont think it matters though it has great reviews thusfar by everyone who's used it

 

[Onetwo]

Just to let some of you know, that when I wash (hot wash/cold rinse) and dry (medium heat) my fleece and towels, I usually have an inch and a half of "lint" on my lint trap twice and I have had these towels for 3 years now. I check it 15 mins in and its full so I clean the lint trap and I pull out the fleece (so it doesnt burn) and I let it run another 45 mins (clean the lint trap) but the towels are still a bit wet. Also I do find that the thinner towels are more dry than the thicker towels when I change the cage. I usually change my cage every 7 days (I have left it for 2 weeks before with the towels pretty soaked...). My towels are getting pretty bad but I'm not sure if this will be much of an improvement especially if its falling apart as bad as some people are saying. My crappy apartment washer and dryer are REALLY tough on clothes and stuff. My fleece has been torn, burned, scorched, and melted. At $3.50 a load it really sucks to do laundry around here...

 

[Hdale85]

Enough towels to cover my cage in 2 layers isn't cheap though. I don't know since I'm sewing them I'm going to look for some quilting under liner stuff and see if I can get it cheap enough and if it seems thick and absorbent enough to work. Would be pretty similar to the bed liner things.

 

[Kimberly713]

I just made some liners with the blankets and some new fleece. I just used binder clips to keep it together so I can get it into the cage easily. I don't have a sewing machine so these will have to do. I am going to deep clean the cage tomorrow and do introductions with my piggies and the new piggy Ginger, and on the optimistic side of things, I'll then put them all in the cage with new fleece, new uhaul blanket, new accessories, and that's if they get on well, which I think they will Yay! I'm so excited!
And goodbye towels and old liners!

 

[Kimberly713]

So I had my piggy on my lap and she hopped off and went pee on some scraps of the uhaul blanket, I thought nothing of it and put it aside to have it washed later. Well that was last night its been almost 24 hours and there is still a small wet spot on the blanket. I decided to test the theory about 3 hours ago and dropped a few drops of water in random places on it and sure enough it's still as wet as it was when I dropped the water on it. Is mine like defective or something? It should dry up! I just put it in my cage last night from the same blanket and if it doesnt dry how could they possibly last so long with no smell?

 

[Lauren326]

Now that I have added a kitchen area to my cage (not using u-haul in the kitchen) my cage will last 3 full days with no smell-by the 4th day there will be a small smell. Before I added the kitchen it lasted about 24 hours with no smell and that is it. I don't think that these necessarily work wonders, but they do absorb better then towels & hold more pee then towels, therefore lasting longer. Also, i think it depends on the size of your cage & how many piggies are in them. Some people have 2x5 cages with one 1-2 piggies..so they probably can go a full week with no smell.

 

[Hdale85]

I don't notice any real smell keeping the kitchen up for at least 5 days. My cage is pretty big though.

 

[Kimberly713]

No smell either, just soaked corners. Like coroplast, uhaul blanket, and fleece soaked. It's very peculiar...

 

[brandie1977]

I have been researching fleece as bedding. Someone else posted about it and I was sent links to check out. I would like to know if I'm understanding how this works. You make a fleece cover which would be the 1st layer. 2nd layer as suggested here would be 2 layers of u-haul blankets and what about under the u-haul blankets? Is another layer needed? I was thinking of puppy training pads I saw some on a website that were washable. They were super expensive but can be reused so I figured in the long run would pay for them self. I also saw a link (broken link removed) I was wondering if anyone has made the comparison to home made and this? Which one ends up being the better buy? The piggy bed spreads claim to last 2 years. Does any one know if the set up with u-haul blankets last as long?

 

[jenga122]

I don't have anything under my U-haul blankets except coroplast. I do sometimes put an extra layer (small cutout) of U-haul blanket under there most common potty spots. Mostly under igloos.

I have looked at the piggy bedspreads and they look really good but the price just isn't realistic for me. U-haul blankets are only $8 each and you can buy fleece pretty cheap if you get it on sale.
My cage is a 3X5 ($120 to order) with a 1X3 kitchen ( $45 on site) and a 2X3 loft ( $59 on site).

I can buy 15 blankets and about 40 yards of fleece for that price. To me, it seems like the best choice to go with blankets and fleece but some don't like to mess with the sewing and cutting.

 

[Shahbazin]

I cut my Uhaul blankets so I could fold them in half (2 layers), & then lay my fleece over it (one layer), & tuck the fleece under the edges (the fleece is 4-6 inches longer on all sides than the cage bottom - I do not wrap up over the coroplast sides like some do). When setting it up, pull it out of my fresh bedding bin, lay it out on the floor (Uhaul, then fleece), fold the long sides up, wrap the fleece around the edge, fold the ends up & wrap, then I have a nice little packet - I fold the existing pad in the cage 1/2 way back, wipe the coroplast, lay the new pad in & unfold on one end, shoo my piggies on to the fresh side, then pull the old pad out & sweep/wipe that end.

No sewing involved! The bedspreads look neat, but they're pretty expensive (not that they're not worth it, it's just that it's a lot up front) - even if what I'm using doesn't last as long, I think it'll still be more economical. I do use scraps (2 layers of UHaul, 1 of fleece, over existing pad) under their house that are changed daily - they get pretty wet, but the fleece does a good job of staying dry on top, even if the blanket's wet.

I did try towels under fleece at first, & they got really wet, & smelled - the Uhaul stays sweet longer & definitely absorbs better. This shows the extra layer under my piggie house, & how the tucked edges look fine:

 

[Kimberly713]

Well I have resolved my soaked corners issue by just putting two extra small cutouts under where I put their wooden houses, as well as under the water bottles. It lasted me about 9 days before I got to changing it with little or no smell, it smelled from their kitchens but that's aspen shavings and about 6 days without a changing when I usually go 4 or so. I'm pretty happy with the Uhaul Pads! They are still very fuzzy but I just put it in the cage and use my special Black & Decker Hand Vac attachment to suck all the fuzzies up before I put them in there as they will sit there and eat every last fuzzball lol.

My fleece is finally wicking properly and I'm liking the pads very much! Way easier to place, and wash than towels were! I don't sew either so I made the fleece a few inches larger on the sides and just lay it on the floor and tuck the sides under, roll it up and carry it over to the cage, then just roll it out and flatten. Easy as Pie! Cage looks fantastic too! This isn't the most recent cage, I took their cool kitchen down and made a 2x3 for a third piggy that doesn't fit in quite yet, but the main part is the same and it shows my fleece well. I certainly reccomend these to everyone!

 

[cam767]

The piggy bed spreads claim to last 2 years. Does any one know if the set up with u-haul blankets last as long?

Truthfully the uhaul blanket concept hasn't been around much more than 6 months yet, if that. I recently switched over and so far am loving it. I haven't sewn them together but I'm thinking about it. It would make it easier on my back. Compared to the towels the uhaul blankets are a breeze. I guess it's all personal preference. I personally can not afford those pig bed spread. I would love one but it's just not realistic for my budget (my cage is also 3x5). So for me this is the next best option at an affordable price.

 

[Nicolene]

I'm super excited to see that there are folks who love these as much as I do! I haven't checked this thread in a while, so I had some fun posts to read.

I just cleaned my cage today, after 10 days. It was starting to smell yesterday though...

I am still using the original uhaul blankets I took pictures of for this review, which I started in October. So I'm using 5 month old blankets and the same fleece.

I will say this. My blankets are holding up SUPERBLY. But my fleece is starting to look raggety and when I hold the uhaul blanket up to the light I can see spots that are thinning... SO.. I think I will buy some new fleece and blankets in a month or two and make some new stuff for the summer. I want to redo my coro first. I am tiring of using safety pins to hold the fleece to the blankets so I am thinking of sewing fleece "pillowcases" that I can slip the blankets into. So I'd have fleece on the top and bottom essentially. But I'll have to experiment. I'll let you all know.

I know I don't want to stitch it all together, I like hanging the layers over the balcony to dry in the sun and breeze.