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Blankets Review: UHaul blanket

CavyMom1970

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thor-Loki's mom: moving around the houses is a fantastic idea by Nicolene. Another helpful use imake potty pads using fleece and the uhaul blankets sewn together in just the size you need. I have made several and have those under my boys' pee places. This gives you only the pads to change every couple of days. By moving the houses it gives your piggies something "new" and a chance to put a fresh pad down.
 

Thor-Loki's mom

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CavyMom1970 : Yes its a great idea!* Thank you for the pee pad idea as well. I recently just purchased my first sewing machine, my mother is a wiz at sewing, shes amazing. I personally am scared to death to take the machine out of the box yet! lol She is coming to visit our family next week for Thanksgiving, I have the fleece and uhaul blankets here already and am going to make her show me how to use that machine and going to start sewing! I am so excited! I really think the pee pad idea will work great for my boys, as they both pee under their hidey holes...almost never anywhere else. Thank you so much for the fantastic ideas!!
 

Thor-Loki's mom

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CavyMom1970 : Yes its a great idea!* Thank you for the pee pad idea as well. I recently just purchased my first sewing machine, my mother is a wiz at sewing, shes amazing. I personally am scared to death to take the machine out of the box yet! lol She is coming to visit our family next week for Thanksgiving, I have the fleece and uhaul blankets here already and am going to make her show me how to use that machine and going to start sewing! I am so excited! I really think the pee pad idea will work great for my boys, as they both pee under their hidey holes...almost never anywhere else. Thank you so much for the fantastic ideas!!
 

goodenuf

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I love the fleece/uhaul blanket idea but have run into a problem. I washed the fleece several times but it still doesn't seem to wick the pee away very fast if at all. My poor long hair piggie kept getting wet! My short hair pig didn't seem to be wet. So I went back to Aspen/Carefresh for now but don't want to give up on the fleece. Any thoughts or suggestions on how to fix this?
 

Thor-Loki's mom

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I havent had any problems at all w/ the pigs being wet, the pee wicks thru pretty fast for me. The only thing I know of is to make sure you wash it with detergent that does NOT have fabric softener in it and do not use any fabric softener sheets at all. It can leave a waxy residue on the fleece, thus slowing down the wicking process..Hope that helps :)
 

cam767

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I love the fleece/uhaul blanket idea but have run into a problem. I washed the fleece several times but it still doesn't seem to wick the pee away very fast if at all. My poor long hair piggie kept getting wet! My short hair pig didn't seem to be wet. So I went back to Aspen/Carefresh for now but don't want to give up on the fleece. Any thoughts or suggestions on how to fix this?
Do you know what kind of fleece you have? I had bought some of the 50x60 blankets and that wicks fine. I went to make some stuff for the pigs with leftover fleece that I had from a project for my ferrets. It didn't wick well at all. Since I washed it all together with different results it must be the fleece itself. I'm wondering if one kind of fleece is better than another. Anyone have ideas on that?
 

goodenuf

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Do you know what kind of fleece you have? I had bought some of the 50x60 blankets and that wicks fine.  I bought the fleece at Jo-Anns. I think it was called blizzard fleece.  Where did you buy your blankets?
 

goodenuf

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Do you know what kind of fleece you have? I had bought some of the 50x60 blankets and that wicks fine. I went to make some stuff for the pigs with leftover fleece that I had from a project for my ferrets. It didn't wick well at all. Since I washed it all together with different results it must be the fleece itself. I'm wondering if one kind of fleece is better than another. Anyone have ideas on that?
 I bought the fleece at Jo-Anns.  I think it was called Blizzard Fleece, thought this was like the polar fleece.  Where did you buy your blankets? 
 

CavyMom1970

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I've purchased the polar fleece & anti-pill fleece from Joann's. The only time I've had a problem with wicking is when I used fabric softener. At that time, I did not even know there are different types of fleece and the fact it wicked. LOL
 

Lauren326

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I have notice that my pigs pee right through both layers of the u-haul blanket...My 4 girls in one & 2 boys in the other & both cages had pee on the coroplast.  It has only been 4 days since I washed it.  Does this happen to you guys?
 

CavyMom1970

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I hope the following helps explain each different situation I have experienced: (keep in mind that no mixture of materials will make the process "perfect", but we all need to continue to help give our trial/error experiences to get as close as we can to "perfect")

*where "pee pad" made with fleece/uhual sewn together is used: pad is wet, but under is dry. Sometimes it's a lil damp if they have been constantly going there.

*without pad: A recent spot used fleece is damp and uhual is wet - If I lift the uhual the coro is damp.

*without pad: A spot not used after a lil while - the fleece is dry and deending on how long it's been the uhual/coro is dry.

In my opinion, the process goes like this:
*piggy urinates
*fleece wicks the urine, leaving it damp then dries
*uhual soaks up urine from fleece. Just like a towel having liquid poured on, the uhual is wet through.
*As the uhual begins to dry, it ontinues to soak up dampness from fleece and coro. This results in an overall dry spot. These spots leave a white spot on my coro that comes clean when I wipe down.
 

Joelseph7

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I have tried the UHaul & fleece for a week now and its is exactly how CavyMom1970 said it works. I did sew both the UHaul and fleece together. I'm currently doing my first wash with both sewn together so I hope it comes out ok. I will let you know how it turns out and take pictures. I love the idea and am glad I stumbled upon this forum and topic, just in time for my first two piggies.
 

Joelseph7

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So I just finished washing and drying my first sewn set of fleece and UHaul pads. It came out great, no smell and it did not shrink. It fits perfectly like it did the first time. The Fleece and UHaul pads lasted me a week before I started noticing any odor. I really love this idea as it saves me from buying bedding, which makes such a mess and is quite expensive. I was able to make two sets of cage liners, two pads and still have extra to make either another set of cage liners or pads. I also got the Fleece from Walgreens; they have a ton of colors and designs, I suggest you check it out! It was also fairly cheap at 2 for $7.00 and each fleece is 50" x 60" you can easily get two sets of cage liners from one. So I just want to say thank you Nicolene for the great idea! :)


We just made another cage liner for when we need to change the fleece and an extra circle pad(UHaul pad in the fleece) for their igloo since they often go potty there. I also added extra padding in the spots of the cage they tend to urinate in.

And heres a pic of Penny and LeLe exploring and enjoying their freshly cleaned home and new fleece. They were using a green one in the same print before.
 

Nicolene

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So I just finished washing and drying my first sewn set of fleece and UHaul pads. It came out great, no smell and it did not shrink. It fits perfectly like it did the first time. The Fleece and UHaul pads lasted me a week before I started noticing any odor. I really love this idea as it saves me from buying bedding, which makes such a mess and is quite expensive. I was able to make two sets of cage liners, two pads and still have extra to make either another set of cage liners or pads. I also got the Fleece from Walgreens; they have a ton of colors and designs, I suggest you check it out! It was also fairly cheap at 2 for $7.00 and each fleece is 50" x 60" you can easily get two sets of cage liners from one. So I just want to say thank you Nicolene for the great idea! We just made another cage liner for when we need to change the fleece and an extra circle pad(UHaul pad in the fleece) for their igloo since they often go potty there. I also added extra padding in the spots of the cage they tend to urinate in.
Thank you! Your liners look fantastic! I think my fav part of these liners are how thin they are.. I may attempt to sew mine on tomorrow.
 

cam767

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 I bought the fleece at Jo-Anns.  I think it was called Blizzard Fleece, thought this was like the polar fleece.  Where did you buy your blankets? 
My 50x60 blankets work well. I bought them at a pharmacy on sale for $1.99 each. The other fleece (not sure what kind it is) does not wick well at all. I bought it a few years ago at a local fabric store that has since gone out of business. I did notice that is a little thicker and heavier than the blankets (not the thick fuzzy kind).
 

cam767

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I forgot to ask a question. Inca seems to be a burrower if I don't have the sides clipped just right. But when I had a separate kitchen and would just tuck the fleece under the towels she didn't try to burrow. Do you think if I sewed my u-haul blankets to the fleece that I would still need to do the sides up the coro for clipping or do you think she wouldn't burrow under the pad to lay on the coro? They have a nice large "tent" area  (2 grids wide and 1 deep) now that they can hide in if they want to and they didn't have that before. It would be so much easier on my back if I didn't have to clip. lol
 

Lauren326

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This is what I thought, but my 4 girls still borrowed on the coroplast under the fleece & the u-haul!!! I tried the clips too, but they kept going in between them. I would need a million of them in order to keep them out. So for now I just put the cubes inside the coroplast so they can't burrow. This is temporary until I learn how to sew so I can make mine like piggybedspreads, with the sides that fold over the coroplast.

I forgot to ask a question. Inca seems to be a burrower if I don't have the sides clipped just right. But when I had a separate kitchen and would just tuck the fleece under the towels she didn't try to burrow. Do you think if I sewed my u-haul blankets to the fleece that I would still need to do the sides up the coro for clipping or do you think she wouldn't burrow under the pad to lay on the coro? They have a nice large "tent" area (2 grids wide and 1 deep) now that they can hide in if they want to and they didn't have that before. It would be so much easier on my back if I didn't have to clip. lol
 

cam767

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This is what I thought, but my 4 girls still borrowed on the coroplast under the fleece & the u-haul!!! I tried the clips too, but they kept going in between them. I would need a million of them in order to keep them out. So for now I just put the cubes inside the coroplast so they can't burrow. This is temporary until I learn how to sew so I can make mine like piggybedspreads, with the sides that fold over the coroplast.

Thanks. I figured they would probably still burrow. It's funny, I haven't had a problem in a while and yesterday I noticed they managed to get under the fleece again. Ugh.... Oh well, at least today is cage cleaning day. My back hurts just thinking about all those clips. lol
 

Joelseph7

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Oh my, Im glad my girls don't like to burrow! I have herd people on here use velcro to secure their liners to the coroplast. The idea sounds like it might work.. I might give it a shot even though my girls aren't burrowers, I still sometimes find hay under my liners so that might keep things neater and help the fleece stay put when I'm brushing their cage clean.
 

cam767

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I found out how Inca is getting under. Along the long sides of my cage she would give a little pull with to the fleece. If she found a "weak" spot she would keep pulling until it gave way. I need bigger blankets to keep the brat out. lol JoAnne's is on my black Friday list. lol
 
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