Fleece vs. Carefresh

[Envirofairy]

So- i'm still using the carefresh in my cage- but it's getting expensive. I want to use fleece, but my boyfriend is against because he's convinced that it will smell something awful even if i wash it frequently. any suggestions on using this over the carefresh bedding?

 

[BabyGrl]

As long as you are washing your fleece every 3-4 days it will not smell. Tell your boyfriend you want to try it and if it smells you will try something else.

 

[Hansel]

I switched from carefresh to fleece and havent looked back since! Give it a try and see how it works, you not out much if your boyfriend decides he doesnt like it and wants you to go back to carefresh.

 

[kittnkarr]

My boyfriend was all for the fleece. He was getting tired of seeing them kicking out the aspen bedding all over the floor. Also he felt bad for me because of my allergies to the stuff.

It has been a month now and we don't notice an odor at all. I change the bedding every week with scooping out the poop every day. This has been the best thing for our piggies.

The layers used consist of from bottom layer to top

puppy pads
towels
fleece

 

[DannyK]

Hi I am new to all thos fleece concept. So you then wash all the layers every week? Where do you get puppy Pads? And how thick is your layer of towels? And do you use a litter box?

My boyfriend was all for the fleece. He was getting tired of seeing them kicking out the aspen bedding all over the floor. Also he felt bad for me because of my allergies to the stuff.

It has been a month now and we don't notice an odor at all. I change the bedding every week with scooping out the poop every day. This has been the best thing for our piggies.

The layers used consist of from bottom layer to top

puppy pads
towels
fleece

 

[BabyGrl]

You can get puppy pads at Walmart or any other store that has a pet department. They are potty training pads for dogs. I put down puppy pads on the bottom, then newspaper, then one layer of towels, then fleece. I wash my entire cage about every 5 days. When I change it I leave in any puppy pads that have not been soiled (usually most of them are not), put the towels in the washer and shake out the fleece and put that in there also. I put in detergent and about half a cup of vinegar to the load. I wash and dry and set my cage back up. Many people have more than one change of fleece and towels so they can just change it when needed and not have to do the laundry right then. I just give my boys a couple hours of floor time while their cage is being cleaned.
I do have a litter box. It is a good idea to put a littler box under any hayrack you may have. The pigs tend to spend alot of time in there so the box will hold some of their droppings. You do have to vacuum out the poos every night or the cage gets filled with poo fast. I have a little hand held vac that I use for that. I try to vaccuum it in the morning and evening. I have found if i let it go for too long (3 days was the most when I was sick) It gets very poopy very fast. I probably had a good half a lunch bag full of poo by the time I was done cleaning it.
Also I have aspen in my littler box. It is kind of a pain to get off the fleece so i am going to switch over to carefresh or something else. Hope that help a little bit!

 

[redinque]

What happens if you just put a super thick layer of fleece (multiple layers)? Do you have to put towels or puppy pads underneath? Will the fleece alone be enough to absorb the pee?

 

[Envirofairy]

I like the idea of using the puppy pads- i'm going to switch to the fleece with the pad layer when i get back from visiting my family. i had to leave shadrach with a friend of mine, but i really miss my little piggy! i've only had him for about a month and it's amazing how much they grow on you!

 

[KPIGGY]

I switched to fleece about 3 weeks ago. I find that they smell less than when I had the wood shavings down. They are a lot happier. They also have old jumpers to sleep in for their bed which they like.

 

[Percy's Mom]

What happens if you just put a super thick layer of fleece (multiple layers)? Do you have to put towels or puppy pads underneath? Will the fleece alone be enough to absorb the pee?

You should really put towels or puppy pads or something else absorbant under the fleece. A)Fleece really just wicks the moisture through, so you'd end up with smelly puddles under the fleece. B)Towels or something similar would probably be less expensive anyway.

 

[NewGPMom]

I would love to know how you all have such luck with the fleece. I tried it for my piggies and it was horrible. They have litter boxes and would only use them until I tried the fleece. I used newspaper, puppy pads, a bit more newspaper then the fleece. I put it in one day in the afternoon, swept it out before bedtime and first thing the next morning, again late afternoon and again before bed. By the late afternoon sweeping after only 24 hours it was already starting to smell. By the next morning it was the most disgusting thing ever and in less than 48 hours. I was litterally gagging everytime I walked by the cage. I promptly changed back to the aspen bedding and haven't looked back. I can go 10 days without a cage cleaning and clean the litter boxes once in ten days without much smell at all. The worse part is that they use their litter boxes less now and I wonder if that was the scent attracter in the puppy pads that caused that. It was so not worth it to me. I do still use it on the second level however and they rarely soil it up there other than poos which are easily cleaned up with a small hand broom. What did I do wrong??

 

[Percy's Mom]

It's the newspaper that causes so much of the smell I think. When it gets wet, newspaper is horrible. If you decide to try fleece again in the future, NewGPMom, go to a thrift store and get some cheap towels to use instead of the top layer of newspaper. I think you'll be happier, and it will be cushier under piggy feet.

 

[DannyK]

Thanks for the tip on going to the thrift store for the towels, I had not even thought of that I was going to go to Jo-Ann fabrics and buy new terry-cloth, but this sounds better.
Thanks!

It's the newspaper that causes so much of the smell I think. When it gets wet, newspaper is horrible. If you decide to try fleece again in the future, NewGPMom, go to a thrift store and get some cheap towels to use instead of the top layer of newspaper. I think you'll be happier, and it will be cushier under piggy feet.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

Newspaper does get smelly. I use non-waterproofed mattress pads under my fleece. I have even gotten to the point I don't need to use puppy pads under the mattress pads anymore. I can go for up to a week with daily spot cleaning on my main and mini levels without changing the fleece and pads. The girls have a 1x2 coroplast potty area under the hayloft that most of them use. I put Critter Care in the potty area. I use newspaper only in the hayloft and have to change it out at least every day or every other day because it does start smelling pretty quickly when the girls start peeing.

 

[NewGPMom]

Ok, maybe I will give it another try. It just brings back bad memories thinking of that stench again. No kidding, it was horrible.