Fleece Is Fleece Right for Me?

[YourSoJelly]

Hey guys! Well, I have two girls, Pumpkin and Nala and they have shavings for bed. I will soon be making a stand to house a 2x4 or 2x5 C&C. It's either that or a "L" shape 2x4(or 5) and a 2x3(or 4). I have read all the fleece stuff to my mom but she is still iffy. I am gong to be completely re-doing my room to accomidate my cage! My mom just isn't quite sold on the fleece idea and there are som eissues to work with. I will be making 2-4 fleece liners and 5-6 pee pads! I am SUPER, OOPER exited for the fleece projects! The problems that I would have are:

1. Mom isn't sold on fleece
2. It's on MY budget...
3. I'm not home Thursday morning, Friday morning, or Saturday at all.
That's really all the problems my mind can come up with right now... Advice? Thanks guys!

~Halie

 

[MissJean]

So I'm assuming your mother tends to the pigs while you're gone? One of the downsides to fleece is the need to sweep daily. Two of my pigs love to poop/pee in this one corner, and if left alone would crate a soggy poop mess. I even use extra pee pads. Fleece allows you to fully realize just how much they poop!

When it comes to budget, fleece is cheaper in the long run. Running the washer, dryer, and detergent should still be cheaper than shavings. Sometimes you have to spend more initially to reap savings benefit in the long run.

Is there any other issues your mother has with fleece specifically? I have four boars in the living room and all I'm smelling right now is their new box of hay. It is possible I'm just use to their scent, though.
There is also no lingering odor in the washer/dryer as long as I use a few cups of vinegar in the rinse cycle.

 

[YourSoJelly]

We just got a new washer and dreyer and she doesn't want it to be "ruined". I told her about the wash cycle and she is getting better with it. I am at my house in the evinings because I go right after school, spot clean what I can, go to the barn to ride my horse, then come home, and spot clean one more time. I get home around 3 from school and 7 or 8 from the barn. They are also litter trained, well, Nala is. Pumpkin won't go potty where Nala has, so I am getting a 2nd litter box. And yes. My mom tends to the girls I have their veggies pre-packaged for feeding on Saturday. I feed them veggies whenever I am home.

 

[madelineelaine]

I think fleece would work for you, BUT you need to commit the time to MAKING the liners you're talking about and actually washing them when they need to be done.

 

[YourSoJelly]

I would be doing all my fleece projects on Tuesdays. That's the day I don't typically do anything. Its my "off" day.

 

[madelineelaine]

Then I wish you all the best

I do love fleece though. My advice would be to always always measure lots, otherwise you'll end up screwing yourself over.

 

[YourSoJelly]

Thanks! I wish myself luck too!

 

[madelineelaine]

I just made a 2x7 liner, and I actually ended up pulling to much fabric in so it's a little short -.-

that's what I get for trying to sew something free hand, nothing pinned etc, while I have a cold.

I'll have to fix it up when I'm feeling better.

 

[MrWhistles]

It really doesn't hurt to try. And if worse comes to worse I'm sure some users here wouldn't mind purchasing your used fleece items that you aren't using anymore.

My cage is fully fleece. My girls like to poop/pee in corners. I can't leave those corners alone more than 2 days. It gets really ewy, soggy and smelly.

 

[PrincessAngel]

Honestly, My mother was not sold on having guinea pigs, or a C&C cage or having fleece. I think as long as you make time to sweep the fleece once a day it would be worth it. My one suggestion is you may need to do full cage cleanings more than once a week depending on your cage size. I had 3 girls in a 2x4 for a while and needed to wash all the fleece twice a week and still do with a 2x5 with a 1.5x3 loft. And as long as you brush most of the hay and hair off the fleece before washing, the washer should be fine.

Personally I don't like the large cage liners, they take up too much room in the wash. Anything bigger than a 1x2 is awful in my opinion. I do love the small pee pads. I have a few for my hay area, and change them out usually daily or every other day depending on which liner I put there. I also have some smaller ones I put under hidey's

There are days when I leave the house for school at 8am and get home at 7pm, I've just adjusted my schedule around that. I feed the pigs before I leave for school and before I go to bed. I also sweep/do cage cleanings right before I go to bed. I would never go back to shavings/carefresh. It costs too much to fill the cage and it goes everywhere. On top of that it takes up way to much room in my compost bin, even when just used in litterboxes! And honestly skipping a day of spot cleaning won't be the end of the world. I'm guilty missing a day between sweeping.

 

[Iklepink]

You could make small fleece pads for the 'high traffic' areas so your mum can just pick it out, shake it into a rubbish bag and put a fresh one in. My girls tend to just use one of the corners and under their hay area. Being able to lift out the worst areas you can get away with sweeping every other day.

 

[threewellsee]

I think you could do fleece. I use it and my parents are okay with washing it in the washer and dryer. I told them it's just like having a kid that pees their pants. Washers and dryers are so good these days I doubt there would be a problem. However my pigs shed a lot and I use a lint roller before I put their fleeces in the wash, cause I think the hair would clog it up a bit.

As far as you paying for your pigs, I totally understand. I pay for all my pigs' stuff. That's the reason I switched to fleece. It's so much cheaper. Well, and I love sewing stuff. But if cost was not an option, I'd go back to Carefresh.

As far as not being home for a couple mornings and then on Saturday, I think if you could get your mom to sweep up the poops on Saturday you'd be good. It takes me a few minutes to sweep up my piggies' poops, and I do it once a day. So on the days that you're not there in the morning, you could maybe take a couple minutes in the evening and sweep them up. If you don't like fleece you can always revert back to bedding.

 

[cavy_jdas]

You could make small fleece pads for the 'high traffic' areas so your mum can just pick it out, shake it into a rubbish bag and put a fresh one in. My girls tend to just use one of the corners and under their hay area. Being able to lift out the worst areas you can get away with sweeping every other day.

This is a great idea... or line more than one in an area, and she can just take the soiled one out.

If I am going to be gone and the husband needs to tend the pigs, I line the cage with more than one fleece topper. He just rolls up the dirty one, revealing the clean underneath, and places it into a small bin next to the cages. These are just extra layers of plain fleece, so everything soaks all the way down/through. This is a quick way to freshen things up in less than two minutes, and requires no sweeping or cleaning on his part. When I am back, I just go shake all the fleece out that's in the little bin waiting for me.

 

[Mum2Levi]

What are small pee pads?

I agree... I tried just replacing the fleece once a week, but won't waiit that long again. Good luck!!

Honestly, My mother was not sold on having guinea pigs, or a C&C cage or having fleece. I think as long as you make time to sweep the fleece once a day it would be worth it. My one suggestion is you may need to do full cage cleanings more than once a week depending on your cage size. I had 3 girls in a 2x4 for a while and needed to wash all the fleece twice a week and still do with a 2x5 with a 1.5x3 loft. And as long as you brush most of the hay and hair off the fleece before washing, the washer should be fine.

Personally I don't like the large cage liners, they take up too much room in the wash. Anything bigger than a 1x2 is awful in my opinion. I do love the small pee pads. I have a few for my hay area, and change them out usually daily or every other day depending on which liner I put there. I also have some smaller ones I put under hidey's

There are days when I leave the house for school at 8am and get home at 7pm, I've just adjusted my schedule around that. I feed the pigs before I leave for school and before I go to bed. I also sweep/do cage cleanings right before I go to bed. I would never go back to shavings/carefresh. It costs too much to fill the cage and it goes everywhere. On top of that it takes up way to much room in my compost bin, even when just used in litterboxes! And honestly skipping a day of spot cleaning won't be the end of the world. I'm guilty missing a day between sweeping.

 

[PrincessAngel]

What are small pee pads?

I agree... I tried just replacing the fleece once a week, but won't waiit that long again. Good luck!!

The small pee pads I made are about 9inx12in, small enough to fit under a bent grid w/o taking up too much space. But I also refer to my 1x2 grid liners as "small" pee pads, since they only take up 1/5th the cage.