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Fleece The Fleece Project: The Study

javim121

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Thanks i will look for her to pm her.
 

snickers

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Hi everyone,

I am having some trouble with my fleece bedding. I have anti pill, 2 towels down and a mattress pad down as well. The problem is there little butts are sometimes wet when I go to pick them up. I just brought my 2 to the vet fora check up and now the vet is blaming the fleece because there feet are starting to get red. I don't know what to do. I am close to switching back to other bedding but its expensive. I vacuam the fleece everyday, and wash it once a week. It doesnt even smell. Can you please help.

Thanks.
 

wigglesgiggles1

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Are you using fabric softener, it prevents the fleece from wicking properly. Is your detergent mild. That will help.
 

Wodentoad

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Two towels may not be enough, and be sure that it's only one layer of fleece as two may be trapping moisture. I use four, two of which are folded over in areas that they use often. If you're not sure if the pee is wicking fast enough (I've timed mine at 4 seconds with nothing under it, 2 seconds when on top of towels), then you may want to add more towels.

I don't use a mattress pad or anything besides towels and fleece over the coroplast, and it seems to work well for my piggies.
 

snickers

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Are you using fabric softener, it prevents the fleece from wicking properly. Is your detergent mild. That will help.

I am using plain white vinegar, and drying it the dryer with NO dryer sheets. I also washed the fleece more than 4 times. They are long haired, so I have trimmed there butts as well. I dont know what could be the issue, and I only have 1 layer of fleece down.
 

bpatters

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I have two levels to my cage, and I put a mattress pad under the fleece on one level, and towels under it on the other. The mattress pad won, hands down, at wicking the moisture away. So if you've got the towels next to the mattress pad, you might try switching. In fact, I'm now using no towels at all. We're on our 5th day on this bedding, with no odor and no wet spots.

I do use soap on the bedding -- Tide, with no fabric softener added, and no fabric softener in the dryer.
 

angie

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Awesome, thanks sooo much for this post!! I switched to fleece yesterday and my guinea pig loves it!! The hay does stick to it a bit, but it's totally worth it - it's going to save me soo much $$$ and like I said, my guinea pig loooves it! !!! Thanks again!
 

kehittyminen

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Wow this was really helpful! Makes me want to take a trip to walmart right now lol.
 

Striker2807

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This is great! I heard about fleece and was very interested by it. I have a couple questions though and forgive me if it has already been asked I didn't want to read through 14 pages to find out.

At the start of this thread, it says to use fleece and a combination of the other underbedding options, but in the few pages I read it seems most people use 1 layer of fleece and two layers of towels. So if I do this I should be fine? Provided I do all the preparation before fitting it to the cage.

Second, if I buy fleece blankets from the store how will I know if they are anti pillar or polar?

Also, how do you test if your fleece is wicking? I assume just take a little water and pour it on there and see if it wicks through?
 

sparkling*diva

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Wow I never thought of using fleece until joining this community so thankyou! I am getting two piggies next week ,keeping them in my living room all year round,and building a 2 x 4 C&C cage with hay loft for them. Ive bought all their bits already and got two 100% polyester fleeces from primark. They feel really soft though I dont know which type of fleece this is. Anyway I have washed and dried them 3 times and i decided to test their wicking ability.

I laid one out on top of a towel totally flat against eachother and poured some water on it, it immediatley soaked through to the towel and didnt sit on top of the fleece but it did leave a wet patch on the fleece. Sorry if this is a really stupid question, but is this normal ? The wet patch is still there after 15 minutes, i heard people remark how dry their fleece was but i dont get it, it does wick but is still wet on top....how long do the patches take to dry out and doenst it smell ?? I had this notion that the water/urine just goes zoom straight through the fleece barely touching it haha.

Any advice appreciated, thanks :)
 

Michele

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We've had our 3 piggies for a year now and started out with using fleece bedding from the beginning because of this forum. Thanks! I wanted to share our experience. First of all the Polar Fleece I've found is the very best fleece to use. I used that type and a cheapy walmart type and the hay and debris on the polar fleece just pops right off when I shake it outside but on the cheapy stuff it sticks like crazy! So you'll pay more for the true polar fleece but it's thicker, more durable/doesn't stretch out as badly and the hay and poops etc. pops off it much easier. It would be worth your while to find a seamstress that could custom make you're bedding to fit your cage. I handmake mine to fit our cage. I cut out the fabric and it fits the bottom and goes up and over the sides and underneath the outside bottom edge with elastic and you just put it on the cage bottoms like you put a fitted mattress on a bed. It's fantastic and it never ever slips off! For absorbancy I use these generic washable soaker pads like sham-wow type of thing and have been using them for a year under the fleece and they work like a dream! Just wash and reuse over and again everytime I wash the fleece. The only problem I've had is that the piggies urine make the corners where they pee most often so stiff that I had to throw away their old bedding because it wouldn't absorb anymore in those spots! Any clue how to solve this problem anyone? I hope to keep their new bedding looking great for a long time if I knew how to solve this problem. Also since we have the three of them if I don't change their bedding every third day it gets to smelling like ammonia. Anyone know how to solve the stiff/urine bedding and ammonia smell? Thanks:) Michele
 

Striker2807

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OK well looks like I am going with carefresh for at least the first month. I washed my fleece 3 times and it isn't wicking. I first tried with a mattress pad then I switch to towels thinking it may be my underbedding, but still nothing. The water just sits there. The fleece is 100% polyester and everything I am just not sure what is going on.

Any suggestions? I am going to just get some carefresh tomorrow since I am getting my cavy tomorrow and hopefully I can figure this out before that carefresh runs out.
 

bpatters

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Did you wash and dry the fleece three or four times (no fabric softener, either in the detergent, added to the washer, or in the dryer) before you used it? The more I wash mine, the better it wicks.
 

Striker2807

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Did you wash and dry the fleece three or four times (no fabric softener, either in the detergent, added to the washer, or in the dryer) before you used it? The more I wash mine, the better it wicks.

I washed and dried the fleece 3 times, but I am thinking of doing one more time just to see if it helps. All 3 times I used nothing no detergent no fabric softener, no nothing.

Oh one time I did find a dryer sheet that someone left in there and I had overlooked, but I washed them 3 more times after that. So I actually washed them 4 times, but the first time doesn't count since there was a dryer sheet in the dryer.

Any ideas? I am using carefresh for him right now but that is super expensive considering I have a 2x4 cage.
 

Peggysu

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I washed and dried the fleece 3 times, but I am thinking of doing one more time just to see if it helps. All 3 times I used nothing no detergent no fabric softener, no nothing.

Oh one time I did find a dryer sheet that someone left in there and I had overlooked, but I washed them 3 more times after that. So I actually washed them 4 times, but the first time doesn't count since there was a dryer sheet in the dryer.

Any ideas? I am using carefresh for him right now but that is super expensive considering I have a 2x4 cage.

If you washed/dried the fleece three times and have an absorbent layer underneathe then it should be fine.

I notice that my fleece works best after the piggies have used it a few times.
 

Striker2807

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If you washed/dried the fleece three times and have an absorbent layer underneathe then it should be fine.

I notice that my fleece works best after the piggies have used it a few times.

I know I thought I would be but I put the fleece in the cage got it situated (which took forever!) poured water on top to test it and it just sat there. After like 5 minutes it was still there and I don't want my poor guy walking around in his own pee.

Oh and I don't know if I mentioned in this thread, but I have a mattress pad as my absorbent layer.
 

Peggysu

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I know I thought I would be but I put the fleece in the cage got it situated (which took forever!) poured water on top to test it and it just sat there. After like 5 minutes it was still there and I don't want my poor guy walking around in his own pee.

Oh and I don't know if I mentioned in this thread, but I have a mattress pad as my absorbent layer.

Did you wash the mattress pad too? I would suggest just to let your piggie use it. If they are in an appropriately sized cage then the cage should be big enough that they won't be in their urine.
 

akstrohm

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I washed and dried the fleece 3 times, but I am thinking of doing one more time just to see if it helps. All 3 times I used nothing no detergent no fabric softener, no nothing.

You should be using detergent. Just no fabric softener. Try it again with your normal detergent.
 

Striker2807

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You should be using detergent. Just no fabric softener. Try it again with your normal detergent.

Just one time or should I do it multiple times?
 

akstrohm

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You will probably have to do it three times, but you can test it for wicking in between washes if you want. The detergent is important for breaking down the barrier that prevents wicking. Keep in mind that it won't be perfect after three times, but it should be good enough to start using it. The more you wash it, the better it will get.
 
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