The Fleece Project

With Mocha’s newly upgraded cage, I had to solve the problem of bedding. With the last pine bag I bought being not that great (extremely fragmented and aromatic, even compared to previous pine shavings). Even this recent bag of aspen (which is considered the safer alternative to pine) ended up having this fragranted spicy smell. O.o Not to mention…the cost of having to buy shavings each month or so (aspen shavings at PETCO is $15, so 15×12 = $180 a year).

The fleece cage liner I bought from Sewing4acause.com is $24 (along with shipping, it’s $32.60)…FOREVER. And since it’s reusable, I only have to buy it once and when the cage needs cleaning, put it in the washing machine and dryer, then put it back in the cage. $24 for one time only vs. $180 a year…yeah.

So with the fleece, it has to be washed about 3-4 times in warm water in order for the pee to seep through. Otherwise, it will just repel the moisture. Washing it multiple times removes the coating. I ended up having to do it four times and by the fifth time, found that a quick wash (that makes the thing spin faster I guess) is what did it. I think I might wash it with vinegar along with detergent from now on, because it’s getting this offensive barnyard smell… (the folks at the guinea pig forums think it might be the build-up of detergent, so vinegar is a good way to remove the excess soap. Also it takes care of any piggy smells).

The only downsides that I can think of is the cleaning process…but since I haven’t had to do a cage cleaning with fleece yet. Soo…yeah…

• One layer of fleece should be good (I got my “temporary” fleece–anti-pill from YourFleece and it is very soft and not too bad). Anti-pill or blizzard are the ones to look for (the above linked forum thread also mentions polar, but I’m not sure if that’s the same as blizzard…). Fluffy ones like plush fleece might not be able to wick moisture. (Dampness is ok when the GP pees, just as long as it doesn’t puddle or absorb into the fleece.)
• At least two layers of some absorbent material (for now, until the cage liner from Sewing4acause gets here, I’m using this (brand-new) pond filter that I got from my mom, since she doesn’t need it. It holds a ridiculous amount of water despite being only about 3-4mm thick. O.o Other have used towels or this furniture pad and have had no smell problems after 7 days. This can be reusable also (towels, furniture pads, mattress pads) or it can be disposable (some folks use incontinence pads, puppy training pads…).
• Fleece needs to be washed 3-4 times and dried (no fabric softener). Alternate between wash and dry cycles (so it’s wash-dry-wash-dry-wash-dry, instead of wash-wash-wash-dry-dry-dry).
• Apparently timothy hay tends to get stuck in fleece easily, so to minimize the amount of hay that ends up on the fleece, some people use a hay rack (with a “litter box” underneath to catch stray hays) or a hay box. Some guinea pigs would rather have hay on the floor, so their owners either get them a hay box.
• Fleece is not for everyone. Apparently some guinea pigs seem to be anti-fleece (Mocha seems to like it). And some owners find themselves to be anti-fleece after a while, with the washings and other misc. cleanings related to it. Disposable bedding is excellent also (just as long as it’s not something harmful like cedar).
• If all the extra laundry work doesn’t bother you, think of all the money you could save with reusable bedding! :O Fleece by itself is around $4-5 (by yard). Add in the cost of the absorbent layer of your choice. Readymade cage liners (pre-washed) are around $25-50 (depending on the size you need). All of that pales in comparison to the $8-15 each month (which would be $96-108 a year). It’s like playing an MMO with a flat fee (pay once, play forever) vs. playing an MMO with a monthly subscription fee! :O (Yus, I had to make a video game reference in here somewhere…GUINEA PIG BEDDING ONLINE!) Or…(for non-gamers), washing and reusing your own bedsheets as opposed to throwing them out each cleaning session and buying new ones.