11.22.2013

8 Absorbent Liners to Use Underneath Fleece Bedding

Article 5 of 7 from Guinea Pig 101: Fleece Bedding Guide.

8 Absorbent Liners to Pair With Fleece Bedding in your guinea pig's cage

Now that you've got your fleece in hand, it's time to decide which absorbent liners to use!

As you may recall from our earlier article, fleece needs to be paired with an absorbent material to function effectively as guinea pig bedding. Remember, fleece is only meant to wick away liquids - it's the layer underneath that is essential to keeping your guinea pig dry. Several popular options are listed below.


8 ABSORBENT LINERS YOU CAN USE

  • Towels
  • U-haul furniture pads
  • Puppy training pads
  • Vetbed
  • Cloth diapers
  • Mattress protectors
  • Newspapers
  • Zorb fabric

HOW MANY LAYERS DO YOU NEED?

There is no one size fits all answer. The amount you need varies depending on multiple factors, such as the size of your cage and the number of pigs you have. We use a single layer of towels over one layer of U-haul furniture pads. I found the combo fairly effective at keeping odor to a minimum.

Try using a combination of absorbent materials. Experiment to find out what works best for you and your piggies!

Have any others to add to the list? Please share!

10 comments:

  1. Blossom Smith-BourqueDecember 2, 2013 at 2:41 PM

    I use flannel sheets either cut to fit the cage in several layers or folded a few times to fit the cage they work pretty good and are inexpensive to buy at thrift stores

    ReplyDelete
  2. Really nice!! I use dippers (the ones that are used on hospitals at beds of people that cannot go to the bathroom) are quite effective and also reduce odor.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I use crib pads. Two pads fit my C&C cage perfectly.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I use towels, but sometimes it's an issue since he likes to eat the strings or pull them out. I'll have to try the furniture pads, because I think those would work really well!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi there!
    We just got two Guinea Pigs this weekend for my son's birthday. Your article about how to use fleece bedding is the best article on the subject I've come across. It takes into account those of use newbies and not just experience owners looking to change their bedding method. I have also found the same with other topics on your blog. Thanks for that!! Other places I seem to come away with more questions than answers. But I do have a question though, about how you use the UHAUL furniture pad. I am all ready to set up the fleece bedding using the furniture pad as one of the absorbent layers. Of course the pad is much larger than the Midwest Habitat Cage we have. Do you cut the pad to size or fold, etc.? What have you done and your most successful method of using the pad? Also what type of vacuum do you use to clean up cage?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Jamie,

    Thanks for your kind words and positive feedback! I'm glad to know that you've found my articles helpful :)

    In regards to the UHaul furniture pad, we fold the extra material so that it fits our cage, for a total of 3 layers (1 layer towel, 2 layers Uhaul). Of course you can either cut the pad to size or fold it several times to fit your cage - whichever works best for you.

    As for the vacuum, I spot clean daily with a small handheld version. Here's the exact one I use: http://www.amazon.com/Dirt-Devil-Simpli-Stik-Lightweight-SD20000RED/dp/B002KCO96C/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1420955068&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=dirt+devil+stick



    Hope that helps!

    ReplyDelete
  7. My Fiance and I are going to be buying two guinea pigs soon and I am getting all the knowledge I can in preparation. You said you do a layer of towels and a layer of furniture pads. When it is time to clean them do you put them all in one load together? Can the furniture pads be washed? Where did you buy them, at uhaul?

    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  8. You can buy the furniture pads at U-haul - just make sure they're the ones made out of recycled denim.


    Yes, they certainly should be washed every cage changing. You can wash everything together if you want, but I personally prefer to run the towels and furniture pads in separate loads because the pads do shed a bit. Plus they dry at different rates.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Do you use the original uhaul pads made from recycled denim? Or the quilted ones?

    ReplyDelete
  10. The original recycled denim uhaul pads.

    ReplyDelete