Air Purifiers for Odor Removal?

[Meshen]

Hi all, first post here after lurking for a while so first off thanks to everyone here for providing such a great resource to help guide me and my partner through our guinea pig care. On to the question - we have three boars on fleece in a large c&c and it can get pretty stinky - can anyone recommend an air purifier for odor removal from experience? I'd prefer not to go up to the £400-£600 mark that Dyson and others charge but wouldn't rule anything out if it works!

 

[Siikibam]

How often do you wash the fleece, clean out the cage and change the wet hay? What does it smell of?

I’m not sure why it smells, but adding vinegar to the fabric conditioner compartment can help when washing. I don’t know any odour removers or air purifiers though.

Out of curiosity, how old are your boars and how big is their cage?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Siikibam has asked all the questions I’d ask!
It shouldn’t smell that bad.
But The thing with boars is that they will scent mark, so the more you clean the more marking they will do.

Keeping three boars together is unlikely to work out for the long term though (most will fail before they reach adulthood) so do prepare to need to separate them if problems occur. A boar trio will require a very large cage (allowing for at least one square metre of cage space per pig) so if your cage is smaller than that, then it will increase tensions and add to the risk of falling out but also if the cage isn’t big enough then it can make smells worse

 

[Meshen]

Siikibam has asked all the questions I’d ask!
It shouldn’t smell that bad.
But The thing with boars is that they will scent mark, so the more you clean the more marking they will do.

Keeping three boars together is unlikely to work out for the long term though (most will fail before they reach adulthood) so do prepare to need to separate them if problems occur. A boar trio will require a very large cage (allowing for at least one square metre of cage space per pig) so if your cage is smaller than that, then it will increase tensions and add to the risk of falling out but also if the cage isn’t big enough then it can make smells worse

Appreciate that, well aware of the risks of a trio for sure but we had two pairs which became one pair and a bereaved boar. Given the limited rescue / adoption options during lockdown we thought we'd give it a try and it seems OK so far. So far being the operative words of course! It's 2x7, we sweep twice daily, remove any wet hay and change the fleece every other day. Two one year old and an older guy who's almost 6 (his age was another factor in not wanting to wait for lockdown to end). The smell isn't the absolute worst but my partner has a very sensitive nose, lol, so was just looking for any experience regarding devices to help minimise it further in addition to the cleaning.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Appreciate that, well aware of the risks of a trio for sure but we had two pairs which became one pair and a bereaved boar. Given the limited rescue / adoption options during lockdown we thought we'd give it a try and it seems OK so far. So far being the operative words of course! It's 2x7, we sweep twice daily, remove any wet hay and change the fleece every other day. Two one year old and an older guy who's almost 6 (his age was another factor in not wanting to wait for lockdown to end). The smell isn't the absolute worst but my partner has a very sensitive nose, lol, so was just looking for any experience regarding devices to help minimise it further in addition to the cleaning.

You shouldn’t need to change the fleece every other day - that will increase their need to scent mark and may make it smell worse. What absorbent layer do you have underneath the fleece.

At one year old they are still hormonal so do be careful, but good luck with them.

 

[Meshen]

How often do you wash the fleece, clean out the cage and change the wet hay? What does it smell of?

I’m not sure why it smells, but adding vinegar to the fabric conditioner compartment can help when washing. I don’t know any odour removers or air purifiers though.

Out of curiosity, how old are your boars and how big is their cage?

The smell is basically urine rather than the scent markings. As above I think we have the cleaning side of it covered and the smell isn't horrendous but just after some advice from anyone who's used those devices really as to whether they are effective.

 

[Siikibam]

It may be the scent marking as from the frequency of your cleaning it shouldn’t smell.

 

[Meshen]

You shouldn’t need to change the fleece every other day - that will increase their need to scent mark and may make it smell worse. What absorbent layer do you have underneath the fleece.

At one year old they are still hormonal so do be careful, but good luck with them.

Thanks, we definitely will - I know it's not recommended but the circumstances kind of dictated this one. We are on high alert for any issues as it seems too good to be true at the moment but we are being careful. The fleece we bought doesn't specify but perhaps that could be part of the issue then. It's this: WATERPROOF Guinea Pig And Small Animals Fleece Liner For C&C Cage.: Amazon.co.uk: Handmade.

 

[Meshen]

It may be the scent marking as from the frequency of your cleaning it shouldn’t smell.

Honestly it's definitely urine. I'm questioning the quality of the fleece now though (I linked it above), perhaps it's not absorbent enough...

 

[Piggies&buns]

Hmm...it just says soft wadding....id question whether that is really doing a good enough job. Does the top of the fleece ever feel damp a lot? If it does, then it isn’t working properly.
Either way, you really should not need to be changing it so often though. You should get 3-5 days out of a fleece liner

 

[Siikibam]

Does it have anything absorbent in between the fleece layers or do you put something underneath it?

 

[Meshen]

Hmm...it just says soft wadding....id question whether that is really doing a good enough job. Does the top of the fleece ever feel damp a lot? If it does, then it isn’t working properly.
Either way, you really should not need to be changing it so often though. You should get 3-5 days out of a fleece liner

It does begin to feel damp actually, which is why we end up changing so often. Back to the drawing board on the fleece then! Do you have any suggestions besides the guineadad liner?

 

[Piggies&buns]

There are options - having cage liners made, in the housing section of the forum there is a list of companies who can make them for you.
Or you can use simply puppy/incontinence pads (which can be washable rather than disposable) and then just a fleece blanket on top. I bought mine from dunelm. You would need to wash them several times before use to get them to wick

 

[Siikibam]

You can still use the ones you have, just put something absorbent underneath as suggested by Piggies&Buns

 

[Piggies&buns]

I don’t think using the ones you have will work because it says there is a waterproof layer already stitched into the bottom of them, so urine will never get beyond that already existing waterproof layer to a new absorbent layer underneath. You need the absorbent layer in the middle to the better and the ones in the existing liners just don’t sound like they are. It sounds as if the urine is going through the top layer, through the middle layer and then pooling in the bottom layer and not being absorbed and locked away by the middle layer meaning it just comes straight back through to the top layer Causing the smell and the dampness

 

[rp1993]

In terms of an air purifier, we have a cheap one from Amazon (around £30) and I wouldn’t say it gets rid of the smell, but then I don’t notice they smell of pee! I bought ours for my allergies and it helps with that! We have lots of smaller fleece squares in our cage so they can be swapped out as and when they are a bit smelly.

 

[Siikibam]

I don’t think using the ones you have will work because it says there is a waterproof layer already stitched into the bottom of them, so urine will never get beyond that already existing waterproof layer to a new absorbent layer underneath. You need the absorbent layer in the middle to the better and the ones in the existing liners just don’t sound like they are. It sounds as if the urine is going through the top layer, through the middle layer and then pooling in the bottom layer and not being absorbed and locked away by the middle layer meaning it just comes straight back through to the top layer Causing the smell and the dampness

I must have missed all these details on the link

@Meshen if you put a little water on the surface does it soak through or stay on top?