Kyogre386
Junior Guinea Pig
Sorry I haven't been active here in a long time, I've had a lot going on and have been quite busy. I hate to come here only when I have questions, but I have an issue I'm a bit at a loss to figure out.
So I've had issues with fleece that I thought previously wicked fine that seem to no longer wick properly, and I have no idea why. I've gotten all my fleece from Guinea Pig Market, and have 2x5 grid fleece for my 2x5 grid cage. The first set of fleece (2 fleece liners of the same size, so that when pulling one out for washing I can immediately put new fleece in the cage to replace it) I had to stop using because over time it very slowly started to shrink. I think it may be because I always wash on Hot to kill the germs, but I'm not really sure. hadEventually they didn't fully cover the floor of the cage so I had to replace them. This took about a year or so.
The second set had a different issue. After something like a year, it seemed like the fleece stopped wicking. I noticed urine pooling on the fleece. It wouldn't stay there for hours or anything, but it sure wasn't wicking immediately. I decided to replace it, and maybe I could use it again if I figured out what happened and how to fix it but I was too busy dealing with other things to get around to it.
The third set now also doesn't appear to be wicking well. I didn't notice this problem with the first set. I have no idea why it would stop wicking properly. I have always used the same washer for the fleece, except a few times I ran it at my parents' house. I typically run the fleece on Hot, Heavy, with a Heavy-duty cycle. On the second set I used Soak frequently, but thought that might be the issue and didn't use it again but it seems not to have made a difference. I have only ever used All Free and Clear liquid detergent, and 1/4 cup of vinegar. No pods, no powder, no dryer sheets. When drying, I run for 60 minutes on Medium (I ran on High before but was concerned it contributed to shrinking).
I don't really know enough about why fleece does or doesn't wick to know what could cause it to stop. It's possible I somehow messed up and it never wicked properly in the first place, it was just good enough that I didn't notice. But I've washed the fleece at least 20 times at this point, so surely it would work by then? If I was right and it did wick properly before (I do remember testing it with warm water) I don't know why it would stop working if I haven't used any odd substances. Does wicking just stop happening after a long period of time? And is there anything I can do to make it wick again?
So I've had issues with fleece that I thought previously wicked fine that seem to no longer wick properly, and I have no idea why. I've gotten all my fleece from Guinea Pig Market, and have 2x5 grid fleece for my 2x5 grid cage. The first set of fleece (2 fleece liners of the same size, so that when pulling one out for washing I can immediately put new fleece in the cage to replace it) I had to stop using because over time it very slowly started to shrink. I think it may be because I always wash on Hot to kill the germs, but I'm not really sure. hadEventually they didn't fully cover the floor of the cage so I had to replace them. This took about a year or so.
The second set had a different issue. After something like a year, it seemed like the fleece stopped wicking. I noticed urine pooling on the fleece. It wouldn't stay there for hours or anything, but it sure wasn't wicking immediately. I decided to replace it, and maybe I could use it again if I figured out what happened and how to fix it but I was too busy dealing with other things to get around to it.
The third set now also doesn't appear to be wicking well. I didn't notice this problem with the first set. I have no idea why it would stop wicking properly. I have always used the same washer for the fleece, except a few times I ran it at my parents' house. I typically run the fleece on Hot, Heavy, with a Heavy-duty cycle. On the second set I used Soak frequently, but thought that might be the issue and didn't use it again but it seems not to have made a difference. I have only ever used All Free and Clear liquid detergent, and 1/4 cup of vinegar. No pods, no powder, no dryer sheets. When drying, I run for 60 minutes on Medium (I ran on High before but was concerned it contributed to shrinking).
I don't really know enough about why fleece does or doesn't wick to know what could cause it to stop. It's possible I somehow messed up and it never wicked properly in the first place, it was just good enough that I didn't notice. But I've washed the fleece at least 20 times at this point, so surely it would work by then? If I was right and it did wick properly before (I do remember testing it with warm water) I don't know why it would stop working if I haven't used any odd substances. Does wicking just stop happening after a long period of time? And is there anything I can do to make it wick again?
