Smelly fleece liners

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Michael07

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hey everyone, I have two male guinea pigs in my room and I use Guineadad fleece liners. I change the liners out about every 5-6 days and wash them with scent free detergent and vinegar and wash them on cold (did it on warm once and they shrunk like crazy). Anyway after like 1 or 2 days of having a fresh liner they start to smell kind of a lot. I'll be sitting in my bed and all I smell is hay/pee or poop. Does anyone have any tips for helping with the smell?(I assume I shouldn't light a candle or spray fabreeze but I wish I could lol). Is it possible my pigs just need a bath? Or any diet tips that may help? Thanks!
 
Do you spot clean daily? Also you could use flannels or specially made pads under their favourite spots to pee and clean them every other day or so to keep the bulk of the smell down. Not so much you can do about the hay smell though, other then trying a different brand that smells less
 
Eviolus- said:
Do you spot clean daily? Also you could use flannels or specially made pads under their favourite spots to pee and clean them every other day or so to keep the bulk of the smell down. Not so much you can do about the hay smell though, other then trying a different brand that smells less
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I generally spot clean a few times a day, but worse comes to worse once a day at least. They also seem to generally just pee anywhere even on top of the pocket! I don't mind the hay smell it's just gross when added to the pee smell lol. There's also times when I can get a waft of ammonia smell and that's when I'll wash the liners earlier. I do have a laundry hamper for their old liners but I fold up the old liner first. Either way is it possible that the smell could be originating from the laundry?
 
I use litter trays as hay trays (wood pellets with hay on top) which I change every other day, that takes a lot of the pee and poo off the fleece. That really helps. I do a warm wash with non-bio washing powder and white vinegar.

Some foods can cause urine to smell more, like spinach, broccili or kale. The dark leafy stuff. Might be worth switching up the food a bit? Idk what you feed currently so I’m not sure.
 
Michael07 said:
I generally spot clean a few times a day, but worse comes to worse once a day at least. They also seem to generally just pee anywhere even on top of the pocket! I don't mind the hay smell it's just gross when added to the pee smell lol. There's also times when I can get a waft of ammonia smell and that's when I'll wash the liners earlier. I do have a laundry hamper for their old liners but I fold up the old liner first. Either way is it possible that the smell could be originating from the laundry?
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It could be but I doubt it, maybe you could try litter training them? Or check over their diet just incase something is off that's making them more smelly.
You could try washing the toys/hides too if they're peeing on them it can hold the smell
 
My Finn and Lara use their hay trays as their bathrooms so very little go on their fleece beddings. I clean out their hay tray/bathrooms every 3 days then there is very little smell.
Mine are indoor piggies as well but I have not had any issues with smell in the house.
 
Since you do have boars, i have heard people say boars generally smell worse than sows. I'm not sure if that is true as I have never had a sow to compare Alfie with but it might just be that. Like Eviolus said, you could try to litter train them. You could get a rabbit or gp litter box and some specially made small pet litter or cat litter wood pellets. You would be best putting the litter tray under or in front of the hay rack. As gps spend most of their time eating hay, they would be sitting in the litter box while eating hay and most of the poo and pee will remain in the litter box, preventing the smell from being all over. You could litter train them by putting the litter box under or infront of the hay rack and put small pet safe litter or cat litter wood chips in the litter tray, put most of their existing poos in the litter box so they know what its for. Although actually “training” them might not be nessesesary as if you put the litter box infront or under the hay rack, they will be forced to poo and pee in the box because they spend most of their day eating hay. I would reccomend changing the cat wood pellets or small pet safe litter every three days. More often than you clean the actual cage. Also whenever you clean the cage before you put the new fleece in if you arent already i would reccomend getting some small pet cage wipes or depderizer to wipe down the cage with.
 
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I find that fleece is just smells worse than aspen bedding or carefresh
 
Hello, I am a new member to the forums. I have got a 4 month old guinea pig (I’ve had multiple in the past before) and currently use shavings and hay for bedding. I wa sinterested in trying the fleece liners? Are they completely safe? What happens if they are soiled (he poos and wees a lot!) and where you recommend getting them from and how many?
Also can you use hay over the liners as mine likes to sleep on his hay
any help would be really appreciated!
 
Amymurphyx said:
Hello, I am a new member to the forums. I have got a 4 month old guinea pig (I’ve had multiple in the past before) and currently use shavings and hay for bedding. I wa sinterested in trying the fleece liners? Are they completely safe? What happens if they are soiled (he poos and wees a lot!) and where you recommend getting them from and how many?
Also can you use hay over the liners as mine likes to sleep on his hay
any help would be really appreciated!
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Hi and Welcome - there is a whole section on here dedicated to fleece and fleece liners.. They are safe, i have used them for years.
 
I change my pigs out more often than 5 days to stop them smelling. Is the cage big enough? Smaller cages need changed more often. I wonder whether the liners need a 40 degree wash rather than cold. Mine have shrunk but I cut strips of plain fleece to cover the gaps.
 
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