U-Haul Blankets (Furniture Pads)

[amcashes]

****** This Is My Study And Experience With This Blanket!******
I was told about u-haul blankets for my c&c cage. I ignored the advice at fist. But once I made my cage 33 square feet I knew that I needed a lot of towels. So I looked into the u-haul blankets. They were 8.00 each. They were great. I could not believe how well they worked. After a week there was very little to no smell at all. Here is how I used them in my cage.

First I need waterproof mattress pads. (They are not needed if you use chloroplast.) I can get the king size pretty cheap at wal-mart. They are about 10.00 there. The first step is to put the waterproof mattress pads down where the cage will be.





Then I will put down my u-haul blankets I want to double up on them. It will be thicker. Thicker is always better depending on how many piggers there are in the cage. Once all that is done I will want to place my c&c cage on top of it. (The cage will hold it down.)



Then I will add the fleece like I always do. I like to have 2 layers of fleece. I use two layers because it will add a bit more cushion for the girls. When the fleece is put in the cage you can hook it will plastic clips or place it under the cage like the u-haul blanket was. I have even heard of people using bricks in the corners of the cage.



There are pros and cons to the u-haul blanket. But I think that the pros outweigh the cons. Like you can see in the photo I use some of the blanket to protect the wall. Really the only con that I have noticed was that if you use a vacuum to sweep the poop out you can not set you vacuum on the blanket directly. Even if using just the tools, the vacuum can and will tear a hole in your blanket.

But in my opinion this is the best thing that I have ever done. With this blanket after a week there was little to no smell. It keeps the floor dry and the piggers also had a dry place to live. My girls seemed to be happier as well.

How To Wash:
This is how I wash the blankets.

***I wash them by themselves (fleece will go in a different load) If they have anything on them shake them out in a trash can.
***Put them in the washer with a forth a cup of laundry soap and half a cup of vinegar.
***Put it on the delicate cycle. This will give you the best result.
***When drying them it is best to set it on the air dry setting.

[amcashes]

**** Also you can sew fleece to the blanket to make nice bedspreads for the cage!!****

[3piggles]

Great presentation!!! I was thinking about making pads. That would make it even easier to change and clean the cage.

I can't put my vac directly on the fleece, either, or it sucks up the fleece. I have a hand vac, not too powerful, that I use for the very surface cleaning, but it has lost a lot of it's energy over the years, so I should get a new one.

[amcashes]

The hand vacuum that I use to use is a Black and Decker 7.2v Dustbuster. (Got it a k-mart on sale for under 20) It is a great little thing but I got a new big vacuum that is a eureka airspeed 12amps. The eureka is a bag less that has a hepa filter. I love it. It has this attachment that is made for vacuuming your sofa and all but it is great to vacuum out the cage.

The reason why I like to put my fleece under the cage is because it holds it down better and then the kitchen is coro so I have to use clips on it.

When you make pads you can fold the u-haul blanket over and sew the fleece to it. But I can't do that my sewing machine broke. So I have to wait.

[lonestarpiggies]

I don't have a sewing machine, so I probably won't make a pad, but I still have a few questions. If I sew 2 blankets to the fleece, will everything get clean enough in the wash? Also, do you think it will be too big of a load for a regular size washer? It seems that washing all that together won't get it quite as clean as separate loads.

[amcashes]

It will depend on the size of pads that you are making. If the sizes are going to be a 2x4 then you can but I would make sure that you only do a small load. As for the it being to big for a normal washer I don't know I have a huge washer due to me having 3 kids I got a big washer and dryer.

[3piggles]

Lonestar, there are two types of washers in the US, top loading that you are supposed to fill first, then add the clothes, and front loading where you add the clothes first, then fill with water. If you have a top loader, just fill the washer first, then add what the washer will hold. That tells you how much you can put in.

If you have a front loader, there is usually a weight chart that says it hold up to X pounds. You can get a baby scale cheaply of Ebay and other places, and weigh your laundry to make sure you don't exceed the poundage. Easier still, is just leave a reasonable amount of space in the washer for everything to get sufficiently washed.

If you have an HE washer, you really have to allow space for the bedding to move around, as they use very little water, and a great deal of aggitating to clean the laundry.

There are little handheld machines that attach buttons, hems, etc. with thin plastic lines, like the ones that hold tags on clothing in stores. If you don't sew, but want to make a sort of one-step bedding change, I think those little machines are less than $10. I have yet to figure out how to work mine, but you may have better luck.

[hamo50]

my mom is a nurse and she brings these home from work for hammys house. they fit perfectly and i still have room at the end of the cage (i have a 2.5 by 3.5) for his carefresh potty area that he sleeps&burrows in. they're also easily modified/cut if you need to. i put this down first and then the fleece. i'm lucky enough that hammy won't pee anywhere on his fleece so i don't need to wash it often.

www.assistedlivingstore.com/c-12-underpads.aspx?gclid=CJLcrPKNl6YCFcNM4AodVTSynw

[bits]

We took beach towels, and sewed fleece to them around the edges, with a fold. Took a lot of work and you need a sewing machine, but the pads work well. To chance our C&C cage we just swap out 5 pads. We made two sets. Dirty (hay bits & wood chips) get shaken outside and into the wash with a touch of bleach then air dried (no sense in power drying since they won't be used for a week).

Works well for us. We don't vacuum (we use a hand wisk & dust pan made for camping tents), but I think our design might be sucked up as well.