Product Care

• Add ½ cup of distilled white vinegar to the wash AND/OR rinse cycle to dissolve oily waste residue, reduce ODOR, and help the fleece to wick faster.
• Laundry booster like Arm & Hammer Washing Soda or Borax Laundry Booster helps reduce odor.
• 1/4 cup chlorine bleach added to the wash will to sanitize piggy products and cut odor.
• Line drying your Piggy Products can help to freshen and dissipate odors but it will take longer to dry due to the super-absorbent middle layer.
• Don’t use too much detergent!!  It won’t rinse out completely and then it will magnify odor when the piggy product is dry again.
• For extra odor reducing power consider running a 2nd rinse cycle and add 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar to it.
• Marshall Ferret and Small Animal Odor Remover can be sprayed directly on your Piggy BedSpread to help control odor.

• Use the pre-wash function on the sanitize cycle with color safe liquid bleach for HE washers dispensed directly into the drum.
• Then  put your regular HE detergent in the dispenser. They come out perfect and fresh as a daisy.
• Run a 2nd SPIN cycle to get more water out of your spread so it dries faster.

• If you follow theses care instructions I believe you can expect your Piggy Products to last conservatively, 24 months, but quite possibly longer than that.
• Fleece is all polyester and holds up to hundreds of washings.
• The absorbent layer textile is designed to hold up to  hundreds of home washings.
• The vinyl barrier component of our Piggy Products is stated by the manufacturer to hold up to, “300 commercial launderings while maintaining suppleness and impermeability.”

Over time you may notice that your Piggy BedSpread smells bad even though you just washed and dried it.  Or, you may notice that it doesn’t absorb urine as quickly as it once did.  This is perfectly normal and means that your Piggy BedSpread has been working its heart out, and now it’s time now to give it a good stripping.

Piggy Bedspreads perform a lot like cloth diapers.  They absorb urine, come in contact with poop, and after a while, their fibers become clogged with minerals, detergent residue, and waxy secretions.  This means they will get stinky faster and will absorb less efficiently.  In order to get your spread performing its best again, I recommend stripping it.

There are many ways to strip cloth diapers and many ways to strip your Piggy BedSpread, but here are 3 methods that I recommend:

1. Dawn Dishwashing Detergent

• The easiest and way to strip your Piggy BedSpread is to run it through the washer with 1teaspoon of original Blue Dawn Dishwashing detergent (omitting your typical detergent) in hot water, and rinse until no more bubbles are present during agitation.  This may take 1-3 rinse cycles.  Thorough rinsing is imperative because if any detergent residue remains in the fibers of your spread, it will bind with the ammonia molecules in urine and immediately magnify the smell the next time your piggie pees on it.  So, if you’ve just washed, dried and installed a fresh spread but you notice it really stinks after a few hours or even a day, chances are you have detergent residue in your spread.

2. Distilled White Vinegar

• Vinegar naturally breaks down uric acid and soapy residue. The acid in white vinegar is mild and won’t harm fabrics, yet is strong enough to dissolve the alkalis in soaps and detergents. It prevents yellowing, reduces static cling, and kills mold and mildew. Vinegar can be added to any final rinse to dissolve the last of the detergent residue. Don’t worry, your Piggy BedSpread won’t smell like vinegar after it dries. (Make sure not to use flavored or colored vinegar as they will leave build up in the fibers for urine to bind with resulting in more stink!)

3. Bleach

• Add ½ cup of bleach to the hot wash cycle and rinse, rinse, rinse. Simple as that! I have never seen bleach stain a Piggy BedSpread, however, I add bleach when I fill my washer with water & detergent, and THEN I add the spread. Do not pour bleach directly on your Piggy BedSpread.

• Never use fabric softener OR dryer sheets!! They leave an oily residue on fleece which makes urine puddle instead of wick away.
• Keep a spray bottle of distilled white vinegar handy. On wash day, after sweeping the cage clean, spray the 4 corners of your Piggy BedSpread to pre-treat them before washing. This gives you a head start breaking up deposits in those areas where your piggies frequently pee.

• To remove hair prior to washing, use dish washing gloves and sweep over hay and hair to remove these clumps.

• Cover the sharp outside corners of your coroplast tray with duck tape or packing tape to protect the seams of your  PiggyBedSpreads.
• Run a 2nd SPIN cycle to get more water out of your spread so it dries faster.
• Use detergent in moderation.  Many people think that using extra detergent to wash their soiled, Piggy BedSpread will make it cleaner than if they used the recommended amount. This seems right but it couldn’t be more wrong! Extra detergent means residue in the spread.
  Extra detergent + Piggy BedSpread = Clogged Stinky Fibers
• Never use detergents that are highly fragranced or that contain essential oils.