Cleaning cage pans?

[blue_soda025]

I'm just wondering how and what you guys use to clean your metal cage pans with. Mine is pretty large, so it would be kind of clumsy to try to clean it over even our largest sink in the laundry room. I'm guessing that it's probably not a good idea to use liquid detergent? Also, how often do you actually give the pan a good clean?

 

[SunshineChins]

We take our pans outside once a month and give them a good scrub and then rinse with the hose. Then they lay in the sun to dry. In between those washings they get vacuumed out with the shop vac and wiped out with vinegar (we have it in a spray bottle).

 

[threewingedfury]

My pans in my runs are scraped with a spackling knife and then washed out with a water/vinegar/Kage-Care solution (from Exotic Nutrition), then washed with boiling water and left to dry.

My Ferret Nation pans are swept out, sprayed with the solution above, then wiped down with water and wiped dry before I put the liners in.

 

[blue_soda025]

Does baking soda work well at all? Or those "small animal-safe" cleaners that you can buy at the pet store?

 

[AZChins]

The vinegar works really well. Just get a small plastic scraper and maybe a scotch bright pad and scrub out the pan. I clean up my pans with soapy bleach water and scrub them really well, rinse well, then add the vinegar to soak for 10 to 20 minutes, rinse again and I have an odor free, very clean, sterilized pan.

I do have a large porch that I utilize to clean cages and pans. When I did live in an apartment back years ago I would vacuum off everything and then scrub things in the bathroom tub. As long as there's nothing to clog up the tub, that was the easiest way to go. The nice thing about that is that if I scrubbed up a cage I could pull the shower curtain and let it rinse it really well using the shower. Then I'd take everything out and let it dry on the sidewalk in the sun for a few minutes while I waited. (If that wasn't good enough I would use a hair dryer to get any wet spots dried up.)

I've never bought any of the cleaners from the petstore. I always make sure to rinse things really well. Soapy cleaners are harder to rinse, of course. Vinegar can leave a residue if you don't rinse well enough, bleach rinses pretty clean with a good rinsing.

 

[alli713]

I also use vinegar mixed with water to clean my pans. I have plastic pans though since I have wire bottom cages, so the pee does stain the plastic. But the vinegar takes out any smell and any pee residue.
On the wire bottoms I use a stiff bristled brush and the vinegar/water mix.

If they're pretty dirty, you can let the vinegar mix sit in the pan for a while and then scrub, that works really well at getting any residue off.

Then just rinse really well.

I've also done the bathtub thing when I lived in an apartment. Now I just use a hose outside

 

[chinsNdobermans]

I use vinegar and water as well, every time I clean cages.

 

[blue_soda025]

Ok, thanks all. Looks like it's time to get some vinegar this weekend. (Yes, we don't actually have any white vinegar in the house... ).
I guess since it's summer, I could easily go outside to hose the pan down. I'll probably just use the bath tub in the winter since I really don't like freezing cold weather.

 

[Bethany]

I use a shower attatchment for dog bathing, and it was worth every penny.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3307+5+104+1184&pcatid=1184
I clean mine when I clean the cage. I use a cleaner (lysol, bleach, whatever) rinse, then follow it with dawn original dish washing liquid and rinse again.

 

[AZChins]

I use Dawn, too. It's the best one...I swear it gets off more of the greasy cage grime than any of the other dish liquids. And, the original does the best job...I swear by it! A little of that with bleach water does a phenomenal job compared to a lot of other stuff I have tried.

I'm going to buy one of those sprayers. I bathe my dogs (chihuahua mixes, tiny dogs) in the utility sink and that sprayer will make my life so much easier. I fill up a cup and rinse off the dog, fill up a cup and rinse off the dog...that gets so old so fast.

 

[Virus]

I wash the pan - in the bathroom - in every two weeks. It's not very easy since the pan is quite large, but at least there's only one to clean. ) Between thorough cleanings I use a little shovel to take out some peed bedding etc.

For cleaning I use absolutely non-toxic products. Well, it's an easy decision since the best one I know is simply clay-based, safe and very effective! :bow: (I believe it's available in US and Canada, too: http://www.universalstoneonline.com ) And if the pan is extra stained (ooh, how guilty I feel at those times!!), I clean it by dusting some baking soda on and then adding plain vinegar. Be careful when you try this, there's a chemical reaction which makes the mixture foam fiercely! I scrub and leave on for a couple of minutes, then rinse.

 

[Bethany]

I use Dawn, too. It's the best one...I swear it gets off more of the greasy cage grime than any of the other dish liquids. And, the original does the best job...I swear by it! A little of that with bleach water does a phenomenal job compared to a lot of other stuff I have tried.

I read the original will not react with bleach and it is a safe soap.

 

[AZChins]

Maybe that's why it works so well? It isn't broken down by the bleach or something like that. I didn't know anything about that.

 

[Sharon69]

What ratio of vinegar and water do you use to clean the bottom of cages? :thumbsup:

Thanks!

 

[Bethany]

What ratio of vinegar and water do you use to clean the bottom of cages? :thumbsup:

Thanks!

50/50