completely cleaning out a cage

[alli713]

I have a cage that I want to wash out completely and try to remove any scent of the chin who lived in it before.
What is the best way of going about this? Should I use bleach? Or something milder? There's no chin in it now and won't be for a while, so it will sit empty for a couple weeks.

 

[EveningChin]

There is this stuff that you can buy out at Wal-mart that is for helping to reduce the smell in rodent cages and to help remove stubborn sodden bedding. Its alcohol based and I think it works alot like magic, lol. Let it soak on any spots for 5-10 minutes and they come right off and because its alcohol based it illiminates any and all smells and evaporates leaving things clean and smell free in a few minutes. I loved it when I had a rat.

Sorry I can't remember its name but its with all the small animal stuff.

 

[3CsMommy]

I'd go with vinegar water or peroxide. I'd be concerned with too much alcohol damaging the finish, and I don't know how long the chlorine from bleach will stick around on the surface of the cage if it's powder coated or something.

 

[mochi]

today i decide to use an cleanser to deep clean my cage. I usually only use water and some elbow grease, but the urine just build up the at the bottom pan and form scale which makes it hard to scrub off . I use the Bright Green non Chlorine Bleach (bought from safeway)to soak the solidified urine and it works wonderfully!! the peroxide and the mild acid helps to get rid of the gunk, and you can tell it works by the fizz. Just soak it for half an hour, and you'll have a clean cage!!

 

[Sasha]

To disinfect I was told to use a 5-10% bleach solution. I'm sure the smell from that would cover the previous chins who had lived there. Just make sure to rinse, rinse, rinse.

 

[alli713]

Okay, I think I will use the bleach solution, to me that seems like it would work the best to get rid of any smell.
Then I'll take it outside and hose it down since it's getting warmer out.

 

[Sugarmama]

Bleach is great, but I think vinegar does a better job of completely getting rid of the urine smell/stain.

 

[alli713]

Yeah, I'm not worried so much about stains, I just don't want it to smell like the previous chin. I want to use the cage for Keiki and MuShu so I don't want it to smell like a previous chin to help with the intro process.

 

[Olallie]

Oh this is a thread I need to keep looking at! I am going to completely clean my chins cage, and i need a way to get all the pee stains off the cage bars, i know the BARS!! Darn babies peed on their shelf and the pee dripped down on the bars, its gross. Anyway They won't be livingin their cage for at least a month so im thinking the bleach would work. But i need something strong to break up the dried pee.
Also, do you think a steel wool sponge would be strong enough to scrub off the pee?

 

[alli713]

I know for pee gunk the vinegar and water has always worked for me. If there's a way for you to let it soak on there. Then a wire brush to scrub it off.

 

[jmdebb]

Aren't you worried if you don't get all the bleach off the cage and then you go to use it again?

Jean

 

[Sugarmama]

I'd be worried about the steel wool, scratching the cage finish--but I don't know what kind of finish your cage has. I know I wouldn't use it on my FN.

Soak/spray with vinegar, and let it set. I'd use a scrub brush with nylon bristles, myself. If it doesn't come off all the way, spray it again.

 

[Lisa]

I used bleach water to clean a cage that was given to Basil last night. It's the only thing I thought would not only kill the smell, but also any other "things" that could still be on the bars. I probably let it soak in the bleach water for too long considering the bottle says 5 minutes to sanitize most things. I scrubbed and rinsed like crazy, but he still taste tested the bars for the first half hour. I'm half tempted to take the other cage I need to clean out to a car wash and scrub it down with bleach water and then spray the heck out of it to make sure it was rinsed well.

I'll be interested to know what you ended up using and how it worked out for you.

 

[alli713]

Yeah, I guess I didn't think about the wire brush with wire that has a coating on it. The wire that I used that on didn't have a finish to it. So I guess like stated just use a nylon brush if you have a finish on your bars.

And no, I'm not really worried about residue if I take it outside and hose it down right after cleaning it. I would think that spraying the whole thing down with a hose would rinse it really well. It's not like I would let the bleach water dry on it or anything.