Cage Cleaning... Correct Me Please.

[TheHermit]

Alrighty so I have no idea if what I'm doing is a no-no. I always assumed that since it's supposed to be plant-based and 'natural' that it wouldn't be as bad as others, and considering I can't use anything but detergent for laundry I thought it'd be hypocritical not to do this.
I've been using GreenWorks.
No, I don't soak all the plastic cage bits in the stuff. I spray once, wipe down, and rinse like no tomorrow. Sometimes I'll spend five minutes rinsing one part of a cage out of paranoia, since I never knew of any alternative but didn't want to just do hot water rinses and the rehab center I volunteered at bleached everything!
So I wanna double check. I'm dead-set lately on giving my rats the best life possible (I've always been but I'm super-focused on it now... amid all this homework :giggle: no I'm not procrastinating! I don't even know the meaning of the word...) and I hope to foster later (much later) on.

How bad of a rat mum am I?
No need to be gentle either, if I need to be told, tell me off!

 

[rhapsody]

I use the Greenworks laundry detergent for washing my kids' hammocks, and haven't encountered any trouble yet. Haven't explored the rest of their product line though.

 

[kscanuck785]

for the past 2 years, I've always washed all my rat stuff in hot water and dish soap...just like I would dishes.
I rinse the items then let them dry and put them back in.
I've had very very few sick rats in 2 yrs, mostly "natural" sickness like PT and tumors, so this had been working out just fine for me

as far as hammocks, I don't use them all that much anymore, but when I did, I used the same detergent as we did for us, and no issues either.

I guess I'm from the school who doesn't like to complicate or over think something simple

 

[Aida]

I just use vinegar and water, or one parts bleach to six parts hot water, then a good soak in the shower. As for hammocks and material cage items, I just put them in the washer with whatever stuff my mom uses. No issues so far. You could just probably soak them in some water+soap(or vinegar), though.

 

[SQ]

I use Sunlight dish soap.
Or vinegar and water, sometimes with hydrogen perioxide.

And rinse very very well

 

[TheHermit]

Oook so I'm not doing anything bad then. Alrighty. I've seen vinegar mentioned a lot but never any detergents or soaps so I got worried

And LOL overthinking and complicating everything is my forte.

 

[Aida]

Oook so I'm not doing anything bad then. Alrighty. I've seen vinegar mentioned a lot but never any detergents or soaps so I got worried

And LOL overthinking and complicating everything is my forte.

Heh, you just want your ratties to have the most perfect enviroment possible. It's good you care so much. :mrgreen: