Deep cleaning an old CN?

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glitchiq

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2016
Messages
130
Location
Boston
I'm currently doing an intensive clean of my CN, and it occurred to me to double check with the all-knowing, all-powerful RatShack to make sure I was doing it right.

I started with only warm water and paper towels, but that just isn't efficient enough for one particularly dirty corner (I can hear my girls laughing from beyond the grave at the mess they left that I've somehow managed to find a whole year later when I pulled the CN out). I've heard a lot of people who are completely against Clorox wipes, but I really need to use them for this clean; I don't have any plain baby wipes on hand.

Plus, I feel like any chemicals or fumes or anything left behind by the wipes will have faded by the time there's anyone inhabiting this cage. The plan goes:

Clorox wipe it down
"Rinse" afterwards with damp paper towels and let sit for a day or two
Go back over it with 9 parts water and 1 part bleach (once I can get it into the garage and away from all the carpet)
"Rinse" with damp paper towels
Wait until dry and then start the spray paint process (I'm going glossy white)
Let Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch cure for 2-3 weeks

Does that sound okay? I feel like everything should be fine, especially after that 2-3 weeks where the paint is curing.

Let me know!
 
I try not to use bleach but I imagine if it's very very well rinsed and then painted over, it shouldn't be a problem

I find spraying stuck on stuff with hydrogen peroxide and then vinegar (even diluted vinegar) works pretty well.

you can use this indoors and not have to worry about ruining anything with bleach

I do this in my kitchen, I put an old sheet or a big old towels under the cage, use spray bottles filled with the hydrogen peroxide and the vinegar (if you're going to be storing the hydrogen peroxide in the spray bottle it needs to be opaque, but I dont' remember why- but as you'll see in the drug stores hydrogen peroxide always comes in a dark bottle)

I use a bottle brush, a tooth brush and a big ol dish brush and scrub down all the nooks and crannies, then do another spray with vinegar for good measure, scrub again, wipe up with old rags and spray with plain water
then dry off with clean rags or old towels

and viola, I'm done.
for a super good deep clean, I take the cage apart. Put the parts in the tub and do the whole process in there. May even use some environmentally friendly cleaner like BioKleen although honestly the peroxide and vinegar work the best.
 
I try not to use bleach but I imagine if it's very very well rinsed and then painted over, it shouldn't be a problem

I find spraying stuck on stuff with hydrogen peroxide and then vinegar (even diluted vinegar) works pretty well.

you can use this indoors and not have to worry about ruining anything with bleach

I do this in my kitchen, I put an old sheet or a big old towels under the cage, use spray bottles filled with the hydrogen peroxide and the vinegar (if you're going to be storing the hydrogen peroxide in the spray bottle it needs to be opaque, but I dont' remember why- but as you'll see in the drug stores hydrogen peroxide always comes in a dark bottle)

I use a bottle brush, a tooth brush and a big ol dish brush and scrub down all the nooks and crannies, then do another spray with vinegar for good measure, scrub again, wipe up with old rags and spray with plain water
then dry off with clean rags or old towels

and viola, I'm done.
for a super good deep clean, I take the cage apart. Put the parts in the tub and do the whole process in there. May even use some environmentally friendly cleaner like BioKleen although honestly the peroxide and vinegar work the best.

Oh, that's a great idea! I got the 9-parts-water-1-part-bleach thing from an old RatShack post that popped up when I searched "sanitize". But it would be nice not to have to worry about ruining anything with the bleach. The spray bottle and brushes sound perfect! (they would have made the Clorox wipe clean I just did much easier lol) I'll buy some to keep handy for the next big clean I have to do.

I got off any crud and wiped all the bars down, inside and out, with the wipes. As I'm thinking about it, should I do a round of the bleach or the hydrogen peroxide/vinegar? Or do you think the Clorox wipes were sufficient in the germ-killing department? Because at this point there's no more stuff that needs wiping off, I just want to know if it will be germ-free enough for any new ratties. It should be fine, because it's sat for a year un-used, and I just cleaned everything, and I plan on spray-painting two coats of glossy white over it all and letting that cure for 2-3 weeks.

I might be a little over-cautious lol, but I just want to make sure everything's okay for their little respiratory and immune systems.

P.S.: That spray bottle idea is great; I think I'll use one when I go back over the Clorox wipe-down with warm water!
 
I broke mine down and scrubbed them in the tube haha dawn and scalding hot water and a scrub brush with plastic bristles. Figure I'll do it about once a year and do the milder deep cleaning every couple of weeks with my tooth picks,paper towels,tooth brush and hot water and dawn!
 
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