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Cleaning porous decorations?
- Thread starter kurt1288
- Start date
captainjack0000
Student
If its wood, try baking it in an oven. I've heard everything from 300F for 3 hrs down to 200F for 30min. You could search around online for something more definitive. Just keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn your house down.
I've heard of soaking in bleach water, again the length of time and strength of the solution varies. I've heard 1 part bleach to 10 parts water, which seemed strong to me. I've also heard a cap or two for a bucket. Bleach is some strong stuff. In this case, rinse thoroughly, and maybe some hours of soaking in plain water afterwards wouldn't be a bad idea depending on how much bleach soaks into the item. I've had some items that even after hours of soaking reeked of bleach and I won't put anything that smells like bleach near my animals. I try and reserve bleaching for serious events, such as mites.
For other cleaning, I've ran food items through the dishwasher without detergent. The booster heater in there is to sanitize your plates, so I figure it will sanitize, at least the surface, of the cage furniture.
You could also wash, scrub, and soak in hot water with a mild detergent, again rinsing thoroughly afterwards.
I feel the best about the dishwasher and baking approaches because they avoid any variety of chemicals. Along those lines, I've heard of people pouring boiling water over their cage decorations.
I personally have never used vinegar, so I cannot comment on that.
The other option is try and avoid porous furniture.
I've heard of soaking in bleach water, again the length of time and strength of the solution varies. I've heard 1 part bleach to 10 parts water, which seemed strong to me. I've also heard a cap or two for a bucket. Bleach is some strong stuff. In this case, rinse thoroughly, and maybe some hours of soaking in plain water afterwards wouldn't be a bad idea depending on how much bleach soaks into the item. I've had some items that even after hours of soaking reeked of bleach and I won't put anything that smells like bleach near my animals. I try and reserve bleaching for serious events, such as mites.
For other cleaning, I've ran food items through the dishwasher without detergent. The booster heater in there is to sanitize your plates, so I figure it will sanitize, at least the surface, of the cage furniture.
You could also wash, scrub, and soak in hot water with a mild detergent, again rinsing thoroughly afterwards.
I feel the best about the dishwasher and baking approaches because they avoid any variety of chemicals. Along those lines, I've heard of people pouring boiling water over their cage decorations.
I personally have never used vinegar, so I cannot comment on that.
The other option is try and avoid porous furniture.
RobbiesCornField
Bring it on.
Flamethrower. Works every time. Just chip off the charred bits when you're done. :grin01:
In all seriousness. I avoid using most chemical based products in my snake bins at all, but there are a few natural cleaners that I would think would be perfectly acceptable. Healthy Habitat is one of them (and it's on sale right now!).
In all seriousness. I avoid using most chemical based products in my snake bins at all, but there are a few natural cleaners that I would think would be perfectly acceptable. Healthy Habitat is one of them (and it's on sale right now!).
Karoni
Cornaholic
I eventually gave up on this and only use non-porous or throw-away hides now. I noticed that the poop smell never really came out of my porous hides (or hides like half logs that have lots of nooks and crannies) and so I never felt they were really clean. I'm curious to see what anyone else has come up with.
I use the bake in oven method. 300* for 30 minutes. This is after scrubbing any stuff I see that needs it. When the log comes out of the oven it hasn't charred but I can't touch it with my bare hand so I figure any bacteria and or germs won't live through it. Its normally stays at the can't touch temp for about 30 minutes after removal. For faux plants and such I like to wipe them down well with some rubbing alchohol, follow that with a good rinse and let dry.
Steve
Steve