# Carefresh VS. Soft Sorbent?



## Simisama (May 11, 2010)

I've been reading a lot about these two products, and many people seem to have conflicting ideas. 
Can anyone tell me what's true and what's not?

Here are their claims;

_*CAREFRESH*
_
- Mites in the bedding
- Twigs in the bedding
- The clumps of bedding are uneven, some being huge, some being miniscule.
- Very dusty

*SOFT SORBENT*

- The lavender scented kind is dangerous.
- Too small - can be kicked out of the cage.

Why is the lavender kind dangerous? Can anyone give me some information on why it's bad for rats?

So if anyone used one/both of these kinds of bedding, can you tell me other pros and cons and which you'd prefer? I'm very confused as to which is better.


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## TamSmith (Mar 1, 2010)

I've been using carefresh for many many years now. The mites can easily be fixed by freezing the bedding for 48 hours. I've never found twigs or had a problem with uneven clumps. It is very dusty though. The colored ones do tend to have less dust and I just take them outside in the litter box and try to shake some of the dust out. I don't think the odor control is very good though. 

I recently switched to soft sorbent mint and I LOVE it. It is very small but I use a litter box and none of it ever get's kicked out. My girls did start tipping the litter box last week for some reason and it was getting everywhere and it's hard to pick up. I put half a brick in the box now and that has stopped the tipping. I do have two cages for separate girls still being rehabilitated and they aren't litter trained so it's just in the tray and neither of them ever kick it out. I love it so much because the odor control is AMAZING. The best I've ever had. 

I don't know anything about the lavender because I've never used it. I thought it smelled like sawdust and I don't like that smell so I never bought it. I use the mint and I haven't had any problems with my girls using it.


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## Kiko (Sep 18, 2009)

I honestly hated Soft Sorbent.....
If you get Carefresh Ultra is has minimal dust, good odor control.
I have never had an issue with uneven lumps, it's just shredded recycled newspaper.
And I also have never had an issue with mites but like Tam Smith said, freezing it will help. Thats a good idea for any bedding.
And I have never seen twigs in the bedding xD 
I really dislike softsorbant....it gets everwhere, rats love to dig it all over the place.


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## laughingrats (Apr 21, 2010)

I used to use CareFRESH and I have to admit I loved all the funky colours. That's about it though. It had poor odour control, got kicked out of the cage all the time, it was dusty, and I have infact found tiny twigs (no more than say a couple cm's) in with it, like little goodies. I have heard great things about CareFRESH Ultra. This is a great product for people with asthma as it it virtually dust free. It has been said that for best odour control, to use Gentle Touch under neath it.

The many concerns about Soft Sorbent is how small it is, and how dangerous it is to the rat's sensitive respitory system. Perfumed bedding is a benefit for us, not the actual animal, and we are not the ones living on it in a day-to-day basis. I would personally never use the lavender or rose, but if mint is found to be safe, I might consider it in the future. There has been twigs found in this bedding too. I belive it is less dusty, and less espensive than CareFRESH, but I'm not %100 sure.


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## Nekopan (Mar 18, 2010)

I've used both Carefresh and Soft Sorbent in the past. Soft Sorbent had better odor control than Carefresh but got kicked out of the cage like crazy. I only used the unscented variety.

I now use Yesterday's News cat litter because it is way more cost-effective than products designed for small pets.


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## laughingrats (Apr 21, 2010)

You can also find a Yesterday's News copycat for less money.


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

Plain Carefresh gets soggy and smelly and tends to be dusty. Carefresh Ultra/Colors is better, but it is still too expensive to use in a full cage. I've never seen Softsorbent in a store here, so I can't say I've tried it. I think in a well ventilated litter box it would be okay, but not in a full cage. Also it looks very small and very messy, lol. My girls love to dig in their litter box so I think that would be a big nono for me. Yesterday's News and Sunseed Fresh World are both also great litters. I use FW in my litter boxes and it works great. It's great for odor control, soft, and big enough not to get flung all over the place and stuck in the carpet. Also comes in a couple of colors too


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## susb8383 (Feb 24, 2007)

I used to use Soft Sorbent but I switched to Fresh World bedding when my pet store stopped carrying the large bags. It's cheaper and is made from recycled newspaper. Odor control seems to be good. I do freeze for 48 hours though because I never want to go through the mite thing again.


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## SRGaudio1 (May 18, 2010)

susb8383 said:


> I used to use Soft Sorbent but I switched to Fresh World bedding when my pet store stopped carrying the large bags. It's cheaper and is made from recycled newspaper. Odor control seems to be good. I do freeze for 48 hours though because I never want to go through the mite thing again.












this is where its at. If you try it you will never want to switch again. Dust isnt bad. odor control is SUPERB. Plus it isnt like soft sorbent where it gets kicked outta the cage real bad.


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## Nekopan (Mar 18, 2010)

I found Fresh World very dusty and my ratties didn't like it. I think it was too rough in texture.


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

I haven't found it to be dusty at all yet, weird... Mine all love it


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## hshelton (Feb 23, 2010)

I've tried it all, carefresh, aspen supreme, softsorbent, yesterdays news and so on. But I really like the ecobedding. My rats love to play in it and it smells pretty good, I just have to clean it out a little more often than usual but I believe thats because of my smaller rats growing up.


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## ema-leigh (Jan 24, 2010)

Yeah dont get carefresh I think its useless and too expensive (but then again Im filling a whole cage with a 27L pan daily!). Someone suggested I try the Carefresh Ultra for one of our rescues so Im giving that a whirl and see if it improves her at all. Its not dusty and its nice and soft... but its all over my carpet and doesnt hold moisture very well at all. My girls were wrestling and their backs are now soaked in pee..... bath time!


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## TamSmith (Mar 1, 2010)

I love using Soft Sorbent in my litter boxes. One of my girls lives alone though and isn't litter trained but carefresh is too dusty for her old little lungs. Soft Sorbent has been easier on her but I still think it's too harsh for her (she's VERY sensitive) and I don't like using it to cover the entire cage floor. I decided to try making my own crarefresh like bedding. It's not dusty at all and it was easy to make and it was FREE! Her cage cleaning day is Wednesday, so we'll see how she likes it then.

I hate carefresh now because of how dusty it is. When I stopped using it, a couple of my girls started breathing better within the week.


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