# Shavings vs Fleece vs IKEA Borris Mat



## LilCritter (Feb 25, 2014)

Aspen Shavings vs Fleece vs IKEA Borris Mat for DFN 182 with SS Bass pans (2.5in depth)

Here is a much more coherent and rule-following comparison review. Feel free to voice any questions, comments, concerns... lamentations... etc etc etc

Score is set up such that -1 is a negative experience, 0 is neutral, and +1 is a postive experience. Hopefully it makes sense by the end.


*Price *


Shavings: $5-$15
Shavings, bedding, litter - whatever you call it, it needs to be replaced (or partially replaced, depending on your method) every week. Either way, it's not re-usable and you'll have to keep buying it over time. It is the most expensive overall

_SCORE_: -1




Fleece: $3-$10
Fleece has a range for price/yard, depending on what you get: blizzard or anti-pill or micro, on sale or not on sale, solid color or design, etc... Or on where you get it: Wal~Mart has fleece throws that are dirt cheap apparently and is enough to cover a DFN; JoAnn has great sales often; as does Hancock Fabrics. For me, it takes about 1.5 yards to cover all 4 pans in my DFN if I do a SINGLE LAYER liner; obviously, you'll need double or triple depending on how many layers you want. However, the liners you make can be re-used. This opetion can be expensive upfront, but it in the long run, it works. It also depends on if you have chewers... if you do, forgo this option; they'll probably shred it before it makes what it's worth. When JoAnn has a sale, I can get enough fleece for all the pans in the DFN for about $7 from a sale at JoAnn.

_SCORE_: +1




Borris- Mats: $6
Super cheap per mat (assuming you don't do the Amazon option of $15 for 2). It's a dollar/mat at IKEA in the US. Apparently, it's $0.50 or something ridiculously cheap in Sweden. Re-usable, driving overall cost down further. Not really much to say... It's dirt cheap; it's hard to go too wrong. They seem a bit sturdier than fleece and it seems the rats aren't so likely to chew it up.

_SCORE_: +1 






*Smell/Dust Control per week*


Shavings
Smell-wise, these did OK. I only remember smelling wood. But it could get dusty depending on where you get it and the quality of the shavings.

_SCORE_: +1




Fleece
No dust, obviously... Unless you're getting that from the litter you use in the boxes (you want those if you use fleece). Smell-wise, it needed a lot of help. I tried a variety of liners, and all of them needed newspaper with baking soda layers underneath the liner. 3 layers (fleece-flannel-fleece) worked best for smell, and the liners could last about 1.5 weeks (when I was testing the limits of the option); beyond that, it gets way gross and pretty unsanitary. 2 layers (fleece-fleece) did nearly as well as the 3 layered liners; the 1 layered liners needed to be replaced weekly or it stank badly.

_SCORE_: 0




Borris Mats
Can't say much here. It's only been 2 days, but it smells better than on fleece... I think. The air seems clearer. I can only imagine that there'd be no smell even by the end of the week if I sprinkled baking soda everywhere (one of my girls has led everyone on a rebellion against peeing in the litter boxes and encourages urination everywhere). Of course, then I'd have mats that looked like baking soda had been rubbed all over them. Also, the urine can't seep into the pan since the pee can't permeate the latex/rubber backing of the mat; this helps with pan stink that won't go away.

_SCORE_: +1






*Set Up*


Shavings
These were pretty easy... Just dump the lot in and spread it around a bit for an even spread.

_SCORE_: 0




Fleece
The annoyance of liners, I found, was in how many layers you had and whether you used newspaper. I did and I put baking soda inside to react with the urine (baking soda is basic and urine tends to be acidic so it neutralizes well). The 3 layer liners were stiff enough that it wasn't much of a problem. Throw them in, make it pretty, weigh/clip it down. 2 layer liners were a bit more flimsy and needed more work. 1 layer liners (fleece cut to size) could be a downright pain sometimes. In addition, no matter what, the liner had to be held down somehow - tiles, binder clips... it all became a nuisance. I've found that my girls like to try to get under the fleece... and once under, they like it... a lot. So lots of tiles to cover edges and holes and binder clips to discourage getting the liner flipped. With fleece, I had 6 binder clips and 10 tiles around my cage.

_SCORE_: -0.5




Borris Mats
These, like the shavings, were pretty easy. Just throw them in and arrange them neatly. It wasn't too bad. It really depends on how nicely you want it. Plus, I don't need to use any binder clips and I'm at 3 tiles (2 medium sized and one small). Super easy set up.

_SCORE_: +1






*Clean-ability*


Shavings
These were easy to clean. It was just annoying. You scoop out the soiled shavings (or all of it for that matter) and threw it in the trash. However, these got EVERYWHERE. I hated it. My rats are in a nifty shed in the backyard (note the nifty, it's perfectly habitable for them) and yet I'd find shavings in my house at least 50 feet away. They got on and in my clothes and I have no idea how. Sweeping was a must. Even with the 2.5" Bass Pans, I was sweeping every day and shavings were getting in between the pan and cage walls. Not to mention, they stuck to the fleece hammocks I have in the cage. AND one of my girls likes to hoard particular pieces in their sleep spot, so I'd have a Sputnik 1/3 full of shavings. If I could, I'd give this a -10 just for this section... but I'll stick to my 3 point system.

_SCORE_: -1




Fleece
Fleece was OK. A little annoying, but I can't use my own washer to wash my fleece, so I have to make a special trip to the laundromat (I do this once a month, so I also have to find a way to get old fleece to stop stinking*****). Even if I did it at home, I think it'd still be annoying. You first spot clean the **** out of it. Then you shake it until almost all the little bits come off of it (if there's still wet urine on it and it hasn't fully soaked into the fabric, except some to fling on to you... uber fun). Then you load it up into the washer (after driving to the laundromat for me). I use tons of vinegar, Whip-It Cleaner, and a nice natural soap I found at Target (no idea what it is). Wash on cold and put in an extra rinse. Throw it in the dryer, it should be mostly dry if your liners are just fleece (takes longer if you have an absorbant layer) and dry on a cooler setting. Heat tends to make fleece shrink. Now you have nice, clean fleece for your rats to pee on once again. I also notice that small seeds tend to get a bit embedded into the fleece. Not quite sure how that works, but it happens. Also, crumbs seem to cling for all of their inanimate life to this stuff... You can fling and whip it all you want and there will still be crumbs on your liner.

_SCORE_: -0.5




Borris Mats
I haven't washed these yet, but I expect it will be a similar experience to the fleece. However, I do notice that it's easier to spot clean because it takes to vacuuming much better and the litter and poop and whatever else your rats have decided to fling around the cage (food crumbs, litter, poop, the tiniest seeds you could possibly imagine that is in their food mix) doesn't stick so much to the fleece. I imagine taking a stinky lint roller would bring most of that stuff off quite easily. These can also go to the washer (can't wait to see people's faces when I bring 24 door mats to the wash) and get washed on hot. I prefer this since I think it just makes for a more sanitary item after. Not sure if fleece hid crumbs better, but this has HT2018 crumbs everywhere. I can't vacuum since my rats think that the sound means their universe is about to implode and they kick up more litter... making a bigger mess than when I started, so dustpan and spot cleaning by hand it is. But yeah... crumbs. What's nice is that the crumbs don't embed themselves into the mat like they do with fleece... Crumbs do not come off of that fabric... Some people take these to their showers and rinse them on the "FIRES OF MORDOR" setting, soak them in a vinegar:water solution, and then throw them back into the fires of Mt. Doom to clean them. That may work too. I won't be able to attest to that since nothing "rat" is allowed into the home. Maybe I'll throw boiling water at them or something.

_SCORE_: -0.5






*Aesthetics*


Shavings
Not all that pleasing to look at. It's light brown, doesn't look sleek, and is usually everywhere outside of the cage.

_SCORE_: -1




Fleece
This can go one of two ways. You can go for the cute look with a patterned fleece or you can go sleek with a solid color. Either way, it looks pretty clean. Patterns (especially darker ones) tend to break form and hide little poopies that the rats have decided are not good enough for the litter box. You can match them up with a fleece set of hammocks and toys, and everything looks nice and themed. Fleece can look really good, it depends on how neatly you put it in and whether or not your rats decide to bunch it all up and throw it in a corner. But yeah, I like how fleece can match up with sets and be themed for holidays and whatnot.

_SCORE_: +1




Borris Mats
These can really only go one way: sleek. They look nice, they're dark, and they're pretty uniform. Unfortunately, they only come in one color and that's a very dark blue. Though, it has been called to attention that Home Depot provides very similar mats (I believe they are 2in longer though) that come in a few more colors (beige, red, wine green, blue and black). However, it is $3.99 for 2 mats; so it's double the price. That may not be a big deal for some, but I know a lot of the appeal of the mats is that they're a dollar a mat. However, if color is important for you, HD is the way to go to get more variety. Another thing to note, crumbs show up (at least the lighter colored ones) like crazy... It's like "Oh, what is that light brown spot of mystery there? OH! IT'S EVERY CRUMB KNOWN TO MAN!"

_SCORE_: -0.5






*Space*


Shavings
I feel like this is cheaper in bulk (too lazy to do the math), so it takes up a lot of space. I only have a small room of a shed to work with my rats (6'x8'), so I like space... and lots of it. This takes up too much for it to be an option for me.

_SCORE_: -1




Fleece
This, this depends... If you're like me and you like to have matching sets and theme for the holidays (like, all of them) then you're going to need a lot of space. Plus, you can't use all the liners interchangeably-the small liners have to stay to the small shelves and the big liners have to stay to the large pans... so it requires more planning and organization. I have my liners in a sterilite drawer set and it was a pain to fold them up and get them to fit nicely and whatnot... no more than doing your laundry, but it's the added time and effort.

_SCORE_: 0




Borris Mats
This was cool. I bought 30 mats (again, because I need a month's supply at least to make it worth it to go to the laundromat) and all of them fit neatly in the storage space under the DFN, with some extra space on top of them. They really have a low footprint space-wise. Plus, since they are all the same color, I don't need more of them for matching (like I do for fleece).

_SCORE_: +1






*Fun Factor*


Shaving
This was probably the only truly redeeming factor for shavings for me. It was a lot of fun watching the rats burrow in and toss it around and dig and bury and do all sorts of fun behavior... It just that the fun came at the price of an inordinately ridiculous mess.

_SCORE_: +1




Fleece
Not quite as fun, unless your rats enjoy making holes in the liners and then going under... and then getting stuck... then it becomes a scary, fun adventure for them! Hurrah! But seriously, if you want to see the same behaviors as with the shavings... a dig box... preferrably a deep one with a lid.

_SCORE_: 0




Borris Mats
Same as the fleece. Get a dig box with a lid.

_SCORE_: 0






*Preparation*


Shavings
Depending on what you get and where you get and how much you trust the company, you may have to freeze your stuff for 24-48 hours. This prevents the spread of mites and lice and other little annoying nasties. Not a big deal, unless you get a big bag of it and it needs its own freezer just to be "safe."

_SCORE_: +0




Fleece
THIS. THIS WAS AN ABSOLUTE PAIN IN THE BUTT. Fortunately, because the fleece would be new, I could actually do this at home. But I had to wash the fleece 2-3x with 1-2 cups vinegar per wash to get the fabric to actually start wicking instead of semi-repelling the water. Most of the fleece that people buy is meant for clothing, so it's treated to repel water to a degree (obviously not a bucket, but a couple drops here and there). That treatment was a pain to get rid of. Then you had to measure it all out and cut it and all sorts of shenanigans ensued. I don't know about you, but for me, fleece never wanted to stay straight, so I'd end up with crooked lines... and it stretches, so sometimes your measurements end up off. It was a pain and my least favorite part of fleece.

_SCORE_: -1




Borris Mats
I was surprised at how easy this was. I mixed some apple cider vinegar with water and spritzed all the mats down (on the rubber side since that's where the nasty smell was coming from). Then I spritzed it several times with just water to dilute the vinegar (I wasn't sure if it was going to eat at the latex and I forgot my chemistry for that stuff... but I diluted it just in case... also, ACV attracts fruit flies). Then I repeated the process once to really get rid of the smell (by the time I was done with the last mat, it was time to redo the first).. Then I let it air dry. No smell really... a little salad-y... but not that nasty rubber smell. It was pretty easy. Then I stacked up my large stash of mats and slid it under the cage... and put in a set for the week.

_SCORE_: +1




*SUMMARY AND TOTALS*:
Shavings: -2 Overall, incredibly annoying... but fun to watch for nifty ratty behaviors. No prep, gets everywhere
Fleece: -1 Looks nice and has lots of fun designs, a bit of a pain to keep in place, lots of prep, and a pain to clean
Borris Mats: +4 Looks sleek until crumbs are everywhere, relatively easy to clean, stays in place easily, no prep




*****I do a once a month run because I'd rather spend $2.50/month for a large load than $10/month for 4 small tiny loads.


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## Kuildeous (Dec 26, 2014)

The cost for washing is indeed a factor. I never really considered it, but I do have my own washer. I suppose I could do a cost analysis of how much I spent on washing the mats versus buying and dumping shavings. I usually throw my mats in with towels, so it's debatable how much I spend on washing.

In a sense, I do wish I could do the shavings, **** the costs. I'm sure my rats would love a couple inches of shavings to plow through. Alas, my cage is in a corner of the living room, and it would get messy pretty quickly. My wife's OCD would result in homicide if she had to sweep up shavings every day. It's bad enough when we pull our cage away from the wall and find all the seeds, droppings, and crumbs that made it to the floor anyway. 

Nice analysis. I was wary about using the Borris mats, but I read enough on here to give it a try. I misread what I would need and got three mats instead of six, but that was enough of a trial run to go out and buy nine more a few days later. 

I do admit that coordinated fleece liners do look really nice. I see some of the pictures of cages with the colorful fleece and personalization that Borris mats cannot achieve. We'll have to personalize by making the fleece we bought into hammocks.


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## LilCritter (Feb 25, 2014)

Yeah, needing to go to the laundromat made the cost analysis for washing pretty easy... I'd be spending about $8 a week for Petco aspen shavings, whereas I pay MAYBE $4 a month (depending on what laundromat I go to and how big their washer/dryers are)... It's still a lower cost overall.

I know my rats would love shavings, they did love shavings... But it was too messy. I'm in the process of making a large dig box for them to put in the cage.


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## kksrats (Jul 25, 2014)

Shavings really don't have to be that expensive if you have the means to store the large quantities. I buy the largest bags (forget the cubic feet) from petsmart and they recently had a deal for but 2 get 1 free. They're about $13 each and will each last me 1.5-2 months. This is with filling both main floors of a DFN and both main floors of a similar cage about every week. I'm lucky in that most of mine are litter trained with litter boxes, so not all of their poop goes into the main floor and if it does they usually pick a corner and all poop there so spot cleaning is easy and makes it unnecessary to completely change litter every time. Litter boxes are dumped and filled 2 times per week and that's also when I change out any fleece and spot clean the main floors. Full changes happen every 1.5-2 weeks an at that point I'll fully sanitize everything as well. I did fleece for a long time and just really got tired of having more rat laundry than me and my husband's laundry combined; not to mention they tear it up. The fleece that I do use now for shelves and whatnot doesn't get as torn up anymore.


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## kksrats (Jul 25, 2014)

You should bear in mind that I have 2 huge cages and 10 rats as well, so standard maintenance costs for me will be more than most people are used to. Aspen is a great substrate for 2-3 rats in a large cage and you shouldn't be afraid to find the "potty spot" and dig out soiled bedding rather than throwing it all out at once as long as you do do a complete change regularly depending on how messy your rats are.


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## LilCritter (Feb 25, 2014)

See, I'd love to remove only part of the shavings, but my girl Devi is currently leading a rebellion in pooping everywhere on the main level of the DFN... Funny how she's litter trained in every other part of the cage. So with shavings, I'd have to throw it all out.


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## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

Re usability was a big negative for me with fleece.. When I had Gpigs, it was great, but when I got the rats... Especially the females, they chewed it up very badly. Even with all my attempts. I was getting maybe 2 uses out of a piece of fleece before it was so bad it had to be tossed. Because of that, and the smell, I went back to aspen. 

I get the 4 cu. foot bags of aspen from petfooddirect. When I can stack items correctly whenever they do their free shipping on over $49, I can get it at a great price. They recently had them on sale for $8 a bag. 

What size borris mat do you use for the shelves in the DCN? I might try them for those, as they don't hold shavings and my girls are terrible about destroying that fleece as well.


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## Kuildeous (Dec 26, 2014)

artgecko said:


> What size borris mat do you use for the shelves in the DCN? I might try them for those, as they don't hold shavings and my girls are terrible about destroying that fleece as well.


There's only one size of Borris, I believe. Knowing what I know about Ikea, I wouldn't be surprised if there is no other size. 

I don't remember the exact dimensions, but I posted pictures of my mats on a DCN tray here:
http://www.ratforum.com/showthread.php?255305-IKEA-Borris-Mats&p=1783929&viewfull=1#post1783929

And LilCritter posted pictures of their own setup:
http://www.ratforum.com/showthread.php?255305-IKEA-Borris-Mats&p=1784161&viewfull=1#post1784161

These should give you an idea of how big they are. They don't provide 100% coverage for a DCN, but a pair of scissors and a sacrificial Borris mat can easily make that up. If the rounded corners provide a maddeningly large gap for you, then you may need to consider other methods for laying them out (like cutting them all down to rectangles and laying them horizontally instead of vertically, which would require more sacrificial mats).


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## LilCritter (Feb 25, 2014)

There is another mat that is slightly bigger. However, it is $4 a mat: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90225533/ It's 26"x20"

For me, shavings would have worked. I simply don't have the space for a bulk order where I keep my rats. I like the mats, so far, my rats have only messed with one corner out of 6 mats. I can lint roll all the little bits and pieces off of them pretty easily as well.

Fleece, the amount of uses I got depended on the number of layers in the liner, how "pretty" I deemed it (ie "is it too shredded?"), and how long it took my rats to realize "new liner! time to tear it up trying to get under tiles and behind the litterbox." They only lasted me so long because I had so many tiles holding them down... I could just cover all the holes and whatnot.


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## LilCritter (Feb 25, 2014)

Update on cleaning the mats:

Before any fleece went into the wash, I'd have to shake it, whip it, etc until I got most of the little bits and pieces off. This was actually a pain since tiny stuff seems to like sticking to fleece (so tiny seeds in any mix and whatnot is just stuck). The Borris mats just took 2 good shakes and they were pretty clean already.

Update on washing later in the week.


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## Kuildeous (Dec 26, 2014)

When I wash the Borris mats, I run a vacuum over the mats, but I don't really have a good place to fling the mats. One reason I would actually appreciate a home with a yard is that I could just go outside and beat the mats senseless into a pole before throwing in the washer.


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## LilCritter (Feb 25, 2014)

Eh, my rats are housed in a shed in the darkest corner (also the coolest considering I'm more concerned about the shed getting too hot; it even has an A/C)... I just use a tree stump... Or the shed door. A balcony railing may work well too though.


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## LilCritter (Feb 25, 2014)

Method update: I've found that spraying the mats with baking soda (in water) or Nature's Miracle 3-in-1 Odor Destroyer cuts down smell as the product is there to interact with the urine right when the rats pee on the mats.


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## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

Man..... I was all psyched about these mats for the half shelves on my DCN... But IKEA doesn't sell them online apparently and the closest IKEA is 2.5 hours away. :/ Looks like I'll be sticking with shavings or fleece for now.


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## LilCritter (Feb 25, 2014)

That's too bad. Home Depot has a similar mat that's a little longer though. They sell them online as well. It's $4 for 2 mats and it has more nifty colors than IKEA. Here's the link. 
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Natco-As...n-Polypropylene-Door-Mat-S1824C-160/100205638


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## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

Thanks LilCritter- Do you know if I would be able to cut the mats to make them shorter (not sure if you've tried this)?


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## LilCritter (Feb 25, 2014)

I cut a small section off of 5 of my mats so that it would accommodate the cut-out in my DFN. They cut quite easily. Though, definitely measure first or cut conservatively until you get the right fit.


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## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

Thanks! I'll see if my local home depot carries them.


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## LilCritter (Feb 25, 2014)

You can also get them shipped to you... though, I can't see how you would choose the colors in that case. Hope you can find them!


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## fireeyes2899 (Jan 1, 2014)

Has anyone considered using a roll of Polypropylene Carpet and getting nicer colors and being able to cut the correct dimensions of the cage.


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## AdequateRat (Mar 12, 2015)

I use Main stays bath mats.
I LOVE them.


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## JigglyPuffy (Apr 21, 2015)

Very interesting analysis. I've been using some brown bedding stuff (the name escapes me right now, but it is low dust) but I will be trying fleece out once our new big cage comes in today. We have been having some sneezing troubles, so I want to see how the new covers will do for them


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## LilCritter (Feb 25, 2014)

I've recently switched over to a mix of Carefresh Ultra and Eco Bedding. I realized that this analysis wasn't too complete... Maybe one day, I'll do a blog post comparing all the main types of litter and bedding... When time becomes available...


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