# Best cage cleaning products?



## Muttsy (Mar 1, 2013)

I'm just wondering what people here use and what they recommend for cleaning their cages. I understand that you need to do a thorough clean once a week and should spot clean every day on top of that. I know Rats have sensitive little noses and should probably avoid cleaners with scents in them... Is their any baby wipes that would be safe to use for quick spot clean wipe downs? I'm guessing mild soap and water for full cage cleans?


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Simple green cleans most things... By the gallon, it's dirt cheap, (about $20.00 and it can be diluted to turn into several gallons of spray cleaner) It will clean everything else in your house too... I've used it to clean carpet, furniture, walls, counters, motor oil spills and silk ties... And the product boasts it's non toxic, for what that's worth. It's not as good as ammonia for cleaning glass...

I can't say it's the best, because I haven't tried everything else... But let's put it this way... my wife will actually go into an auto parts store to buy it... Home Depot and AutoZone carry it around here and Shop-rite sell in in a spray bottle which is a lot more expensive. 

When it comes to cleaning products, I'm not a big fan of having a hundred specialty products under the counter... when one product does most jobs equally well. Up to a point... certain jobs, like toilets and hard water stains need different products.... but Simple green pretty much cuts everything oily or organic. I just used it to wash my hands because for some reason there's no soap in the bathroom... works a treat.


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## Muttsy (Mar 1, 2013)

Oh, that would be really simple, thanks! I use vinegar for most of my house cleaning, but I've heard that vinegar encourages animals to pee on everything and thought that might not be a good idea for the rats cage... It made my dog have more accidents then ever before (this before she passed away). I'm all for a safe cleaner for rats I can use elsewhere too!


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Vinegar is pretty good with certain things, it's non toxic, it cuts grease and works on hard water stains sometimes, but it etches marble (its basically an acid like ammonia) and it is suitable for cleaning rat cages, except the smell can be offensive both to the humans and the rats, I don't know about peeing... Bleach comes in handy too (it's a pretty strong base, so it cleans things the acids don't do well)... it's cheap and disinfects, but it's too strong for rat cages... 

There are certain other cleaning products that work well, but they are seriously nasty to all forms of life... and then there are those organic natural ones that don't clean anything at all... Simple green strikes a pretty good balance between price, effectiveness and toxicity. It's good for things that shouldn't be cleaned with either an acid or a base, like your skin or more delicate surfaces... but the stuff will degrease an engine... I think that's what I originally bought it for... Spray it on, wash it off with water and your motor looks like new. And that's another nice thing about it, water washes it off pretty much completely.

Try a spray bottle of it first, if you like it, like I do, keep the spray bottle and refill it with the gallon jug to save money. A gallon jug lasts a very long time.


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## Grotesque (Mar 19, 2014)

I use a mixture of vinegar, water, and a tiny bit dawn dish soap in a spray bottle to clean just about everything.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

What cage do you have? The best cage cleaning products for you will depend on whether or not you have a critter nation or another cage that you can get into your bathtub easily.


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## Muttsy (Mar 1, 2013)

I am looking at getting a Sunny Meadow Mansion Cage, and then getting a non-toxic low VOC special primer to coat it, and then cover that it with some kind of non-toxic low VOC acrylic or oil-based paint...(bonus is I get to choose my colour. I may not know as much about rats but I know a thing or two about paint working for a painting company!) 

For a more well known example comparison...it's essentially a Canadian version of a Martin's Cage without the powder coat.


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## AmbientWanderer (Sep 16, 2016)

I used to use a cage cleaner spray, like a shop bought one but that was because I quite liked the smell of it and it always made me feel better when I had cleaned the cage and it had a nice smell.
I have a critter nation, and i DESPISE the plastic base that comes with it. It's textured so it holds poop and pee and it has no side on it so it doesn't hold litter in. My way around this was to put two large tiles in my girls cage, and a litter tray. I use a mixture of vinegar and water most days when my little ladies are out of the cage, after scooping up the poop of course. At which point, I usually turn around and clean my windows, and anything else vinegar can clean


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

I use scent free dish soap in which I put some chlorhexidine. I stopped using vinegar as it made my rats sneeze no matter how well I rinsed it and it made me uncomfortable too. I definitively wouldn't use vinegar (even diluted vinegar) in the same room as the rats. NEVER use vinegar on a critter nation cage! Vinegar is acidic and it will start rusting the critter nation in any spot there isn't a coating or anywhere there is a scratch in the coating- plus you won't be able to rinse it, so really not good for the rats either.


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## TheRatAttack (Mar 29, 2016)

I have always used a half vinegar, half water mixture to clean my rats cages. Usually I let it dry/air out for about ten minutes after I clean the cages to help reduce the vinegary smell. My rats have never had any adverse reactions to the vinegar.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

TheRatAttack said:


> I have always used a half vinegar, half water mixture to clean my rats cages. Usually I let it dry/air out for about ten minutes after I clean the cages to help reduce the vinegary smell. My rats have never had any adverse reactions to the vinegar.


Not all rats will mind. Vinegar has such a strong smell that it isn't surprised but some do. Mine sneezed for at least a few hours after I used it. Also you need a dish soap too, vinegar alone won't properly clean anything, especially if you just spray and rinse- not sure if that is what you do.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Basically, when you do a test shoot or paint before you do the cage you can also test the cleaning materials... Most baked on enamels. powder coats or epoxies can take most cleaning products but each has it's Achilles heel. Acrylics, oils, lacquers and latex can be trickier... I come from the world where high VOC's meant longer lasting and stronger finishes that were harder to hurt... but things might have changed with OSHA and all... Also make sure there isn't something sprayed onto the cage to protect against rust during shipping.. I have a T-Shirt that reads, I prepped everything right and all of my dang hot paint burned off, because an exhaust manufacturer lacquer coated the pipes before shipping... If the cage is galvanized, make sure your primer sticks to zink... 

Simple green shouldn't hurt most finishes, it's not a base or an acid... it mostly likes to dissolve organic materials... 


But I'm guessing you know all that... I likely should know better than to give advise to a pro...


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## Daphne88 (Oct 19, 2015)

Rat Daddy said:


> Simple green cleans most things... By the gallon, it's dirt cheap, (about $20.00 and it can be diluted to turn into several gallons of spray cleaner) It will clean everything else in your house too... I've used it to clean carpet, furniture, walls, counters, motor oil spills and silk ties... And the product boasts it's non toxic, for what that's worth. It's not as good as ammonia for cleaning glass...


There are different products in the Simple Green line. I _think_​ I know which one you're probably referring to, but I want to be sure. Can you say the full title of the specific product you're recommending? Thank you!


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

This is the product I'm talking about

http://simplegreen.com/products/all-purpose-cleaner/

The one that says non-toxic and biodegradable on the label.

For like 20 years this was the only simple green product, one product for every job.... and it does just about everything.... but it looks like the marketing department decided it was more profitable to make a bunch of products that only do one job each. Until I looked today, I never realized there were so many simple greens...


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## DamselChum (Jun 8, 2016)

I use chlorhexidine. It doesn't need to be rinsed and kills most gram negative organisms.


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## LoveWithRats (Jun 27, 2016)

My essentials: 
Old Clean rags
50/50 water vinegar mixture in a spray bottle
baby wipes
Thats all for a week to week cleaning, I do a deep clean monthly.


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## Verucasdad (Aug 31, 2015)

I use Simple Green and Dawn dishwashing liquid. Dawn for the deep cleaning with some SG for added clean. I use SG for spot cleaning when wiping down isn't enough. I think I might get the big bottle of SG and use that in my cleaning water.


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## Andromeda (Apr 28, 2016)

I use Ecosolve Clean Pets - Cleaner and Disinfectant. I believe the ingredients are 3% banana bark extract, and 97% water. It has no smell to it, completely eliminates any odor, and is obviously safe to use around the ratties. Not sure how easy it is to find though. :/


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