Best mess cleaning tools???

[faislaq]

get the polycarbonate chair mat. Other kinds of plastic smell.
@EkkieLu

Anything that smells plasticy gets left in the car or spare room until it's done off-gassing. My mom gave me the leftover vinyl from having one of her rooms redone and that roll must've lived in the car for 3 weeks til it stopped stinking up my car.

 

[EkkieLu]

Probably made your car smell brand new! I'll keep that in mind when I go shopping. Thanks!!!

 

[Feather]

I arm myself with a broom, shop-vac, a 2gal bucket, and two putty knives - one plastic, one metal. A canvas painter's drop cloth is useful to use under the cages. Take it outside to shake off any nut shells and food scraps and then into the wash it goes. They're pretty big, so I cut mine down into manageable pieces.

 

[faislaq]

I arm myself with a broom, shop-vac, a 2gal bucket, and two putty knives - one plastic, one metal. A canvas painter's drop cloth is useful to use under the cages. Take it outside to shake off any nut shells and food scraps and then into the wash it goes. They're pretty big, so I cut mine down into manageable pieces.

I love it! I need to know more. The drop cloth sounds better than using my bath towels for this and I like that they're still machine washable. Are the putty knives any particular sizes & what do you use them each for? And what's in the bucket??

 

[Feather]

I love it! I need to know more. The drop cloth sounds better than using my bath towels for this and I like that they're still machine washable. Are the putty knives any particular sizes & what do you use them each for? And what's in the bucket??

My metal one is four inches and the plastic is two, but idk that the size matters all that much. Ultimately, the metal is more effective at scraping off dried poop, but I use the plastic if I'm worried about scratching a surface. Everything I scrape up goes into the bucket. I like the 2gal size because it's perfect for pulling out the tray and resting the corner on the edge of the bucket. This way I can draw it out all the way without worrying about it falling or tipping forward to dump on my floor (Alas, Monster Truck's cage is too low to the ground for this to work).

I don't line my cages. I just use the putty knife to scrape all the tray contents into the bucket.

Shovel it over the edge into the bucket and go dump it on the compost heap.
A spritz and wipe of 50/50 vinegar & water mix cleans up any urate stains left on the tray.

 

[Nikomania]

I just purchased a Shark for pets through Amazon last week. It's my second Shark vacuum and I already love it. Has 3 tools. Cost $249.
My old Shark would clogged on occasion, but only if my kids vacuumed up timothy hay. No matter how many time I told them not to, they still did.
When clogged, there were 2 easily accessible flaps that allowed you to easily reach and remove the hay.

 

[Nikomania]

I've been deprived. Never ever used a putty knife before. Only brushes and some sort of poop off cleaner.

 

[faislaq]

the metal is more effective at scraping off dried poop, but I use the plastic if I'm worried about scratching a surface. I just use the putty knife to scrape all the tray contents into the bucket.

This is a neat idea. I'm always dumping whatever I can into the trash then soaking the stuck-on stuff while I work on something else. Then I end up having to grab rehydrated poo out of the tub drain. Gross! Thankfully it's not a lot, but I'd rather avoid that part. I really like your putty knife idea for the trays.

 

[KatelynDeanne]

I have a shop vac, a regular vacuum, one of them big ol' janitor brooms that sweep up dust, a regular broom, a swifter,and a metal scrubber thing on a stick (dont know what its called) and I just use a spray bottle with water and a little bit of vinegar for the floors. Our bird is on hardwood. For the cage, I use old toothbrushes and a handheld scrub brush and if its really bad I use the pressure washer out on the back deck but I clean her cage every other day. (only have one bird) . I want to eventually order some kind of plastic mat to put under her cage so her poop dont get on our hardwood. I miss using cleaning products but I just use a vinegar water mix on her end of the house. This is ChloesMomma by the way! I changed my username because I felt like it made me sound old. Lol! I cant be ChloesMomma when I have manna,salem,austin,tato,peanut,honey, AND Chloe! I felt too guilty for not including all my babies!!

 

[Feather]

I cant be ChloesMomma when I have manna,salem,austin,tato,peanut,honey, AND Chloe! I felt too guilty for not including all my babies!!

Same reason I changed my username back in the day. It was Zydabird before, but I felt bad excluding the other birds and people would shorten it to Zyda when addressing me. It was weird being called by my bird's name.

 

[KatelynDeanne]

Same reason I changed my username back in the day. It was Zydabird before, but I felt bad excluding the other birds and people would shorten it to Zyda when addressing me. It was weird being called by my bird's name.

Yes! My dog is getting old, and hes not doing his best, he had a seizure , he sometimes messes on himself, but i am in my 20s and had him since I was 8. My mom got a divorce, and got remarried and gave him to me last year. Yesterday she sent me a quote that was talking about loving your dog, and caring for them no matter how bad it gets and then today I kept looking at "ChloesMomma" and Im like nope. Im a momma to all my babies!! So I changed it. And if I get another bird in the future, it DEFINITELY would bug me being on Avian Avenue. Soo I changed it, then felt bad, and ordered a bunch of bird toys, and a playstand, and some nutriberries. These animals are killing me and my bank account.

 

[Nikomania]

If you get another bird, then you just wait to see what it does to your bank account!
Oh, and have I told you that once you get going, you might not just stop at 2?

 

[KatelynDeanne]

If you get another bird, then you just wait to see what it does to your bank account!
Oh, and have I told you that once you get going, you might not just stop at 2?

Haha! I have a feeling the toys will add up in expense over time and the fresh produce already has, but its ok! Were looking at vacuums but not sure yet. I would HAVE to stop at two because my husband would kill me. I cant imagine taking care of more than that with all my other animals in the house. They keep me busy.

 

[faislaq]

Before I clean Luv Bug's cage I have to go through the tray and pick out all of the beads and toy parts she has anted so I can wash and reuse them. I know, beads are cheap, why not just dump them? Well, they're still perfectly good and they do add up; especially as many as she goes through! I usually use a good-sized bowl to collect them all, soak them in vinegar water then scrub, rinse and lay 'em out on a towel to dry. It just occurred to me that a salad spinner might be perfect! I could use the colander part to collect the beads, soak/ pre-wash them in the spinner, then spin them again to rinse and leave them in it to drain with the occasional spin to help them dry?

So what do y'all think? Would a salad spinner work for that? Can anyone think of a better way? Anything has to beat using the whole counter to lay them out to dry or hand drying all those beads.

 

[Mark & Da Boyz]

I have used my Steam cleaner and an old tea strainer I have it worked. Now this is only plastic or SS parts, the wood stuff is toast by the time Da Boyz are done with it.

 

[greys4u]

I have a Shark DuoClean and I love it. I have a steamer that I use to clean the cage and some of her toys.

 

[faislaq]

I have a nice steamer; I use it on their cages but never thought of steaming all those little beads. Would that be terribly time consuming?

 

[Mark & Da Boyz]

I soaked them in hot soapy water to loosen and then risned them with hot water the steam cleaner was s "just making sure" kind of thing. I'm a big believer in hot soapy water.

 

[BertAllen]

Before I clean Luv Bug's cage I have to go through the tray and pick out all of the beads and toy parts she has anted so I can wash and reuse them. I know, beads are cheap, why not just dump them? Well, they're still perfectly good and they do add up; especially as many as she goes through! I usually use a good-sized bowl to collect them all, soak them in vinegar water then scrub, rinse and lay 'em out on a towel to dry. It just occurred to me that a salad spinner might be perfect! I could use the colander part to collect the beads, soak/ pre-wash them in the spinner, then spin them again to rinse and leave them in it to drain with the occasional spin to help them dry?

So what do y'all think? Would a salad spinner work for that? Can anyone think of a better way? Anything has to beat using the whole counter to lay them out to dry or hand drying all those beads.

Put them into a pot of water and bring to a boil.
Lay them out and they dry very quick.

 

[faislaq]

Put them into a pot of water and bring to a boil.
Lay them out and they dry very quick.

I wasn't sure how heat safe the beads would be. Good to know it works and it's safe. I usually leave the beads out about 24 hours to make sure the little holes have time to dry out. I'm worried about them getting gunky.