Care and Cleaning of Your TwinCritters Wool Cat Cave
What makes TwinCritters’ cat caves so great? They’re handmade in Nepal using 100% natural merino wool imported from New Zealand. We chose wool for our pet beds because it’s the perfect material to keep your kitty cool and comfy in the summer and warm and toasty in the winter. Best of all, they’re snuggly soft and irresistible to cats.
The artisans who create TwinCritters cat caves use a process called felting. This means that each cave is individually hand-molded using only soap, water, and pressure; we never use any harsh chemicals or synthetic fabrics for our cat beds. The result is all-natural, safe, and completely nontoxic – a product that will keep both you and your kitty purring!
After you remove it from the package, you can either open your new cat cave and let your cat crawl inside or flatten it out so they can use it as a lounging mat. Either way, you’ll likely never get your cat out of it (or off of it) again.
Once in a while, however, you’ll need to pry kitty away from the cat cave for a while in order to clean it up. Because it’s made of 100% wool, we don’t recommend aggressive machine washing. Here’s what we do recommend.
Day-to-Day Cleaning of Your Cat Cave
From time to time, your cat cave may collect hair or your cat might track litter into it. When this happens, all you need to tidy things up is a vacuum cleaner with a brush attachment. Simply shake any loose debris out of the cat cave and use the vacuum attachment to clean off any clinging hair and dirt. You can also reach inside and fold it inside-out to clean up the interior if you need to. Most of the time, this is the only thing you’ll need to do to keep your cat cave fresh and ready to be snoozed in.
Cleaning of a Lightly Soiled Cat Cave
Sometimes, you may notice a stain that didn’t come off with vacuuming. If your cat cave still needs a bit more cleaning after following the steps above, you can use a damp sponge or a cotton cloth to wipe it off. (Please don’t use a paper towel, as bits will break off and cling to the felt.) If you use any soap to spot clean, make sure it’s mild and fragrance-free. Organic liquid unscented castile soap works great for this purpose. Let the damp area air dry and your cat cave is all ready to go!
To Clean Bigger Accidents or Odors
Wool naturally repels dirt and odors, so your cat cave shouldn’t need a major cleaning very often. Accidents do happen, however, and occasionally your cat cave may need more than a vacuuming. For an extremely soiled or smelly cat cave, please avoid the urge to toss it in the washing machine on the regular cycle because the wool won’t like that. Instead, here’s how to get it fresh and clean once more.
Follow the initial steps to vacuum and wipe off any excess hair or debris from the exterior and interior of your cat cave. Next, prepare a tub or bucket of cool water mixed with a small amount of mild, fragrance-free detergent. Wet the cat cave down thoroughly before submerging it in the bucket of slightly sudsy water. Allow it to soak for one hour.
After soaking it, remove your cat cave from the bucket and gently squeeze out the excess water. Put it in the washing machine on the rinse/spin cycle. This will get the soap out of it and spin off the rest of the water. Remember that excessive washing (or machine washing on a normal cycle) can cause your cat cave to lose its shape.
When you remove the cat cave from the washer, turn it right-side out if you turned it inside out before washing it. Put your arm inside the cat cave and twirl it around on your hand to fluff it and return it to its proper shape. You can scrunch up newspaper or a large plastic trash bag and stuff inside the cave to help it maintain its shape as it dries. Never place your cat cave in the dryer. Instead, let it air dry for a day or so (if you can keep your cat off of it for that long!)
If this at-home cleaning procedure doesn’t appeal to you, TwinCritters cat caves may also be dry-cleaned.
That’s it! With the proper care, your TwinCritters cat cave will last for many years to come. Have questions about our cat caves or any of our other products? Contact us at info@twincritters.com.
