Floor cleaning......

[BPMar]

What kind of flooring is under your fids cages and how do you clean it?????
Just wondering if anyone had any different ways or things they used to help ease the mess......

[steptoe91(tozie)]

I have hard wood floors. i lay the plastic sheet drop 'cloth'  under the cages. i actually use masking tape to hold it in place cause between the kids dragging their feet and skittles flapping and creating 90mph winds, it ends up in a pile in the corner if i dont. i then put newspaper on top of the plastic, also secured with a small piece of masking tape. everyone at work donates their papers to me. when i get low, i just start asking everyone if they'll bring me their papers cause poor skittles doesnt have anything to poop on! lol! i change the papers when they need it. sometimes its daily. sometimes its good for a couple days.  sometimes twice a day...when skittles eats good! lol! there are spots that i only change when the plastic gets changed. i change the plastic when i give the cages their good scrubbing. about weekly.  you would think it would be expensive. its not, really. i buy the plastic at lowes. its 2ml medium duty 10ft x 100ft. i spend $30 and it lasts anywhere from 3 to 5 months. i also put the plastic on the walls behind marley. he loves to sling fruit pulp. everywhere. and i do mean everywhere. of course most of the papers are donated to me so they dont cost a thing. 2 or 3 times a month i buy the sunday paper. if i use 3 coupons i have more than paid for the paper. so in essence, the paper is free. or better. of course i still have to scrub the floors. i use Biokleen all purpose cleaner. it is all natural i can only find it at Mother Earth, the closest 'green' store. it runs me $8 a bottle but it is concentrated and lasts 2 to 3 months. it is great on organic residue. i pre-soak any hard or sticky stuff by wetting it with the solution and letting it sit for about 30 sec to a minute. i create a pattern by pre soak, wait, pre-soak, wipe first section, pre-soak, wipe second section...etc. this way it isnt a start-stop kinda thing. even old poop that is hard, a little soak, a minute, and it wipes right up.  the masking tape was $3 and i've used the same roll for almost 8 months. it still has half left. the last time i had to buy new was cause skittles 'helped' me lay the new plastic. which means: as i crawled on the floor measuring out the plastic he got on the floor with me and: pulled the plastic, stole my case cutter, and stole my masking tape. managing to chew it to pieces before i could convince him to give it back!  i always put my case cutter in my pocket when i lay plastic now. i'm afraid he'll open the blade and cut his tongue off! if you want to know the easy way to do something...ask a lazy person. lol!

so was that overkill?   more info than you wanted?

[plantsandbirds]

That's interesting about the plastic... no moisture problems under it?  ooooh.... sounds like a good idea.

I have Pergo but I've learned it's MUCH easier to keep the floor clean under and around the finch cages by having cheap carpet down.   I use Nature's Miracle cleaner and have a beater bar on the vac and it's soooo much easier than having to scrub the Pergo, which I find doesn't clean really well. 

[steptoe91(tozie)]

yeah, pergo is beautiful. but if i remember right it is slick is goose poo when it gets wet. i've never had a moisture problem. but it isnt completely a airtight. i just use a small, inch long strip to secure the corners and the middle here and there. since its only there a week, there is no time for anything to grow under it like mildew or what have you.
so with the finches, its mostly seed hulls and scattered seed all over around the cage?
i forgot to mention, i use the small hand vac to get all the birdie fluffs in the corners. and to get the pellets and nutshells in the cracks.

[BPMar]

Never too much info!  
The Biokleen is safe with the fids and the hardwood?
We have hardwood floors also.  One large oval braided rug, some of the cages are on it slightly and then another rug runner.  It just seems whatever I do it is sooooooo hard to even keep slightly clean.  The worst is the tiny feathers along the sides by the windows.  My vac isn't the greatest, sweeping helps and I also have one of those old fashioned sweeper thingys.
I did just buy this rubber matting stuff....I guess you can use it for flooring in the garage and other places...I just have to put it in there.  I was thinking of cutting it up and placing it under the cages.  I was going to just get a big piece of linoleum for the floor and using the cages to secure it down.  The rugs I have in there catch everything and it is such a pain to clean!!!  

[steptoe91(tozie)]

never had a prob with it on the hardwood. it is just as glossy as it was when i moved in 3 yrs ago.

about the biokleen and i quote:

super concentrated all purpose cleaner    natural / non-toxic / biodegradable    grapefruit seed and orange peel extract cleaning power
32 oz bottle makes 32 gallons
ingredients: surfactants from coconut and/or corn, grapefruit see and pulp extract, orange peel extract, linear sulfonate, flitered water.
our all purpose cleaner is super concentrated to cut throught ...grease...dirt... safe for most types of surfaces, works in cold water, leaves no harsh residues or fumes behind.
environmentally friendly with no negative effects on rivers, streams, plants or wildlife.
rapidly biodegradable and ozone safe.
contains no phosphate, chlorine, ammonia, petroleum solvents, alcohol, butyl, gllycolether, sls or sles, edta, dea.
no materials listed by the ACGIH as hazardous.
no animal testing
no animal ingredients.

www.bi-o-kleen.com
made in vancouver WA

i've used it for the fiddies over a year and never had any negative effects on me or them. it doesnt leave a film on the floor or cages. and it can cut grease okay, but is especially good with organic cleaning, like food and poop.
the only drawback, it doesnt have a pleasant odor. its not unpleasant. there is a slight citrusy scent. but it goes away when you mix it with water. skittles loves the smell. i have to watch him, he will come to me when i scrub and try to lick it off my hands. i dont let him, even tho its supposed to be safe and non toxic. i dont know what the linear sulfonate is.
for those tiny feathers i have the little hand vac. i call it a hand vac, but it also has a long handle so i dont  have to bend. its great for floors and spot vacuuming on hardwood or tile.
around here, feathers are a condiment. 
there isnt a room in the house that i couldnt find one of skittles little red feathers in right now. and he only lives in the living room and kitchen/dining room.

[wishforabird]

biokleen is what my breeder uses too, she let me sniff it, it does smell good :) 

the budgie feathers all OVER the rug and by the windows, iY, lol they do appear and get everywhere! under Julian's cage is really ugly but sturdy linoleum and sooo easy to keep clean between my little wisk broom/dustpan and dustbuster.  I got the Aviclean (avitech) and i LOVE it for cleaning, gots the debris off the walls and floor if you let it sit for a minute..you have to remember to shake it up before you spray :) I use poop-off too, but the scent is soo strong.

[Jadesmom]

When I pulled the carpet in the fid room, we had hardwoods under it, in real nice shape. Not to ruin them, I put down double thick linoleum and clean it with the steam shark. Or sometimes i spray a little poop-off and mop with hot water, then steam clean it. I don't know how you could keep carpet clean. The linoleum is hard enough.

[wishforabird]

carpet IS the hardest, I am with you Jades..seed hulls, feathers...dustbuster, dustbuster all the time I can't wait til we can pull up this carpet, there are hardwoods under here too, and I would to see what they look like :)

[BPMar]

I am going to look to see if our health food store have the Bio-Kleen stuff.  Maybe tomorrow, Zeus needs food and cookies!   Yes the rugs are such a pain to clean...I do have a dust buster (lost the long handle to it) it works well on the seeds and pellets but sometimes hard for me to get crouch down to use it cuz of my back.
Always interesting and helpful to hear how others do their daily...or multi daily chores!