HOW do you clean cat litter trays?!

[Wingingit11]

I don’t mean scooping poo or clumps - I mean the whole replace litter shebang. Chuck our old, yes, but then how and where do you actually clean it ?!

Rinse between each outdoors step.

I buy the cat litter tray plastic bags but don't line the tray I just use them to chuck the litter in. I clean the tray with disinfectant and lots of hot water.

Does the cat not scratch and put holes in liner?

Bleach then boiling water. I don't worry about my kitchen sink because of the bleach

@FlounderingFruitcake If the poo is a little loose or just a bit wet, does it not smear all over the side when the robot "churns"?

I do this too, plus I love this post

I fill the mop bucket with hot soapy water and put the litter tray outside then pour the hot soapy water in. I wipe it out/dry it with kitchen paper. I use wood based cat litter, it makes far less mess in the tray than traditional litter.

They do sell litter tray liners, but that is extra plastic, and if the cats crates holes in it the tray will still need cleaning.

(I've watched the video and everything 🤣)

Ugh I meant to quote the wee furry shite post.

i clean ours in the bathtub. I dont think its more gross than my kids weeing bathing in it tbh.
we were looking at the self cleaning one too! But it seems expensive to buy and upkeep..

@getoutof No, I fill it with a whole bag of cat litter though. It's about £2 per week for a massive bag from Sainsburys. Then a cheap box litter tray bags.

I tip everything into the bin, then put litter tray on kitchen floor and pour boiling water from kettle into it. Give it a good swill about and pour into outside drain. Wipe out with kitchen roll. Then a spray with a bit of litter tray disinfectant and wipe with kitchen roll again.

Basically this. Wash in situ inside the tray itself, pour off dirty water into outside drain, wipe dry with kitchen towel.

Pour all the old litter in black bag

If you have a garden, hose the tray down and pour the dirty water down a drain

If you don't have a garden, take it in the bathroom use a shower head and then pour water down the toilet

Get an old sponge and scrub litter tray with washing liquid and I also use a capful of zoflora

Pour hot water from kettle into the soapy tray and let it sit in tray for 5 minutes

Pour the dirty water down the toilet

Rinse with shower head cold water

Paper towel try

Add new litter

Cat poops immediately in clean litter, scoop it out straight away

Thats my routine

No, you have to use clumping litter and even then there’s a very specific approved list of litters to ensure perfect functionality.

For the full empty I will scrape all of the dry dirty little out and then spray it with cleaner. Let this work for a few minutes then shower it out with the shower hose - all of the dirty water I put down the loo as it's right next to the bath/shower head. Sometimes spray and repeat the shower hose thing. Leave to dry or use loo roll to dry

Line with bin bag. Remove bag containing litter and discard.

I've never bothered with liners for just this reason. DSis's cat would dig down to Australia (like mine do) and she would have shredded bits of plastic scattered around the room.

We do what they did at the cat rescue newspaper with just a small amount of litter in it. Then tip it out. At the moment he isn’t using it and going in the garden. It sits under my mothers commode a memorable moments when they both used it at the same time.

My cat does not dig past the litter so the bag works well.

@FlounderingFruitcake that is a beast of a machine!

I don’t have a cat, but one of my clients does - here’s what I do for her every week:

1. Tray is lined with compostable cling film - two pieces so that there’s plenty of overhang at the ends and sides (folded underneath the tray)
2. Tray is filled with CATSAN compostable litter
3. When tray needs emptying, I peel the overhanging bits over the litter which makes a sort of ‘parcel’
4. Whole tray goes into a biodegradable bag, then tipped over - a sharp tap on the back of the tray (usually) releases the whole parcel into the bag
5. Tray is sprayed with Pro Kleen Kennel Kleen, then rinsed - wipe dry with eco friendly kitchen roll - this is added to the biodegradable bag.
6. Bag tied, and put into black bin

Took a bit of trial and error to get the right amount of cling film/technique to form a parcel, but this seems to work pretty well and doesn’t take long to do.

I empty into a dog poo bag

Then use hose and wash up liquid in garden.

Take inside. Wipe with kitchen loo and antibacterial spray

Refill

However mine have a cat flap and garden access most of the time.

Tip it in a bin bag and just wipe it down with antibacterial wipes

We've tried lining them with the special tray liners and with newspaper, but when you have cats that scratch about a lot in there, they just scrape it all up with their claws and make an unholy mess.

Our method is to carry it out to the wheelie bin the morning of collection and dump the entire contents in there. Then it gets rinsed out using the outside tap and tipped down the drain. Indoors we give it a scrub, and then spray with My Little Friend pet cage disinfectant, which is the only thing that seems to neutralise the smells ingrained in the plastic tray. A wipe out with kitchen paper and then refill.

Not that I've done it for ages - I delegated that job years ago.