When it comes to baking wooden hides/platforms/etc from Niteangel…

[clerbird321]

Last night I sprayed down all of my wooden items from Niteangel (photos attached of everything) with water/vinegar solution and rinsed then well with hot water. They were dripping wet so I tried to dry them with paper towels and have let them sit out on the counter to air dry for 24hrs.

What I’m wondering now is…should I bake these at 200° Fahrenheit for 20-30mins? I have seen so many people baking them with no problem but also others who don’t due to the glue in them. I’m planning on coating them in PlastiKote, whether that means skipping baking and coating now or baking, letting them cool, and coating then. And then, if I need to sterilize them (like after a hamster if I want to reuse them), can they be baked after being coated? I’ve also seen people say they’ve done that with no problem and others who don’t do it due to the coating.

Help?

 

[Maz]

Hi. I couldn’t see any images but if it’s something that has glue then I wouldn’t bake them. They’ll be fine either way with what you have done already and then plastikote to seal them.

Are you just plastikoting inside or outside as well? I only do the inside and the top of the roof. If doing outside and the underside of the roof - be careful or the roof may not fit afterwards if the layer of plastikote makes it too tight a fit. To avoid that stop a bit short of the top (and don’t paint the top edges).

I can’t see any need to paint the underside of the roof personally (which can also affect the fit) as that isn’t at risk of being pee’d on. It’s only really the inside and corners that can get pee’d on (and the top of the roof).

In future you can just wash or spray the plastikoted areas which are waterproof and the unpainted areas will probably be fine to be washed or sprayed as well IME

 

[clerbird321]

Hi. I couldn’t see any images but if it’s something that has glue then I wouldn’t bake them. They’ll be fine either way what you have done already and then plastikote to seal them.

Are you just plastikoting inside or outside as well? I only do the inside and the top of the roof. If doing outside and the underside of the roof - be careful or the roof may not fit afterwards if the layer of plastikote makes it too tight a fit. To avoid that stop a bit short of the top (and don’t paint the top edges).

My dumbass forgot to attach the images lol. I’ll attach them here! I was planning on doing every surface of the pieces but that’s good to know about it possibly not fitting. Thank you!

 

[Maz]

Ok I wouldn’t bake any of those . See above. And no real need to plastikote stilts either The ramp I would just put in the freezer for a week. In fact if you want to be extra cautious, the whole lot can go in the freezer for a week - if you have the space!

 

[clerbird321]

Ok I wouldn’t bake any of those . See above. And no real need to plastikote stilts either The ramp I would just put in the freezer for a week. In fact if you want to be extra cautious, the whole lot can go in the freezer for a week - if you have the space!

I wish I had space for that, because trust me I would! Do you mostly just wash these type of items rather than baking or freezing?

Also, why specifically freeze the ladder, just curious? I saw on a Facebook group I’m in that someone put that ladder in the freezer and it fell apart, broke up the glue Not questioning you, honestly just wondering! Oh and I washed that with water/vinegar solution as well.

As I’ve been learning about all of this, I realize everyone has such different opinions on the right way to do things lol

 

[Maz]

I think there are different ways for different items . Anything that can be baked is baked because it’s quicker and easier. If it can’t be baked, it goes in the freezer. Which is all you need for plain wood. Anything with crevices - eg smooth wood houses with glue in the corner - you can spray/wash to get in the crevices. I wouldn’t normally do that unless it’s a Niteangel item as there were some reports of bugs hatching out.

 

[clerbird321]

I think there are different ways for different items . Anything that can be baked is baked because it’s quicker and easier. If it can’t be baked, it goes in the freezer. Which is all you need for plain wood. Anything with crevices - eg smooth wood houses with glue in the corner - you can spray/wash to get in the crevices. I wouldn’t normally do that unless it’s a Niteangel item as there were some reports of bugs hatching out.

Okay thank you!! I feel like I washed them pretty good. Started doing the PlastiKote last night as well!