How to Clean Plastic Dog Crates
A plastic dog crate comes in handy when the owner brings the dog to the veterinarian’s office, leaves the dog home alone or simply visits a friend’s home. Clean the crates exterior to remove dirt and debris. Clean the interior of the crate often to remove urine, dirt, dog fur, food and even doggy drool.
Items Needed:
- Water
- Detergent
- Scrub Brush
- Rag
- A drying cloth
- Protective gloves
- Bucket
- Hose (optional)
- Carefully observe the dog crate you have since there are two main types, one where the bottom is removable and another where the bottom is fixed to the main frame.
- Take the dog crate to a suitable cleaning area or outside. Lift or tilt the crate and shake it to allow free dirt and debris to fall out.
- Remove the bottom of the crate if it can come off. Using a rag, wash off all the dry dirt from the remaining frame and then from the bottom. Make sure to use enough water and detergent to remove grease and grime since detergents dissolve oily messes, making it easier to clean. For the crate style bottom that does not come off, pour some of the detergent water into the crate and scrub.
- Pick a detergent that does not contain any ammonia. Ammonia-free detergents discourage the puppy or dog from urinating in the crate. Urine contains ammonia. The puppy or dog may interpret the smell of ammonia as urine. This may actually encourage the pet to urinate in the crate.
- Pour some warm water into a bucket and add detergent, such as dishwashing soap. Scrub the inside and outside of the crate with a scrub brush to remove tough soiled spots and dirt. Use a hose to rinse the detergent off thoroughly, for best results. If a hose is not available, dump the detergent water and replace with freshwater after cleaning.
- Dilute bleach in water using the bucket according to the dilution instructions of the bleach. Wear gloves, such as kitchen gloves sold at the grocery store to avoid getting bleach on your skin. Rinse the crate with the bleach solution to kill germs and sterilize the plastic. Allow the solution to remain in contact with the plastic for at least nine minutes.
- Rinse with fresh water and dry with a dry cloth.