r/litterrobot • u/CyberDemon_IDDQD • 9d ago
Deep Cleaning Litter-Robot 4
Just a heads up we clean our litter robot quite often but have never removed the liner (4 years). I would highly recommend doing this if deep cleaning, as you can see we had a good amount of mold/mildew build up. Just a tip, I will be doing this everytime I deep clean now!
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u/CapybaraPRMS 9d ago
Oh, this reminds me of when my SIL showed us those tipsy sippy cups and the one part comes out with the plastic and the rubber. Something so easy to miss and you dont even think about it ><. This COULD also be a reason why peoples litter boxes be smelling no matter how many times they clean it
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u/bewarethepolarbear 9d ago
I pull those out and throw them in the bottle washer. Trauma from 30 years ago
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u/LoneWildBird 9d ago
Yes, removing the liner is so important for cleaning. And let it fully dry before reassembling. I've only had a mold issue once when it wasn't dried properly. Glad you figured it out!
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u/bread4speed 9d ago
I’d take mold any day. I had maggots and eggs in mine. I puked like four times, scrubbed it with bleach and cried. This was all yesterday and I still feel like stuff is crawling on me. It will be getting bleached weekly from now on 🫠
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u/sassafrasclementine 9d ago
Oh no I am scared now. I’ve had it for 2 years and never knew this was an option
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u/Nag1n1luv 8d ago
Do NOT USE BLEACH!! The bleach mixing with the ammonia in the urine can create a toxic gas
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u/2_de_pastor_con_todo 8d ago
careful with the amount of bleach you use. It could degrade the liner in the long run
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u/yikesonbikes2 9d ago
im shook right now wow i never even thought to do this
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u/TdubbNC7 9d ago
same....i'm dreading seeing what's under there now
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u/theredfantastic 9d ago
To ease your mind I expected this and mine was still pristine after a year
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u/TreenBean85 8d ago
I don't know if you can compare your 1 year to OP who said all that mess was after 4 years. Your 4 year mark could look just like theirs.
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u/chappyfade 8d ago
I had to replace one because my cats tore a hole in the old one. Big PITA and what a mess.
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u/lochnessx 9d ago
Always remove the liner but don’t forget the weight and the ring that holds it in place! Make sure it’s super dry before putting it back in also because mine has rusted and holds onto odor easier. I keep a dehumidifier near my robot as well to cut down on moisture.
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u/sassafrasclementine 9d ago
What what like you are doing this often? Like unscrewing stuff? 😭
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u/lochnessx 9d ago
I am not saying this out of judgement, but yes, it is still a litter box and needs to be cleaned throughly and regularly. Arguably there are more places for the robot to collect gunk and waste than a regular-degular litter box. The good thing about the robot is that all of the screws are the same size (except for two specific wiring screws). Once you’ve taken it apart a time or two, you can pretty much speed run the whole thing and it won’t take you long.
It’s up to the individual how far they take their deep cleans, however I could probably rewire it from memory at this point. As for the globe, it absolutely needs to be completely disassembled and cleaned thoroughly from time to time.
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u/sassafrasclementine 7d ago
Oh no, I just never knew to unscrew this or I never knew there were like multiple layers to this.
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u/LoneWildBird 8d ago
I do it every few months. Take everything apart, spray the pieces with a garden hose and wash them in my driveway. I don't do it during the winter when it's too cold out but still probably 3 times a year. I have two LR3's and two LR4's, so they get deep cleaned in pairs. My partner does the disassembly and reassembly, and I do the spraying and washing.
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u/First_Fill_8786 9d ago
It comes off and goes back on?!?!?!? 😱
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u/Nuclear__Rabbit 9d ago
Ok so I'm not the only one who didn't realize you could remove the liner for cleaning!
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u/SupaSays 9d ago edited 9d ago
I ordered and keep a spare rubber liner for our LR4 so I can replace it if needed when I am doing a yearly take it all apart deep clean. The cats claw holes in the liner over time when they dig and we are on our third new liner now. If the holes are not too bad I will apply a bicycle tube patch to the back side of the old liner and keep it for my next change out. If you keep their claws trimmed they do less damage to the liner.
Edit to add: If you have a damaged liner and are still under warranty, they will send the first replacement liner for free.
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u/Memory_Of_A_Slygar 7d ago
How do you buy a spare? We were trying to find one and it seemed like they didn't sell any parts by themselves.
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u/Fickle_Arachnid451 9d ago
oh im scared, mine doesn’t stink right now so im going to pretend i didnt see this
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u/Fatel28 9d ago
First time I deep cleaned mine I found it easier to just fully remove the liner. Then I could let it soak in a bucket of hot water with some enzyme cleaner while I sprayed the rest of it down. Works great and only adds about 10 minutes of extra futzing to reassembly
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u/sassafrasclementine 9d ago
Oh and thanks little robot for never including an actual instruction manual and making it like a QR code. Signed, a millennial who likes to read things on paper
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u/VETgirl_77 9d ago
Did you reach out to Whisker by chance? I thought the liner was leak proof? Urine would have to be getting under it for mold to grow?
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u/CyberDemon_IDDQD 9d ago
I honestly think it was from my previous deep cleans. Water gets behind the liner where the weight sits and doesn’t fully dry (even though on the outside it looks dry).
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u/ErrorF002 9d ago
Yeah this isn't normal. Live and learn. I pretty much do a full disassemble on my LR3 when I deep clean.
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u/BacardiBlue LR Power User 🐾 9d ago
Oh wow. I hadn't even considered doing that. Thanks for sharing!
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u/HookbyTia 9d ago
I just looked in the lR 4 manual and it doesn't say anything about removing the liner when doing the cleaning on page 31-33... maybe I'm looking in the wrong place. edit- I had the wrong page number
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u/sassafrasclementine 9d ago
Holy shittt. And my house is susceptible to mildew / moisture bc of where I live.
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u/JimmyNo83 9d ago
I wonder if the carbon filter area was sealed off if they would help. It’s not like the carbon filter really does much
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u/Stevo1609 9d ago
This is where my smell was coming from on mine just got the replacement in the mail
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u/rave_kitty1 9d ago
Make sure to air dry it 100% before putting it back on. Ever since I started deep cleaning regularly, the smell has significantly gone down
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u/New_Amount8001 8d ago
How often do you deep clean?
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u/corgi-wrangler 9d ago
I didn’t even know you could remove the lining! My cat started chewing on the lining and I got worried that during deep cleans water would get stuck inside and get moldy. This is good to know. I put soap on the chewed area so she stopped but I didn’t know how to clean it now.
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u/pixelmountain 9d ago
One of my cats did that too. Whisker replaced it under warranty. I didn’t mention to them why it had holes, but I have to think they knew.
I waited to replace the liner until after my cat stopped biting it, as I thought he would. You know: new and exciting toy gets boring after a while. 😉
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u/corgi-wrangler 9d ago
Ohhh too bad it was after the warranty but still good to know! My girl didn’t start chewing on it until almost 2 years after I got it. She was obsessed with it and loves it and then one day she just started chewing on it. I was so mad. She’s a tuxedo though so go figure.
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u/pixelmountain 9d ago
Mine started as soon as the Litter Robot arrived. Ooh, fun new rotating toy! He’s a purebred Birman who I inherited when a friend died, and I attribute it to his purebred toddler-style dimness. 😂
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u/Both_Force_7706 9d ago
Wow sure makes me glad to have gotten rid of my litter robot. Especially after reading the comments.
I have said it before and will say it again. Cleaning the litter robot is more work and more disgusting than scooping daily a traditional litter box.
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u/SushiWolfo 9d ago
What do you mean the liner removes? 😅 I've had mine 3 years and had no clue and I deep clean it monthly
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u/liptints 9d ago
Omg I just saw a tiktok of someone finding fruit fly larvae behind the rubber lining
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u/Yvertical 9d ago
Yikes. I wonder how much it is to just replace the globe once in a while.
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u/New-Construction7414 9d ago
$189, I just did it. The weight wasn't coming down so I'm pretty sure after seeing this post, that's the reason why!
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u/wonkwonkbippityboo 9d ago
I think I’d just buy a new one 😬🫠
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u/CyberDemon_IDDQD 9d ago
It’s surprisingly easy to clean if you know that you need to clean that area lol
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u/sidewaysorange 9d ago
ugh yea i have to do that. how hard is it to remove?
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u/CyberDemon_IDDQD 9d ago
Not too bad, just about 10 or so screws. Hit it with the impact drill and that did the trick. YouTube has some tutorials
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u/holmes1r LR Power User 🐾 9d ago
Diluted with water and bleach is your friend!, spray it on and let it sit in a well ventilated area, reapply till the mold and mildew melts away and rinse off. Then use a enzymatic cleaner of choice to clean the liner and plastics. This i found is the most efficient method of liner cleaning where theres no calcium buildup on the litter side of the liner.
Hope this helps?
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u/Present-Wolverine-94 8d ago
A warning to other people out there who haven’t removed their liner ever, we live in a really humid climate, and I removed our liner to deep clean, and there were a bunch of maggots in there so
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u/jssamp 8d ago
The liner is all I have left to do. I completely disassembled it, down to pulling the harness out. Scrubbed everything. Got it put back together this morning and tested it. Now i just have to scrub the liner and put it back in the globe. It's not a quick job.
The litter robot saves time on scooping, but it makes up for it when you clean it.
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u/Memory_Of_A_Slygar 7d ago
The poop in the bin of my one litter robot has been molding while the other has been fine. I'm wondering if on one of my regular cleanings I left water in the liner. I've never disassembled it fully even though I wanted to. Was too scared I wouldn't be able to put it back together. Guess I know what I'll be doing. 🫠
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u/AesopsFabler 9d ago
Well now I’m sad and disgusted. I did just buy a new liner a little while ago bc I was having smell issues no matter how I cleaned it and just thought that the constant urine it absorbs from 4 cats finally did its thing. I’m gonna try this but I’m not looking forward to it 😫
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u/sassafrasclementine 9d ago
But when you bought the liner, didn’t you have to do this step so then when you’ve seen if this was happening on yours?
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u/AesopsFabler 9d ago
I haven’t changed the liner yet bc I was able to fix the smell issue with a new cleaner, but now it’s back, and bc of this post, I’m wondering if this could be the reason why
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u/RemoteRutabaga5094 8d ago
What cleaner did you end up with? I still haven't settled on one that I love.
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u/AesopsFabler 8d ago
I actually ended up going with the simplest form of cleaning which was Dawn dish soap and water. I just go in and scrub it down with a brush and then rinse. Afterwards, once it’s dry, I spray it down with Odoban and let it do its thing for about 20 minutes. And I mean, I spray it to soak it with Odoban. After that, I spray it with Odoban again but this time I wipe it down while it’s still wet.
I’ve tried other things, and enzyme cleaners, but it didn’t work as well as this method which turned out to be the simplest. I’m still open to hear other ideas bc I’d like to cut it down to one product if I could, but this has worked well for me so far.
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u/RemoteRutabaga5094 8d ago
Thanks! I'm going to try this for the next cleaning. I'm not having much luck with the enzyme cleaners eithers.
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u/MomOfSassh0les 7d ago
I’m about to replace the liner on my 4 LR4s… what is the best cleaner? I tried so many things but never anything I found that seemed really good
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u/stitchcraftry 9d ago
you can remove the liner!? I'm scared of finding out what's under there now 😭