cleaning bird feeders

kabie

Apart from the specialist cleaners that can be bought does anyone have good safe tips for cleaning bird feeders? Hoping someone will come up with something cheap and environmentally friendly
thanks in advance.

brokenwings

kabie hi
its funny you should ask this as i have just done mine this morning ( no matter how tight i put the lids on, this rain seems to get inside and turn the food mouldy )

basicaly i empty old food into the rubbish bin - ( attracts rats if i put it in the compass heap ) - so i leave them to run down for a few days and get as empty as poss before i clean them
i then soak the feeders in my left over washing up water but with a small amount of jeyes fluid added
i did buy a round bottle brush to get down inside and have found that a half hour soak and a quick brush out seems to do a good job
i then rinse in lots of clean water and i dry them with my hairdrier.

probably not as environmentally friendy as you wanted but at least im not using aerosoles etc etc and the jeyes fluid does a second job of cleaning out the kitchen sink drain as it goes down too : )

i hope this is the sort of thing you were getting at in your question - you did mean wild bird feeders didnt you?

squeaky

Is it washable? Could it go in a dishwasher? Erm... it's outdoors so must be water resistant to some degree and as long as you rinse it thoroughly I don't see why you couldn't just use a mild solution of washing up liquid and plenty of elbow grease.

kabie

thanks. Don't have a dish washer so I'll have to scrub: I'll soak first though. I was worried about using detergent but I suppose it'll be ok as long as I rinse well. I thought I'd get a mention of vinegar somewhere!

brokenwings

ok you asked for vinegar
here it is lol :

Place your feeder in the tub outdoors, fill it it with warm water and a squirt of liquid soap or detergent. Wearing gloves, scrub the parts of the feeder you can reach, and rinse thoroughly with a hose. Empty the tub and fill it with clean water and 4 cups of vinegar. Let the feeder soak for 1 hour. Rinse thoroughly

taken from this site

se999

Here's a link the the RSPB page on cleaning bird feeders. It does state you must wear gloves and not to bring the feeders into the house.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/gardens/whatyoucando/feedinggardenbirds/hygiene.asp

There's lots of other info on the site about attracting birds and what to feed them on etc..

squeaky

That makes my thoughts above a complete load of rubbish.

Please feel free to ignore me

Nile

I used to have problems cleaning out our wild bird peanut feeders like this one

http://www.rspbshop.co.uk/products/birds_wildlife/bird_feeders/1/rspb_defender_metal_feeders/11

So, I modified each feeder which means I don't need to clean them now.:j

First I removed the bottom plastic base. Then I cut a (circular) piece of wire mesh to fit the gap at the bottom of the feeder. Then I used thin wire to attach the mesh to the feeder.

This means that the nuts have air circulating all around.........and it helps to prevent peanut mush gathering in the bottom of the feeder. I never fill the feeder more than one third full of peanuts.

It's a simple job to empty the peanuts out (if they've gone stale), a quick shake of the feeder into the dustbin and it's clean and ready for a fresh batch of nuts.;)

kabie

Just come back to the pc after bringing them in and cleaning them: they're draining in the kitchen: oops. Shouldn't have been in such a hurry but if I don't do something NOW then I leave it and leave it and...
Oh well; I knew vinegar would have to feature at some point

GreenFingers_2

I tend to use Jeyes Fluid for all the outside cleaning jobs such as the flower pots, seedling trays, the bird feeders, the greenhouse and the drains too. It seems to be quite good and has a pleasant smell. However, I'm not sure how environmentally friendly it is, but it is important to me that the above things are properly clean. Hope this helps.

full-time-mum

se999 wrote:

Here's a link the the RSPB page on cleaning bird feeders. It does state you must wear gloves and not to bring the feeders into the house.

Whoops, too late - currently in bits in the utility sink!

Wonder whether detox spray would be ok.