Why Cardboard Bedding?

Why We Chose Cardboard

After speaking with vets and long-time animal owners, a clear message emerged: cardboard is an excellent bedding material. It’s clean, gentle, and effective — yet until recently, it’s been expensive and hard to come by. That challenge is exactly what drew us in. We saw an opportunity to provide an animal-friendly, eco-friendly alternative that didn’t break the bank.

How Cardboard Outperforms Other Bedding

Many traditional bedding types come with drawbacks:

  • Wood shavings can take up to 3 years to decompose — especially the larger, chunkier types.
  • Paper bedding can turn soggy and mat easily.
  • Fleece may seem sustainable but requires constant washing and can harbour odours.

Cardboard, on the other hand, breaks down within months and integrates easily into composting systems. Unlike some materials that can alter soil pH or seal the ground, cardboard supports healthy composting — especially when mixed with manure. It’s also cleaner to handle and doesn’t cling like fluff-based materials.

Clean, Fresh, and Carefully Prepared

Our bedding is made from clean, unused cardboard — a by-product from a separate industrial process, not recycled from shop floors or warehouses. This ensures every bale is hygienic and spore-free from the start.

Each batch is then shredded and passed through multiple dust and small-particulate extraction stages to ensure an ultra-low dust product.

The Structure That Works

We primarily use double-walled corrugated cardboard, which provides weight and structure. This means it stays where it’s placed — even after your pet has had a good roll around. It won’t blow in the wind or scatter across stables and cages. It’s soft but sturdy, easy to handle, and kind to paws, fur, and feathers.

Addressing Misconceptions

Some people think cardboard is messy, flimsy, or bad for composting. In reality, it’s the opposite:

  • It’s dense enough to stay in place, not float around like hay or straw.
  • It’s excellent for composting, breaking down naturally and improving soil quality when mixed with manure.
  • It may not be colourful or fluffy, but it’s highly functional, hygienic, and loved by animals.

Tested and Trusted

Our early testers consistently highlighted:

  • The excellent absorption
  • How easy it is to handle
  • How clearly their animals were using and enjoying it — with little burrows, impressions, and nest shapes showing where they’d been resting

Suitable for All Pets

ShredEase bedding is designed for every animal — from rodents to rabbits, and from cats to cart horses. We currently offer two options:

  • ShredEase Original Small Animal Bedding
  • Our CleanAir Bales, which undergo additional refinement for smaller pets and litter tray use

What Makes ShredEase Different

While many suppliers use post-consumer recycled cardboard (e.g. from supermarket waste), we take a different route. We source unused industrial offcuts, which are cleaner and more consistent — ensuring a safer product for animals. That’s the ShredEase difference.

Good for pets. Great for the planet.