Questions, please help!

I got my CB-70 rack and my 2x4 rack from RBI this week. I've already drilled vent holes in the rack, and put labels on the tubs.. but I'm not doing any more work with it until my thermostat gets here.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...e/DSC08298.jpg

I got my 2x4 cage, and I ordered a Ultratherm heat mat for it, and I have to put it on myself.. The cage is made of 3/8" PVC, does anyone know if I will need to attach the heat mat to the inside of the cage or will it be fine outside?
Also, the cage has a strong smell.. I wiped it down and am letting it air out now.. Does anyone know how to clean this cage though? I ordered some Chlorhexadine that I'm going to use to clean the tubs in the rack, but would this be okay to use in the PVC cage?

I'm also going to be using aspen in the cage, and I know cleaning it is going to be a pain.. we have a shop vac here, would that work to just suck up all the aspen for when I need to clean? I don't have much experience with shop vacs, but I think I read about someone on here using one to clean out tanks.

Let me know if you can answer any of these questions, thanks!

I have the exact same cage and had the same issues with it :D

For the smell, just keep washing it down with a bleach solution, then the Chlorex stuff and let it air out. Takes a while, but the smell does finally fade.
For the cool side, I also use an Ultratherm pad...but when I had it on the outside it did really poorly. Now, since I'm totally redoing the cage for spring use, I will be putting the pad inside the cage cool side covered with a sheet of vinyl flooring sealed down at the edges with silicone to prevent any moisture getting under there.

The shop vac should work just fine for the monthly total clean out... heck, I wish I could get one for that purpose. Just make sure the snake is nowhere near the cage when you use the vac. :) Talk about stress from those vibrations...

In case you wanted to see, here is my cage all decked out:
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../2/RBIcage.jpg

There's a lot of stuff in there because my girl is still just a juvie. :) Good luck.