I am pretty much the exact same as Hardwick. I spot clean the cypress mulch for poops and urates, then I spritz it down if it is dry. Monthly or even bi-monthly, I clean the whole thing out. The cypress mulch holds urine and odor so well, I often can't even smell it at all! It is amazing. When I used aspen, or newspaper the small was horrendous as soon as I walked in.