Actually it's not that bad, I use a 6" plastic putty knife to scrape everything out. There is a little bit of stuff stuck to the bottom but not much and it doesn't build up over time, it pretty much looks the same week to week. I've been told that this is good for the rodents because it'll still smell like 'home' to them. Supposedly its also supposed to smell better over time because the rodents don't have to re-scent mark their new territory every week. To be honest I've never noticed this, but at least it doesn't smell worse.