I won't go into much detail because I'd get slammed for sure!
Basically, carto
coils benefit a lot from soaking and agitating in some sort of solution besides plain water, to break down the carbon crud (like you get when you bake with sugar). So I keep a lidded jar with the solution of my choice (sorry, not telling - doesn't work for everybody - Rave says denture tabs work really great though) and toss my spent cartos into that. When it fills up enough to comprise a full batch, I renew the solution, agitate them in that, and let them sit a little longer. Then I do the same thing with filtered water (smaller molecules) to rinse. To dry, I Taryn Spin them and put them
upside down on this shoebox lid that I cut "X"es in (so gravity can pull water away from the coil. The "X"es suspend the cartos from the tabletop to allow air to circulate - otherwise, you'd get mildew). Right-side-up in the sun works great too (sun has antimicrobial properties), but I don't have a window to be able to do that very conveniently.
Whole process takes a couple of weeks, but I have a lot of cartos to rotate, and it really requires very little work out of me: just a little shaking whenever I'm at the sink. My really old cartos get a dry burn too once in awhile. They don't come out in "brand new" condition, but good enough for me to reuse.
The poly-fill is a PITA to rinse thoroughly though - it's not like you can scrub and wring them out like dish rags. Can't wait for SI to come out with their new fillerless cartos!
(decided to wait, and bypass the CE3s)
