Mold on soldering sponges - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: golden_labels
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 24, 2024, 06:28:26 pm
content: I”m a wire wool user and have little experience with wet sponges. Since sponges are kept wet for extended periods of time, even when not used, do they grow mold?

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 24, 2024, 06:55:56 pm
content: They shouldn't be more than moist, and typically dry out overnight so mould is rarely a problem. Maybe if you have a sponge in a container with a lid in a portable soldering kit and don't wash it out and let it dry after use.

author: pcprogrammer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 24, 2024, 07:45:41 pm
content: My old weller station had a sponge and I have never seen mold on it. The sponge, even when quite wet, still dries up overnight when left in the sponge holder. I used to have a bottle of water on the bench to make it wet again.Now with my Jabe UD-1200 station I switch to using the wool too.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 24, 2024, 07:56:03 pm
content: I use leaded solder. Never had a problem with mold. If you use glucose as your flux, you might.

author: golden_labels
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 25, 2024, 04:27:44 am
content: Thanks!Nice glucose joke, but unfortunately doesn’t work. Glucose is flying all over your apartment right now and it’s sufficient to sustain efficient life forms like mold.

author: calzap
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 25, 2024, 05:33:39 am
content: Heavy metals, in sufficient concentration, inhibit the growth of most cells including fungi. On my ranch, one building has an exposed strip of zinc near the peak of the roof. Have never had moss grow on it, but moss does grow on the roof of an adjacent building with no zinc strip. Paints containing tin have been used on the bottom of boats to inhibit the growth of algae and other marine organisms. So, lead, tin, copper in a sponge … no mold. Don’t use it for doing the dishes though.Mike

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 25, 2024, 05:40:18 am
content: You kill the mold with temperature when you wipe the iron tip

author: u666sa
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 25, 2024, 09:36:21 am
content: You can't be wool user or sponge user, you need both. If you using one over the other that means you have a cheap solder station, or expensive solder station which wanted to charge you for extra stuff, but not a good solder station which comes with both build into iron stand. Both wool and sponge gets replaced every several months, so you never get any molding issues. You don't even get corrosion underneath the sponge, because it dries up overnight.

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 25, 2024, 10:20:55 am
content: If you have mold on the soldering sponge then you should probably not solder in a steamy bathroom with poor ventilation.Also, the sponge needs to be moist, not swim in water, so, as many said already, it will dry out in a few hours anyway. I have never seen mold on one of these.

author: pcprogrammer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 25, 2024, 10:33:48 am
content: Quote from: u666sa on November 25, 2024, 09:36:21 amMy soldering station does have both, but have not used the sponge since I got this station. The wool does a perfectly good job in keeping the tips clean, so why should I bother with wetting the sponge?

author: eleguy
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 25, 2024, 02:17:41 pm
content: I have never seen mold on my sponges but still I keep on using distilled "battery" water just in case.

author: Terry Bites
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 25, 2024, 03:52:15 pm
content: Stop using beer to wet your sponge!

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 25, 2024, 04:05:52 pm
content: Quote from: eleguy on November 25, 2024, 02:17:41 pmDistilled water will have no effect on mould formation. Mould spores are in the air in large numbers, settling on the sponge all the time. It might reduce algae formation.

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 25, 2024, 04:06:33 pm
content: Quote from: Terry Bites on November 25, 2024, 03:52:15 pmYou mean people are using the wrong kind of IPA?

author: GLouie
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 26, 2024, 12:33:47 am
content: I also have never seen mold/mould or other growths on my soldering sponges either, over many decades. And I use tap water. Sometimes I even keep a water bottle on the bench to rewet the sponge and not have to go to the sink. I don't seem to even have a problem with anything bad I can smell in the water bottles after months. However, I don't drink from that bottle.

author: Xena E
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 26, 2024, 01:53:29 am
content: I must say, I did think I was seeing mould on my soldering iron sponge at work the other day, but after I put my spectacles on, I realised It was Bob's Stilton sandwich I was stabbing with my Metcal.Regards,X

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 26, 2024, 05:42:16 am
content: That is not mold, you have same carbon stuff on your steel wool.

author: richard.cs
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2024, 11:23:37 am
content: I've never had a sponge go mouldy, but plenty of water bottles go green with some kind of algae. A colleague used to add IPA to the bottle of soldering iron water to stop that growing.

author: golden_labels
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2024, 12:00:34 pm
content: I wasn’t expecting this question to bring so many responses. Since it did bring some discussion, a few reflections from me. Not to deny the no-mold camp, just because I can’t stand somebody being wrong on the internet.Heavy metals may be toxic to life, but the effect is localized to where they occur. I doubt they’re distributed across the entire sponge. I would expect to see them mostly in the middle and around the top.Temperature kills mold, but it’s a localized effect.The sponge is indeed moist, not being drowned in water. If the latter was the case, mold wouldn’t be a problem. Mold doesn’t thrive under water.(1)I don’t know why is richard.cs’s friend keeping water in bottles, instead of using fresh water from tap, but I’m not sure if mixing fuel and hot solder tips is a good idea. On the other hand probably not a problem: IPA boiling point is lower than that of water, so it evaporates first, and also water is good at stopping fire.(1)Except some species living inside animals. But all soldering sponges I’ve seen in my life seemed pretty dead.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2024, 12:47:33 pm
content: Quote from: golden_labels on November 27, 2024, 12:00:34 pmPerhaps you overlooked the fact that heavy metals by themselves are not toxic until they are oxidized and can be absorbed. Lead and tin oxides will disperse throughout a sponge. The same principle applies to using zinc or copper strips at the crown of a roof to prevent mold from growing toward and at the eaves.

author: ebastler
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2024, 01:40:33 pm
content: Quote from: u666sa on November 25, 2024, 09:36:21 amThis statement would be much more convincing if you gave some reasons. When do you specifically need the sponge, when do you specifically need the wool? Or did you mean to say that you need both in order to demonstrate that you could afford a "pro" soldering station?

author: pcprogrammer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2024, 02:15:11 pm
content: Quote from: ebastler on November 27, 2024, 01:40:33 pmI'm still waiting for an answer for this too.

author: golden_labels
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2024, 05:03:01 pm
content: I wasn’t touching the “both required” part, but it would be nice to hear the reason. I can’t recall from the top of my head anybody using both.In high school times my first, cheap soldering iron was cleaned with toilet paper. Not a recommendation. But the tip was shiny, clean, and working. So if that worked, it sounds weird hearing one needs both a wet sponge and wool.

author: richard.cs
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2024, 05:27:51 pm
content: Quote from: golden_labels on November 27, 2024, 12:00:34 pmEvery lab I have ever worked in has had an old fairy liquid bottle* full of water for squirting on the sponge when they get dry. Once it's empty (a week or two) someone takes the bottle with them to the kitchen or the gents to refill it. I don't think I've ever worked in an electronics lab with a tap.*Dish soap, ubiquitous in the UK. The bottle has a nice cap design that makes it quite suitable for this purpose.

author: John B
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2024, 07:48:14 pm
content: The stand for my Hakko FX-951 only has one spot for either a sponge or a brass wool holder. I've been using it for many years and the sponge remains in the plastic packet, virgin and untouched by water.

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2024, 07:50:50 pm
content: I've never had a mold problem on soldering sponges, after 45 years. You're not to flood them anyway, that is when you want to make a steam engine lol.I find the absolute best are the "one pass" tip cleaners, a sandwich of 4 vertical sponges on end. Solder does not fling off and it wipes both sides of the tip at once.I hope the chinese copy it someday lol, made in Detroit American Beauty 480 I got from the garbage somewhere decades ago.https://americanbeautytools.com/Cleaning-Maintenance/212I also found same idea Lerloy tip cleaner circa 1961.Brass wool I find scratches soldering tips and does not clean as good so I dislike them.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2024, 09:30:47 pm
content: Quote from: u666sa on November 25, 2024, 09:36:21 amWhat a bunch of crap.Many professional-grade stations come with both, but many stopped including sponges years ago. You certainly don'tneedboth.

author: u666sa
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2024, 09:46:58 am
content: That's the cope reaction right there, if you spend bunch of money and your station does not have both sponge and wool.

author: golden_labels
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2024, 10:20:04 am
content: But can you finally explain why? Because so far you act like a troll.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2024, 10:24:22 am
content: Quote from: John B on November 27, 2024, 07:48:14 pmIs this sponge you're using an actual sea sponge, or is it made from cellulose/plastic ?If the former use the latter to avoid mold.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2024, 10:36:42 am
content: Plastic sponge is unsuitable - it tends to melt onto the bit. Use cellulose sponge, preferably natural color as you don't want the nasties from thermal degradation of the dye!

author: u666sa
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2024, 12:49:51 pm
content: Whatever is available at local store, same with wool, so long as it is not magnetic. Price has to be just right, because in half a year or less you'd throw them out and replace. Most of the time you just use sponge, and it works perfectly, but then once in a while, sponge don't clean well enough and you still have solder on your tip, then you use wool. Idea behind both is to remove carbon so that solder sticks.Another good stuffWhich I'm pretty sure most anyone has these days, and these come in different brands, but the idea is the same, you stick your tip in, it smells like solfur, you try not to breath it in, and after applicaiton tip is like new.Once in a long long while, when your tip appears to stop taking solder, and that would be the tip you most often use, you dip it into chemical cleaner. I also dip all new tips into chemical cleaner prior to tinning them, but that's just me, that's not necessary with quality tips. Something like 2 dollar T12 tip from ali, definately good idea.Just to give you an idea, let's say a cheap, .50 cent solder iron, from the dollar store, and it don't take the solder. You clean it and solder still does not stick to the tip. Well you dip that thing into chemical cleaner, and then tin it, and it becomes usable for a while.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2024, 01:08:20 pm
content: Yep. Tip tinner cleaner is great stuff for reconditioning tips with wetting problems. However it gets its re-wetting power from an extremely aggressive flux - Ammonium Phosphate, which at soldering temperatures decomposes to leave conc. Phosphoric acid on your tip, so you should only use it when the tip's got a problem and thorough wiping on a damp sponge afterwards is essential as brass wool/turnings wont effectively remove the remaining acid. Phosphoric acid residue on the sponge should be taken care of next time you wet the sponge, as you should be rinsing it out, then squeezing it flat to remove excess water leaving it damp, not wringing wet.For maximum life from a tin of TTC, rub the bit over the surface, don't dig it in, taking care to get all the working surfaces. TTC itself is a mix of solder powder, Ammonium Phosphate and other high temperature cleaning and wetting promoters, possibly a mild abrasive e.g. diatomaceous earth, compressed into a solid cake.Cellulose sponge is cheap - if you get a three pack from a supermarket or hardware store - use the yellow one (least dye) for soldering and the other colors for other workshop tasks. It is essential to thoroughly wash out the goop that keeps it soft in the packet before using it for soldering as the goop is an unholy mix of organic chemicals and hygroscopic salts that you don't want anywhere near your soldering iron tip! One 'domestic' cellulose sponge is usually enough to cut up and refill several soldering stations.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2024, 01:46:18 pm
content: Sal ammoniac cleaning/retinning block (Kester) is ammonium chloride. Same principle.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2024, 05:22:00 pm
content: I use both a sponge and wool.I haven't had any problems with mould on the sponge, even though someone once poured Monster energy drink, which contains glucose on it, as a prank. It did release nasty smoke. I washed the sponge thoroughly afterwards, but there would have still been traces on the sponge and in the holder and there has never been any mould on it, after many years.

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2024, 10:24:47 pm
content: What about algae on soldering sponges? I've seen plenty of that growing around the edges of a sponge.

author: SteveThackery
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2024, 11:43:35 pm
content: How remarkable we can discuss this arcane matter for so long!I've never had mould, algae, or any other lifeform grow on my soldering sponge. It's a non-issue.FWIW, I use both the wool and the sponge, although the sponge gets the tip cleaner and I use it 90% of the time. The wool is better for burnt on stuff, like if I've left the iron switched on for a long time, but dirty and unused.

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2024, 12:44:39 am
content: Quote from: SteveThackery on November 28, 2024, 11:43:35 pmWhy do you assume its a non-issue just because it hasn't bothered you? In the UK exposed concrete going black and disgusting with mould is a non-issue. If you live somewhere hot and humid, like Mumbai, it's a major problem. Its either black, or a considerable effort has been made to stop it.

author: SteveThackery
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2024, 10:06:23 am
content: Quote from: coppice on November 29, 2024, 12:44:39 amFor goodness' sake, buddy, surely it was obvious I was talking about my own experience!But so far not one person in this thread has found evidence of mould on their sponge. In my long involvement with the world of electronics I've never once read anything about it. So actually, yes, I believe it really is a non-issue.

author: ebastler
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2024, 11:47:06 am
content: Quote from: SteveThackery on November 29, 2024, 10:06:23 amNo, that was not obvious at all, because you started your post by questioning whether the topic even warrants an extended discussion:QuoteI also read that as "Why are we even discussing this? It's not an issue (for anyone, anywhere)."Face palms are never a good response to some other user's comment in my opinion. I understand them to mean "What you just wrote is embarrassingly stupid" and hence find them insulting. Would you use them as a response in a face-to-face dialog? I think that emoji should only be used to express embarrassment with something you said or did yourself -- or maybe to comment on something a third party said, if you have to.Having said that, mold on soldering sponges has never been an issue for me either. If anything, I'd complain that those sponges always dry quicker than I'd like and I find myself, soldering iron and component in hand, with a dry sponge -- not that they stay wet for too long and start to rot. I'm in Northern Germany, which is not known for a particularly dry climate...

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2024, 11:54:49 am
content: Actually I *have* seen mould on a soldering sponge, hence my comment in reply #1Quote from: Ian.M on November 24, 2024, 06:55:56 pmIt was kept in a tin with a tight-fitting lid in a portable soldering toolkit, with a small squeeze bottle of water also in the kit to wet it before use, and one time I forgot to open up the tin when I got back from the field to let the sponge dry. Next time I opened the tin, I had a somewhat furry blue-tinted sponge. It wasn't a big problem - Fortunately I was at a location with a kettle, so I simply poured boiling water over it to kill the mould, washed it out well and carried on using it. If I'd been at the shop I'd have simply binned and replaced it. If I'd not had boiling water available, I'd have had to make do with wiping my iron on a wad of paper towel.

author: golden_labels
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2024, 02:02:27 pm
content: I’m a bit surprised by the length of the thread myself. I was just wondering, not being a sponge user myself, and a few answers from regulars was enough to answer my concerns. But if people find the topic interesting, why not talk about it? This is the nature of fora. If anything, that gives a larger sample size and a wider perspective.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2024, 03:05:23 pm
content: Quote from: golden_labels on November 24, 2024, 06:28:26 pmSometimes they grow a brownish red or maybe white mold.

author: themadhippy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2024, 03:12:32 pm
content: sponges? wire wool? Pah, bit of spit and the leg of yer jeans is all you need.

author: SteveThackery
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2024, 06:15:10 pm
content: Quote from: ebastler on November 29, 2024, 11:47:06 amThis was a perfect example of plain text not conveying the full meaning. Ah, the joys of the Internet, eh? My opening comment - with its giveaway exclamation mark - was said purely in fun. I'm sorry it didn't come across that way.

author: SteveThackery
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2024, 06:18:02 pm
content: Quote from: themadhippy on November 29, 2024, 03:12:32 pmCotton jeans. With crimplene jeans it's a disaster.(Not that I've got any, obviously....)

author: pcprogrammer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2024, 10:11:09 pm
content: Quote from: themadhippy on November 29, 2024, 03:12:32 pmA quick brush with your thumb across the tip is also a solution. Sure it smells a bit like Sunday roast, but the tip is clean

author: golden_labels
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2024, 12:01:51 am
content: Only if you are not fast enough!

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 30, 2024, 03:39:25 pm
content: Quote from: u666sa on November 28, 2024, 09:46:58 amI have had stations with both. My bench at work has both (since the very old desoldering station has only the sponge, and the new Ersa has only brass wool). I rarely bother to wet the sponge, as the brass wool is just always ready to use.You’ve been asked repeatedly to justify your claims that both arenecessary.Why don’t you actually do that instead of basically insulting people who disagree with you?

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 01, 2024, 01:07:37 pm
content: I'm amused by some of the heated responses, about such a trivial topic. I suppose that's to be expected from an EE forum.Is it possible it's not mould but reside from hard water?

author: Xena E
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 01, 2024, 01:33:10 pm
content: Just buy new ones?https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverline-633932-Soldering-Sponges-Set/dp/B002QRUGCM/ref=asc_df_B002QRUGCM?

author: SteveThackery
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 01, 2024, 02:26:07 pm
content: Quote from: Zero999 on December 01, 2024, 01:07:37 pmAmen to that. But you mustn't make light of it or you'll get in trouble, like I did.