Cleaning wood

SamiJami · Jan 18, 2011

I'm not really sure where to put this, so feel free to move it, mighty mods, if need be!

So I've read that you scrub the wood, possibly boil, and then bake it at a low temperature for an hour to two. I spent about a minute on each stick and twig with scrubbing. But the twigs kept breaking or the bark would come off. So what's the best way to scrub them? What kind of brush do you use? I was using a hard bristle scrubbing brush. I was also wondering how do you clean vine, like grapevine? I'm afraid of the bark coming off and it breaking again. I'm also wondering what's the best length of time to boil the wood? I'm leaving them in and stirring for 5 minutes once it hits a rolling boil. I know it's not necessary, but I want to make extra sure my wood is clean!!

Thanks for the help and tips! 4 hours cleaning about a half pound of pecan wood is just too much.

Dewdrop · Jan 18, 2011

It is a tedious process.....Since doing my own you will not find me complain about the cost of buying 'finished' wood.

I haven't done really thin sticks or vines, so breaking was never really an issue, and I didn't really have any issues with bark peeling off. I used like the green scrubby dish pads (new). I haven't timed how long I scrubbed, so I can't really help there.

As for soaking/boiling I soaked mine in super hot water until it cooled, and drained. And did that a few times until the water wasn't colored. Then did a quick boil (I think it was about 10 minutes), and then baked. Because my oven flat out sucks, and I was doing some thicker woods it took quite a bit of time. I just made sure to get in there frequently to turn the wood, and periodically snapped a piece to check for dryness.

Chinmama · Jan 18, 2011

This is from the forum FAQ's: http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41.

SamiJami · Jan 18, 2011

I've read that several times, Chinmama. But it doesn't answer my main questions:
What type of brush?
How long to boil?
How to clean vines or twigs without breaking them?

RDZCRanch · Jan 18, 2011

The type of brush doesn't matter. Some people use brillo pads to clean small twigs since they don't have much to clean off of them. I boil for about a half hour at a time, depending on how large the batch is.