# Best ways of getting Eco-Earth dry!??



## Jared781 (Feb 9, 2012)

whats up all?

I need help towards getting Eco-earth wrung out OR quite dry If that's even possible... Who has the best methods?


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## eporter (Feb 9, 2012)

squeeze out all of the water that you can and spread it in a thin layer on a cookie sheet.  Put your oven on a very low setting like 150ish degrees Fahrenheit or about 65.6 Celsius and prop the door open a bit so you can keep an eye on it and bake the living daylights out of it.  Its time consuming, and you MUST!! babysit your oven.  If you keep an eye on the moisture levels and stir it as soon as the top layer is dry to get to the wet stuff underneath, it is pretty safe.  your house/apartment will smell like warm earth but thats not so bad...anyway thats what i did to a whole wet brick of the stuff. got like 3 gallon sized bags of the stuff dried out.  it also took like 3+ hours to do so don't plan on doing anything else when you do this.  I am very interested to see if there are any better ways out there.


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## ijmccollum (Feb 9, 2012)

What eporter said. But if you have time, let it air dry.


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## Bigboy (Feb 9, 2012)

If you're really pressed for time toss it and use some new stuff.


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## eporter (Feb 9, 2012)

+1 honestly it was almost like a gift from heaven when my local store started carrying eco earth that was in a loose form in bags.  its more expensive but its a lot more practical if you need dry eco earth in a hurry


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## mmfh (Feb 9, 2012)

Agree with eporter, buy the bags of loose, dry eco earth if u don't have the time to wait. I've seen it at petco.


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## Jared781 (Feb 9, 2012)

eporter said:


> squeeze out all of the water that you can and spread it in a thin layer on a cookie sheet.  Put your oven on a very low setting like 150ish degrees Fahrenheit or about 65.6 Celsius and prop the door open a bit so you can keep an eye on it and bake the living daylights out of it.  Its time consuming, and you MUST!! babysit your oven.  If you keep an eye on the moisture levels and stir it as soon as the top layer is dry to get to the wet stuff underneath, it is pretty safe.  your house/apartment will smell like warm earth but thats not so bad...anyway thats what i did to a whole wet brick of the stuff. got like 3 gallon sized bags of the stuff dried out.  it also took like 3+ hours to do so don't plan on doing anything else when you do this.  I am very interested to see if there are any better ways out there.


seems like hard work but ill give it a shot.. and im pumped for my house to smell like Eco-Earth!!!!! best air freshener aha

---------- Post added 02-09-2012 at 08:24 PM ----------

k thanks peeps.. Ill check out Petland


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## HoboAustin (Feb 10, 2012)

I just use my fist to wring it out, but I read online that you could put all the wet stuff into a pillow case and wring it out that way. Other than that, I just let it sit to dry out.


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## Hobo (Feb 10, 2012)

Cut a plastic garbage bag for maximum surface area, and spread sub as thin as possible on top. Should dry out enough overnight if you keep it somewhere warm.

That said, I usually just use it and let it dry on its own, adjusting ventilation accordingly. The spider will be ok.


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## PitViper (Feb 10, 2012)

I got tired of waiting for the brick form to dry, so I started only buying the dry bags, its a lot easier in my opinion.


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## kinglaz85 (Feb 10, 2012)

I buy it dry...no more waiting for it to dry


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## Rob1985 (Feb 10, 2012)

Letting it air dry or if you're VERY careful to not start a fire, you can use the oven on a low heat setting. Personally, I don't use ecoearth, I use straight sphagnum peat moss. I tried ecoearth, but found it to be too "stringy" and my T's hated the stuff. Also keep in mind that this stuff isn't preferred for a burrowing species as it doesn't bond together well.

Try using Hobo's suggested way of drying.


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## jonnyquong (Feb 10, 2012)

I begin by *NOT* ADDING ALL THE WATER suggested by the instructions. Start with a cup or so of hot water. Let it soak in, break up what you can, add more water sparingly, repeat.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Jared781 (Feb 10, 2012)

HoboAustin said:


> I just use my fist to wring it out, but I read online that you could put all the wet stuff into a pillow case and wring it out that way. Other than that, I just let it sit to dry out.


i tighten my fist aswell... then i put my fists up to each other then push as hard as i can.
its not bad but when your done your a little sore HAH


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## Anonymity82 (Feb 10, 2012)

Rob1985 said:


> Letting it air dry or if you're VERY careful to not start a fire, you can use the oven on a low heat setting. Personally, I don't use ecoearth, I use straight sphagnum peat moss. I tried ecoearth, but found it to be too "stringy" and my T's hated the stuff. Also keep in mind that this stuff isn't preferred for a burrowing species as it doesn't bond together well.
> 
> Try using Hobo's suggested way of drying.


I'm interested in getting some. Is there anything I should look out for? Like chemicals that may be in it etc?..


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## paassatt (Feb 10, 2012)

jonnyquong said:


> I begin by *NOT* ADDING ALL THE WATER suggested by the instructions. Start with a cup or so of hot water. Let it soak in, break up what you can, add more water sparingly, repeat.


This.

Adding smaller amounts of water to begin with, and adding more as needed in smaller batches is the ideal way to go about it, in my opinion.


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## jim777 (Feb 10, 2012)

I put it out on cookie sheets and set them in from of our dehumidifier. Takes about 36 hours to dry out enough to fill half a garbage bag, which is mountains.


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## Jared781 (Feb 10, 2012)

thanks for all the tips errr body


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## Jared781 (Feb 10, 2012)

i just made a whole brick and the dirt is just sitting in a tote!


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## Rob1985 (Feb 11, 2012)

Jared781 said:


> i just made a whole brick and the dirt is just sitting in a tote!


 hope you keep the lid off. I woud have put it in an extra kritter keeper, more ventilation.


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## Them (Feb 11, 2012)

Years ago I came across a video on you tube where the okie had created a eco earth salad drier type of device.  I normally take the batch and drain as much water as I can then lay it out on the back patio's cement and let the sun dry it...raking it over every half hour or so.


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## Rob1985 (Feb 11, 2012)

Them said:


> Years ago I came across a video on you tube where the okie had created a eco earth salad drier type of device.  I normally take the batch and drain as much water as I can then lay it out on the back patio's cement and let the sun dry it...raking it over every half hour or so.


 was that video with that bearded hillbilly? lol


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## Them (Feb 11, 2012)

Rob1985 said:


> was that video with that bearded hillbilly? lol


I don't remember what he looked like, but he first put the Eco earth into a pillow case then stuck it into this contraption he made that would spin-dry the wet Eco earth.


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## Jared781 (Feb 11, 2012)

Rob1985 said:


> hope you keep the lid off. I woud have put it in an extra kritter keeper, more ventilation.


yup i did  i put it on top of the fridge then cranked the heat aha

---------- Post added 02-11-2012 at 08:37 AM ----------

I got a huge pot, big enough to have the brick laying flat, and i poured 2 cups of hot water then put the lid on.. then 3 minutes later i started to brake of what i could 

then i took the 3 chunks that were left and placed them in a Ice cream bucket poured half a cup of hot water on then closed the lid. Then i broke that up then dumped 

both the  pot and the bucket in the tote


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## SamuraiSid (Feb 11, 2012)

eporter said:


> squeeze out all of the water that you can and spread it in a thin layer on a cookie sheet.  Put your oven on a very low setting like 150ish degrees Fahrenheit or about 65.6 Celsius and prop the door open a bit so you can keep an eye on it and bake the living daylights out of it.  Its time consuming, and you MUST!! babysit your oven.  If you keep an eye on the moisture levels and stir it as soon as the top layer is dry to get to the wet stuff underneath, it is pretty safe.  your house/apartment will smell like warm earth but thats not so bad...anyway thats what i did to a whole wet brick of the stuff. got like 3 gallon sized bags of the stuff dried out.  it also took like 3+ hours to do so don't plan on doing anything else when you do this.  I am very interested to see if there are any better ways out there.


I have a convection toaster oven, set at 450 for 5-7 minutes. Stir once, and let it go for another 5-7 minutes.

squeeze out as much water as possible and spread it out one inch thick in a discardable aluminum tray.


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## Jared781 (Feb 11, 2012)

what about.. if you cut up a garbage bag and lay it spread it out, then use a blow dryer? would that even work?


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## jakykong (Feb 12, 2012)

Jared781 said:


> what about.. if you cut up a garbage bag and lay it spread it out, then use a blow dryer? would that even work?


While I am sure the blow dryer would dry it out, I'm also just as sure that you would spend quite a while getting it back.


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## Mrchancellor87 (Feb 14, 2012)

I found that Eco-earth takes far too long to dry when adding it to a bucket with the recommended amount of water.

So what I now do, get my misting bottle, spray both sides with some water and then use a wallpaper remover tool to scrape the wetish layer off. Any flat tough object would do.

The less water you use, the tougher it is but drier it is.

This method takes a bit of time and elbow grease but no way near as long as waiting for the big wet brick to dry.

This is my excuse for having a bigger right arm than my left one. :biggrin::biggrin:


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## Jared781 (Feb 14, 2012)

Mrchancellor87 said:


> I found that Eco-earth takes far too long to dry when adding it to a bucket with the recommended amount of water.
> 
> So what I now do, get my misting bottle, spray both sides with some water and then use a wallpaper remover tool to scrape the wetish layer off. Any flat tough object would do.
> 
> ...




I will deffs hit that up next brick


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## Silberrücken (Feb 15, 2012)

Jared781 said:


> really? excuse for the other thing?


*:sarcasm:  R e a l l y ???  :sarcasm:*


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## Jared781 (Mar 2, 2012)

My procedure is to take a large spaghetti pot, large enough to place the brick on the bottom, and poor a cup of hot water. Place the lid on for a couple minutes... Break apart what you can and repeat!

When it's all broken up give it a good stir and place it in a huge tote... Then I put it on top of the fridge!! Ahaha

My father thought I was nuts the first time he seen that!! I said "Yeah.... I took up gardening!"


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## Jared781 (Mar 6, 2012)

i expanded a whole brick of "Exo-terra's Plantation Soil" took me about 75 mins... and again, its on top of my fridge


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## grayzone (Apr 1, 2012)

Jared781 said:


> what about.. if you cut up a garbage bag and lay it spread it out, then use a blow dryer? would that even work?


 YES... blow dryers work... I USE them (sometimes) with NO problem 



jakykong said:


> While I am sure the blow dryer would dry it out, I'm also just as sure that you would spend quite a while getting it back.


 thats why you gotta do it right... you can do it in a tank if you tamp/compress the dirt down real tight... blowdry it with the lid part covered... after its dry turn it and dry again... repeat till desired substrate through and through... OR  put it all in a paper grocery bag BEFORE adding it to a tank and blow it that way, and shaking it like a bag of popcorn....


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