Best ways of getting Eco-Earth dry!??

[Jared781]

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?

 

[eporter]

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.

 

[ijmccollum]

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

 

[Bigboy]

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

 

[eporter]

+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

 

[mmfh]

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.

 

[Jared781]

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

 

[HoboAustin]

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.

 

[Hobo]

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.

 

[PitViper]

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.

 

[kinglaz85]

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

 

[Rob1985]

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.

 

[jonnyquong]

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.

 

[Jared781]

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

 

[Anonymity82]

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?..

 

[paassatt]

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.

 

[jim777]

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.

 

[Jared781]

thanks for all the tips errr body

 

[Jared781]

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

 

[Rob1985]

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.