interesting method of reusing old cottons for another shot-- input?

[denvergold]

SO i know there are a few threads on the topic of reusing your old cottons to get another shot, but theyre all old and I havent come across a method like the one that I now use
(PS. i KNOW that its not "safe" to do...and believe me, ive gotten cotton fever from doing the regular way of just squishing them around in a spoon with some water and trying to re-filter..thats why im posting this- since ive been doing it this way ive never had a bad reaction to doing cotton shots, and have actually had them be as potent as a real shot)
SO the way I do it is to, after the filters have been dried and stored properly in an airtight container, in the freezer, i take however many and load them into an empty rig, and push them down (but not squish them)...then, with another rig, backload water into the cotton filled rig. Then, after letting it sit a minute for the cottons to absorb the water, push the plunger down slowly, basically passing the water through the cottons, extracting what dope is left in them, and letting it squirt into a clean spoon...filter this through a clean cotton and im left with a perfectly clear amber colored shot.
I know im not the only person to ever think of this, but since ive been doing it this way ive never gotten cotton fever or anything, and having those filters sure is good when i need them...im also in the habit of not sucking them totally dry so that when i do load them up this way im left with a pretty dark colored shot that is the same color as a regular shot i would cook up
My question to anyone else who does it this way---would it be better to load the cottons up, add the water, and let it sit for a few hours or even over night? Almost like doing an infusion? or would that be bad for bacteria growth and everything else we try to avoid....
thoughts?

 

[Brian242]

don't fuck up and get cotton fever again. Better yet, don't do it at all.

 

[Tommyboy]

Leaving any solution overnight is a bad idea, unless it is refrigerated in bacteriostatic water, and even then I'm not sure how safe it would be.

 

[adrandell116]

I have mates who just squish their old cottons around the pan to get a last shot, this does sound like a safer way for them to go about it. So I will inform them of it and see what they think. Personally, I just go buy more brown and chuck the cottons in the bin. Seems safer.

 

[phaylure]

I had a bad habit of saving old cottons, like the crusty-dark-hard cottons that you know has a litttttle bit left in 'em. If you wash them too often, and continue on saving them, the bacteria will fester on the cottons. I learned throughout the years to rinse once, throw it away.

But, yes, if you do the infusion the way you mention it.. I would say that the bacteria would grow even faster when the liquid and the cottons are all in one. Cotton fever blows.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Well this process does sound like an improvement over just leaving the cottons wet in a baggie or spoon at least. As to your question, as others have said, no you should really not load the cottons up, add the water and let it sit for a few hours or overnight. There is no need for that and it would just allow bacteria to grow. Freezing might kill some bacteria, but it doesn't actually kill all bacteria, it just stops it from growing, so once you remove the cottons from the freezer any bacteria present could just start growing again at that point, so you would not want to leave the cottons/solution sitting at room temperature for any length of time. If you were concerned about getting every last bit of dope out of the cottons, you could run more water through the cottons in the syringe a second time.

Another thing I would add to this process is once the liquid has been squirted into the clean spoon, I would heat it, which should kill off some bacteria (remember heat this brief can't kill off all bacteria/viruses, but it can kill some, so it's definitely worth doing IMO).

Personally, what I started doing to avoid saving cottons at all, was:
- re-washing the cotton at the time of the original shot, so that I wasn't leaving any dope behind in the cotton (and wouldn't be tempted to use it later)
- saving a tiny bit of (dry) dope from each bag so that I would eventually save up enough for an extra shot on a rainy (aka broke) day

 

[Elm73]

I personally have gotten really high from cottons but I have a cooker that is stainless steel and another cooker that's brass that I put on top of the steel one kinda as a cap.... People in the Rochester area of new York at least know what I'm talking about as the come from the needle exchange.... As for using old cottons I put about 5 units of water for every cotton and then take the plunger out of a old rig and smash the shit out of the cottons and then when I get muddy water I put a new cotton in the cooker and draw it up as I push down on the old cottons with the old plunger to get every drop out... I also use the cottons sort of as a mop to clean the extra powder around the ridges of the cooker

 

[Swimmingdancer]

^The problem with that method is the risk of bacterial contamination. Old cottons can be an ideal breeding ground for bacteria.

 

[denvergold]

yea I know its risky either way, and I have gotten cotton fever from just smushing them around in a spoon with some water...i feel what i pull back into the rig from doing it that way will give it to me just LOOKING at it haha...but since ive been doing it this way ive never gotton sick, and the shots I get are as potent as when I cook up a 10th....obviously i would prefer to just go score more, but as we all know this isnt always an option
thanks for the input guys, I will not leave it sitting out...just was thinking about how I have infused my own vodka and the longer you leave the berries or vanilla or whatever youre infusing sitting in the vodka, the more flavor you get from it. Was thinking it was kind of the same principle, but of course again Im not planning on injecting that haha