Care
Drying and storing
A clean object put away damp is not a clean object. Drying is the step that turns washing into something that lasts until next time.
Every organism that causes trouble needs moisture. Removing it is more effective than any amount of disinfectant, and it costs nothing but a few minutes of patience. The trouble is that objects are usually put away while they still feel dry to the touch and are not.
Where water hides
- In the seam between shell halves, held by surface tension.
- Around and inside charging contacts.
- Inside any chamber, sleeve or hollow.
- Under a removable head or a soft sleeve, which is the worst of them.
- In the pleats of a storage bag that was used while damp.
A lint free cloth handles the surface. The rest needs air and time: twenty minutes standing on a towel in a warm room settles almost everything. Anything with a removable part dries with the parts separated, not reassembled.
Storage that prevents damage
Materials react with each other in a drawer. Blend objects bleed oil that attacks coatings and other blends. Silicone picks up dust from everything nearby. Steel and glass chip each other. The answer is boring and effective: one object per bag, bags in a box, box in a drawer rather than in a bathroom.
Bags, cases and locks
A cloth bag keeps dust off and stops contact between objects. A hard case adds protection for glass and for anything with a removable head. A lockable case matters in a shared house, and matters more where children are around, which is a storage question rather than a moral one.
Silica gel packets from packaging are worth keeping and dropping into a storage box, particularly in a damp flat. They cost nothing and they lower the humidity in the one cubic space that matters.
Batteries in storage
Rechargeable objects store best at around half charge, at room temperature, topped up every few months. Removable batteries come out entirely, since a cell left inside will eventually leak and destroy the contacts. The battery page covers the detail, including why a completely flat cell often refuses to charge again.
Bags worth using
The bag supplied in the box is usually adequate: a soft drawstring pouch in cotton or a similar fibre, which keeps dust off and allows air movement. Sealed plastic bags do the opposite, trapping any remaining moisture against the surface. Anything that arrives in a plastic sleeve is better transferred to cloth once it is in use.
Storage in a shared house adds a lock to that list, and storage with children in the house makes it a requirement rather than a preference. A plain lockable box in a wardrobe solves both without announcing itself.