On 12/2/11 1:30 PM, bob wrote:
I opened up a defective hotplate and found a bunch of cotton-like
insulation material inside. I put them into a plastic bag but a lot of
short fibers (less than 1cm long) fall out of the "cotton" which I
vacuumed up.

Here's a photo of it:
http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/20384895_GsHfRJ

I'm guessing it's fiberglass or asbestos. How can I tell? And is any of
these two material harmful to be around? If I fix the hotplate, should I
put this "cotton" back, or should I use something else?

The heating wires is inside a sheet of mylar-like material and the
"cotton" insulation is used to press the sheet tight against the top of
the hotplate.

Here's what asbestos looks like.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/asbestos_pix/3563807102/