"Eric" ) writes:
Most of us, because we were taught that way, use a wet sponge.

But the local university says, you should never use a wet sponge.



Has anybody got a better way and maybe the tips last longer?

I just use paper towel, dry.

A sponge is handy because it can fit into the well intended for it
in the soldering iron stand. But if it's not wet, at the very least it
burns when you touch it with the iron, and it can be rather stiff. If
you want it to last, I suspect that's why it's damp.

Since paper towel is really cheap, it doesn't matter, and it is handier
not to have to keep something damp.

But nobody can tell you whether a wet sponge is a bad idea unless you also
tell us why the university thinks so. At the very least, the statement is
ambiguous, because it's not clear whether it's the wet, or the sponge,
that they consider the problem.

Keep in mind that most tips do last a long time. At least, if you use plated
tips. If you don't use plated tips, the tips will corrode, and often fairly
fast, and no amount of cleaning will fix that.

You wipe plated tips not to prevent damage, but to get off the excess solder,
and the rosin that collects there.

Michael