Review on 🧼 Aoyue TY-98 Soldering Iron Tip Cleaner with Brass Wire Sponge - Waterless Solution by George Miller

I had a fight between this and the spherical Hakko sponge holder. After using this product I am very happy with my choice. Inserting the iron into the sponge feels very stable, natural and comfortable. Hitting a ball holder from the side seems uncomfortable. Also, this holder has a lower profile (only 1.125 inches tall) so it fits easily in my soldering kit. I often use the built in iron stand when tinning very thin wires (it's easier to put the iron on the floor). and run the wire through the ferrule, not the other way around). Great cleaner. It's worth the money. Didn't have the desired effect. A few things to note. 1) The point of the wire sponge or wet sponge is to improve heat transfer by "shocking" the oxides from the already cleaned and tinned tip. This is most obvious when using a damp sponge, as the correct motion is to quickly tap the tip against the sponge (as if touching the surface with your finger to see if it's hot) rather than long and slow rubbing required to remove excess solder. 2) If there is excess solder at the tip, use a desoldering braid to remove the excess. There are few instances where this should happen. 90% of the time you should be applying solder to the workpiece, not the iron, and the capillary action of the workpiece should keep the solder where it should be. Videos you kindly provided on YouTube. I highly recommend them. They're a little dated, but the basics haven't changed.