Happy New Year everyone,
After sanding and reaming my cork I wash it off with Simple green and a soft tooth brush then rinse it with fresh water.
How long do I wait to use the cork? It's been a couple days so far.
Many thanks.

A couple of days would be fine.
But I have to ask, why wash it?

After I ream and sand the cork, I use high pressure air to blow off the cork dust and go ahead and glue it up.

After everything is shaped and finished on the handle I will then clean it up.

But certainly a couple of days in a warm place would be completely adequate for the drying.
In particular, this would be fine if you use a wood glue like Titebond III for gluing the cork. Since the Titebond is a water based glue, a bit of moisture on the cork won't hurt anything.

Be safe

p.s.
Certainly the use of simple green and a tooth brush is a great solution for cleaning finished grips. I use these two items for any rods that come in for repair. Most of the time the grips are well soiled from the use that the rod has seen. A few minutes in the wash tub with simple green and a tooth brush and the grip will look like new. If pit filler happens to get washed out during the process, I just refill any large pits with Elmers light oak wood filler and sand as needed to match the grip. Easy and nice cleanup of any cork handle.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/29/2014 12:06PM by roger wilson.

Since cork is a impermeable and buoyant material, which means it is non-absorbant you should be able to wipe it dry and use it immediately. I do sometimes wet sand mine ahen rinse with water, dry with a towell and it is ready for use.

Ron Weber

After shapping I while on the lath take a soft brush and run it over to get rid of dust If you want cleaner whipe with a damp paper towel or cloth Then glue onto the blank

Bill - willierods.com

I think there may be some confusion over the advise of cleaning up an old cork grip versus a new one. Washing with soap is a method for cleaning up an old grip.

Sam,
In the original post, John was speaking of new cork that he appears to be washing.

As Bill pointed out, I clean the turned grip while the grip is still on the lathe. With the grip spinning, I just hit the cork with high pressure compressed air to blow out any dust or other junk. If there happens to be some loose filler in the cork that gets blown out, it will be taken care of, when the cork is filled if it is necessary.

With today's cork, it seems that more and more cork is necessary to fill for a reasonable appearance.

Be safe