AoyueSoldering Iron Tip Cleaner with Brass wire sponge, no water needed (TY-98)

Five Stars: A Must-Have for Soldering Enthusiasts!As an avid electronics hobbyist, I’ve tried various soldering tip cleaners over the years, but the Aoyue Soldering Iron Tip Cleaner stands out as a game-changer. Here’s why I’m giving it a glowing review:Effective Cleaning: The brass wire sponge does an excellent job of removing solder residue and oxidation from my soldering iron tips. It’s gentle yet thorough, ensuring that my tips stay in top shape.Long-Lasting: Unlike damp sponges that tend to wear out quickly, this brass wire sponge seems almost indestructible. It withstands countless tip cleanings without losing its effectiveness.No Water Mess: Say goodbye to wet sponges and water spills on your workbench! The Aoyue cleaner keeps things tidy—no need to wet and wring out a sponge constantly.Quick and Convenient: When I’m in the middle of a project, I appreciate how easy it is to swipe my soldering iron tip across the brass wires. It takes seconds, and I’m back to soldering without interruptions.Compact Design: The compact size of the cleaner makes it ideal for small workspaces. It doesn’t take up much room on my bench, yet it delivers big results.Affordable: Considering its durability and effectiveness, the price is a steal. It’s a small investment that pays off every time I use it.In summary, the Aoyue Soldering Iron Tip Cleaner has become an essential tool in my workshop. Whether you’re a professional solderer or a DIY enthusiast, I highly recommend adding this little gem to your toolkit. Happy soldering!

This is great stuff it's so easy to use and really gets the tip of your soldering iron clean quickly and effectively with very little effort. It's not expensive and I wouldn't want to live without it now when I'm soldering. It's inexpensive and quite necessary. There's plenty of it to last for the typical DIY solderer. The size is perfect it doesn't get in the way but it's big enough with just enough weight to use with one hand in other words you don't have to hold it with one hand while you clean your soldering iron tip with your other hand.

This works well for cleaning the tip of the soldering iron. I personally have no complaints.

My first temp controlled soldering station came with a small yellow sponge that you'd have to continue wetting. I used it for probably a year before upgrading to a brass wire sponge. It's a night and day difference when soldering! Much quicker to clean the tip and not as messy. Typically I end up cramming 2x brass sponges into the bucket, since one seems a bit thin -- though, in recent years I've been using 3rd party replacement sponges that I got in a 10-PACK. Even with heavy soldering of 20-30hrs a week, it usually lasts me a month or more before having to pull it out, dump out the solder & pick out the larger pieces from the sponge. After probably 3-6 months of heavy heavy use, I toss the top sponge and cram a single brand new sponge on top of the bottom sponge.These brass sponges have made soldering sessions much more pleasant. No need to "water the sponge" -- no drop of temperature of the iron, less mess. The brass sponge does a decent job of cleaning the tip and removing the excess solder. Once in a while I'll dip the tip of the soldering iron in tip cleaner or add some solder to it and clean it in the sponge -- but it's not really necessary with how this brass sponge cleans the tip.

Works well, holder substantial. Material a little smaller than opening.

I was debating between this and the Hakko ball-style sponge holder. After using this one, I'm very pleased with my choice. Stabbing the iron down in to the sponge feels very stable, natural, and comfortable. Stabbing sideways at a ball-style holder seems like it would be awkward. Also, this holder is lower profile (only 1.125" high), so it fits easily into my soldering kit. I've found that I use its built-in iron stand a lot when tinning very small wires (easier to set the iron down and drag the wire across the tip, rather than vise-versa).Excellent cleaner. Well worth the money.SIDE NOTE -I noticed another reviewer mentioned applying flux to his wire sponge to help it "absorb solder", and that (not surprisingly) it didn't have the desired effect. A couple things to point out...1) The point of a wire sponge or a wet sponge is to improve heat transfer by "shocking" the oxides off your already cleaned and tinned tip. This is most obvious when using a wet sponge, as the correct motion is a quick tap of the tip on the sponge (like you're touching a surface with your finger to see if it's hot) not the long, slow wipe that would be required to remove excess solder.2) If you wind up with excess solder on your tip, use desoldering braid to wick away the excess. There are only a handful of cases where this should occur. 90% of the time you should be applying the solder to your work piece not your iron, and the capillary force of the work piece should keep the solder where it belongs.PACE has an excellent series of "learning to solder" and "reworking" videos that they've graciously made available on YouTube. I highly recommend them. They're a little dated, but the basics haven't changed.

I love the big bucket design of the holder. The sponge appears to be of decent quality brass. And even though the weight is on the low end and it can slide around your work space if it gets bumped, it's an easy quick fix given the size and that it's made of metal. Happy with my purchase and for a good price as well!

Well made, good quality - both the container and the brass wire sponge. And it's heavy enough that it does not move around when used so you can clean the iron tip without having to hold the cleaner.