Driftwood

[BlueLineAquaticsSC]

I’m vacationing at the beach and found an awesome piece of driftwood I want to take home. First things first, it smells horrendous, there is no way my wife allows it to come back on the car ride unless I can get the smell off. I have a week, my plan is to get a scrub brush and soap and knock as much gunk off as I can and then leave it in the sun. Any other suggestions? Second, assuming it makes it home, what should I do to make it aquarium (freshwater) safe? I’ve used plenty of drift wood I’ve collected in the past but never out of the ocean, any additional steps I should go through? For reference it is roughly 3’L 2’T and 1’ wide.

[TeeJay]

Well it's way to big to boil that's for sure. I know some bake them in the oven on the lowest heat setting. But for something that size seems like the only thing you will be able to do is soak it. And for a very long time.

[lefty o]

for now, let it dry out, then to get it home double or triple up on garbage bags tied tightly. that should take care of 99% of the odor😎 once home find a big enough tub to soak it in. soak in fresh water, dump out, and repeat. might take a bit of time, ado numerous fresh water soaks to leach out the salt etc.

[Patrick_G]

I collect my driftwood from local saltwater shoreline. I usually let it sit out in the sun. I think the UV does a good job sterilizing it. After that I give it a good scrubbing and use it. Caveat: I try and get wood that’s already sun bleached and above the high tide line. 

[rockfisher]

You might have to get a cooler to put it in. To soak the smell out of it if it was in the water it. Pups take a long time. I’m with @Patrick_Gabout the sun. 

[Aaron Hanson]

Wow what an awesome piece!

+1 to leaving out to dry, scrubbing down thoroughly with soap (animal safe of course lol) and water, and wrapping in multiple trash bags on the way home. It’s A quick, short term solution that should work just fine.

for me, I just collected three pieces and taking them through my “sterilization” method (these were all collected from a freshwater source). I let them sit in the sun to dry. I’ll scrub with dawn dish soap and warm water to get off all the surface remnants and let dry again. After the wood is dried, I’ll dilute hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle, then spray it all over making sure I get it in all the cracks/ crevices. I’ll spray the pieces down with a garden hose after. I repeat the spray and rinse, so I’ve done it three times total. No real science behind doing it three times, I just find that this is what has worked for me in the past. I also spray and rinse in a black tote I bought from lowes for like $10-20.

Good luck getting your treasure home!