Thanks GregH, that's what I wanted to know, I've done that with the Feathers, I don't remember if I added some water on the bottom of the container but I was curios was it possible. In this post I wanted to know has anyone done it! I realize the risk but if they are in a Microwave proof container and you experiment starting from 5 seconds you'll quickly learn when is to much. When I said grass I was thinking off a plastic bag but on the second thought maybe not a good idea!GregH wrote:20 seconds in the microwave is unlikely to sterilise anything and certainly not dried grass however any longer risks starting a fire so don't do it! Microwaves basically only heat liquid water and other polar molecules and can not even effectively heat ice let alone dried egg-shells and other dessicated substances. Many insects, like weevils, are themselves on the dry side, containing insufficient water to be greatly affected and they happily wander around in the oven while it is on for periods up to 5 minutes. If you want to sterilise things like this put them in something like an ice-cream container with a damp cloth and then microwave it for 3 minutes and the steam generated will be much more effective at killing than dry microwaving. I've seen fires in microwave oven on two occasions from people trying to quickly dry plant material so be careful not to let things dry out during extended periods in the microwave.
But I'll try in a plastic container with damp cloth, but as SamDavis said what's the point "the Microwave is not big enough".Probably most would agree it's unnecessary!
