Any bead cleaning methods?

Anyone using heartfelt or conservagel ever devise a safe method for cleaning? After 5 years my conservagel I notice gets a slight almost plastic smell, just for a short time after misting to recharge. It goes away after a few hours so it doesn't bother me. I'm thinking maybe switching to recharging by evaporative means, ie put cup of distilled water to evaporate and recharge that way instead of spraying. Has anyone ever cleaned them in any way, maybe soak in distilled and dry in the oven at a low temp. Or maybe just let them sit out of the humi for a week or so to completely dry out? The smell isn't worrying me but if it gets really strong in the future I may replace them, but I love my conservagel so hate to think of dumping them.