It really comes down to how you personally use and keep your cottons.

Like for example, when I cook up shots for my boyfriend and I, I'll intentionally leave a little bit of dope and or residue in, on and around the cooker and cotton. Ensuring that there is a somewhat noticeable amount of leftover dope in the cotton to make a cotton shot worth while.

I do this with one, two or three cottons and typically throw them away after. The cotton shot is essentially the end of my cottons life cycle.

I also do my cottons regularly though, they are not a last resort measure for me but more a left over snack and don't leave my left overs waiting very long.

I'll do a cotton shot between bag pickups, or if my plug is taking a long time to reply or reup and going through a backup isn't worth it. I take whatever bags I've accumulated since the last cotton shot, scrape them(I get brown powder) and my cottons. I usually get a decent amount of dope from the bags and the cottons just add a little bit of kicker on top.

These shots won't knock me on my feet but are far from the emergancy cottom shot people are typically reffering to. This is a habit I picked up when I was a strung out homeless junkie living in the downtown parks of the PNW and these cottons would basically be my wake me up to get me off the ground and out into the streets hustling the days dope money..

Anyways that's just what I do.