Cork is hard to get because it is a natural material that is only found in certain parts of the world. It is also difficult to harvest and process.

Cork is composed of suberin, a hydrophobic substance. Because of its impermeable, buoyant, elastic, and fire retardant properties, it is used in a variety of products, the most common of which is wine stoppers.

This ensures that the corks get enough moisture to lubricate their passage through the corker, but not so wet that the corks will crumble apart. While some books talk about boiling and long soaking corks in a sulfite solution, we do not recommend it.

Auctions for wine corks sell in lots as small as 20 and as large as 500. The wine bottles usually sell for about 50 cents per bottle, but fancier bottles can fetch near $5.00 each (hint: Cobalt blue bottles!). Wine corks, however, generally sell for about 10 cents each.