can used loose sub be cleaned?

[mystic lintel]

ive been wondering. i know the guide recommends changing loose sub out once every 3-6 months or once it starts to smell, but its near impossible to get good topsoil here so i used reptisoil and stone desert. both of these are pretty expensive if i want ~4 inches in a 40gal so i was thinking

is absolutely required to change out substrate if your gecko doesnt go to the bathroom directly on the sub? what if it doesnt smell and you dont notice mold?

and if changing it is absolutely required, would washing and reusing it be possible instead? i dont want to waste all this substrate by dumping it out and having to buy more lol

[lime sequoia]

NQA i dont think soil can be cleaned. You could just go bioactive now so you dont need to replacethe substrate twice a year

[mystic lintel]

bioactive hard to manage

[solar pewter]

If your gecko isn't pooping On the soil you might be fine just keeping an eye on it and seeing if it starts to smell and using your best judgement. You could also potentially add springtails but not do a full bioactive if you don't want to deal with isopods or live plants

The closest you could get to sanitizing it would probably be baking, but that could allow for growth of other types of bacteria that aren't beneficial once that's done so you'd probably need to look into those "bio shot" things that add beneficial bacteria into the soil. I haven't used those before but I believe some people here have