I put the corks straight from the bag to the corker.
I did read about the subject before getting started. Some said soak. Some said dry. Some said water only. Some said water with campden tablet. After all that I read one where a guy said using soaked corks in a floor corker would corrode the mechanism. He said him and his buddy use them dry without issues. It seemed logical so I did that. I figured if I messed up the cork or couldn't get it dry then I'd soak them. Turned out to be a non issue as dry worked just fine. I guess I'll see what happens long term. Well as long as the bottles last ;D
We have 10-12 year old bottles of mead done with dry corks - stored on their sides of course. Have had no problems and the meads themselves are AWESOME.