Obviously, a whole bunch of vapers have decided that rayon is their go-to wick. And apparently some of them feel very passionately about it. For me, the jury is still out.
A look at various wicking materials for rebuildable atomizers
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Obviously, a whole bunch of vapers have decided that rayon is their go-to wick. And apparently some of them feel very passionately about it. For me, the jury is still out.
I've been through various types of silica, organic cotton balls, KGD pads, Graham's rayon from Sally's, and finally settled on Tidi rayon balls. When I was last keeping up with the giant Rayon thread, Jeremy seemed to think that certain tampon rayon was the cat's meow.
I dunno about anyone else, but I got to the point of being content with my wicking material, where I suspect any further improvement would be marginal at best. But I'm willing to let you try to prove me wrong.
BTW, some of the passion is due to all the detractors we had early on. "You can vape rayon, that's a SYNTHETIC, you're gonna DIE!" Same sort of thing with titanium wire. Well, I'm not dead yet. In fact, I think I'll go for a walk.
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I've been through various types of silica, organic cotton balls, KGD pads, Graham's rayon from Sally's, and finally settled on Tidi rayon balls. When I was last keeping up with the giant Rayon thread, Jeremy seemed to think that certain tampon rayon was the cat's meow.
I dunno about anyone else, but I got to the point of being content with my wicking material, where I suspect any further improvement would be marginal at best. But I'm willing to let you try to prove me wrong.
BTW, some of the passion is due to all the detractors we had early on. "You can vape rayon, that's a SYNTHETIC, you're gonna DIE!" Same sort of thing with titanium wire. Well, I'm not dead yet. In fact, I think I'll go for a walk.
I'm not trying to prove anybody right OR wrong. Sure, rayon is synthetic, in the sense that the cellulose is dissolved and then solidified into new filaments. But it's still just cellulose, as long as the solvents are cleaned away. The new cellulose has a different polymer chain length, a different degree of crystallinity, different fiber diameter, and different levels of fiber alignment, but it's cellulose. Cotton is also nearly pure cellulose. Does this mean they are essentially identical? No. Cotton, being a natural fiber, is incredibly complex. For a quick overview:
Cotton Morphology and Chemistry - Cotton Incorporated
Which one is better? I have no idea. I'm sure they both have their place. Two or three of these materials will probably find a semi-permanent place in my personal supplies. The rest will have fans elsewhere. Which is fine by me.
Sorry, what I should have written is, "But I'm open to trying other materials if someone comes up with a good case that they're actually better."
I suspect there's a degree of subjectivity in all of this. Different people like different things, and of course, some people still fear rayon.
No problemo - just don't want anyone thinking I've got an ulterior motive here. I'm not selling anything, just sharing my personal findings as they slowly trickle in.
Native Wicks
Shockingly white (not so obvious in this nighttime kitchen table photo) long staple cotton, very tightly compacted.
Tease it apart and the length and alignment of the fibers is readily apparent. Really strong - maybe even stronger than the Vapers Choice cotton from page 1 (which I just realized I forgot to post pictures of - I’ll do it next).
Really easy to work with. Simply peel off the number of parallel strands you want...
And lightly roll into a wick. Easiest to push through a coil if you cut the ends on an angle before rolling them to a point. Many of the fibers go from end to end of a wick, making it difficult to tease the end into a point without thinning the wick.
At 10x the long aligned unentangled strands are apparent. They're really quite gorgeous.
Relatively easy to work with (sharp scissors needed), clean, strong, nice packaging.
Next up: Vapers Choice (really)
Shockingly white (not so obvious in this nighttime kitchen table photo) long staple cotton, very tightly compacted.
Tease it apart and the length and alignment of the fibers is readily apparent. Really strong - maybe even stronger than the Vapers Choice cotton from page 1 (which I just realized I forgot to post pictures of - I’ll do it next).
Really easy to work with. Simply peel off the number of parallel strands you want...
And lightly roll into a wick. Easiest to push through a coil if you cut the ends on an angle before rolling them to a point. Many of the fibers go from end to end of a wick, making it difficult to tease the end into a point without thinning the wick.
At 10x the long aligned unentangled strands are apparent. They're really quite gorgeous.
Relatively easy to work with (sharp scissors needed), clean, strong, nice packaging.
Next up: Vapers Choice (really)
Diggin' through my vape stash, I found this:
3 mm ReadyXWick. The wick I want to love, but just can't seem to wrap my head around. Added to the to-do list.
3 mm ReadyXWick. The wick I want to love, but just can't seem to wrap my head around. Added to the to-do list.
Why?
Just curious, never tried it. Reminds me much of Ekowool, which I did NOT like at all.
Also never understood how hollow sleeving can possibly be a good way to try to fill the inside of a coil.
Because it's aluminum oxide, one of the most thermally stable ceramics in the universe. Because it can be dry burned in a Kanthal coil. Because it lasts almost forever. Because it still seems to have a rabid, albeit small, fan base. Because the creator seems passionately devoted to it, popping up in various forums to answer people's questions.
It just never seemed to wick fast enough or absorb enough to feed high VG e-liquid to a low ohm build on an RDA. Still hoping that's my fault and I can find a way to make it work. Not optimistic. Suspect it's best left to Tootle Puffer tank folks (I love you guys, just sayin' it's not how I vape).
Vapers Choice
Disclaimer: This cotton inspired me to start this little investigation. After vaping JOC for several months, I was amazed by just how different this cotton was. I like it a lot. But that doesn’t change the fact that this is an unbiased survey of what’s out there that I might like better.
White, clean with very long fibers.
Tears apart very nicely with no loose fuzz. The fibers can easily be drawn back into a continuous strand.
Picking a mass apart really brings out the alignment and length of these fibers, as well as the lack or clumps or particles.
Here's a 10x image. Like the Native Wicks, the fibers are so clean and perfect, you'd almost think you are looking at a synthetic.
Easily rolls into a well formed wick and holds its form. Again, like the Native Wicks, angle cutting the ends can make it easier to insert into a coil.
As I've said, I really like the Vapers Choice cotton. Once it's wet with e-liquid the wick tails can be a little small in diameter, making it a little challenging if you like to stuff your juice well full of wick (which, fortunately for me, I don't). But for high coil placement with tails, it's very nice.
Next up: Graham Rayon Cellucotton
Disclaimer: This cotton inspired me to start this little investigation. After vaping JOC for several months, I was amazed by just how different this cotton was. I like it a lot. But that doesn’t change the fact that this is an unbiased survey of what’s out there that I might like better.
White, clean with very long fibers.
Tears apart very nicely with no loose fuzz. The fibers can easily be drawn back into a continuous strand.
Picking a mass apart really brings out the alignment and length of these fibers, as well as the lack or clumps or particles.
Here's a 10x image. Like the Native Wicks, the fibers are so clean and perfect, you'd almost think you are looking at a synthetic.
Easily rolls into a well formed wick and holds its form. Again, like the Native Wicks, angle cutting the ends can make it easier to insert into a coil.
As I've said, I really like the Vapers Choice cotton. Once it's wet with e-liquid the wick tails can be a little small in diameter, making it a little challenging if you like to stuff your juice well full of wick (which, fortunately for me, I don't). But for high coil placement with tails, it's very nice.
Next up: Graham Rayon Cellucotton
Graham Rayon Cellucotton
OK, here's one that seems to have a big fan base. Came as a "rope" in a big blue box that will last forever. Clean, white, fluffy and squeaky.
Decent axial alignment of short, uniform diameter fibers that tears easily into long strips, albeit with quite a bit of fluff.
Teased apart, you can see that the fibers are all heavily interlocked.
At 10x, you can more clearly make out the small interlocked spun cellulose strands. The fibers aren't really aligned at this scale - rather, they are quite heavily randomly tangled. It does seem as though they carve out a lot of free volume that could serve to hold a lot of liquid.
Easy enough to tear off a strip and roll it into a wick. Fluffy, but it holds its form. Not too easy to point the ends with your fingers - seems better to moisten them. Very compliant and resilient. Very low tensile strength, unless you roll it up very tightly.
The mechanical structure of this semi-synthetic (it's still cellulose) material seems to have quite a bit going for it as a wick. Wish it had more strength, but it just isn't gonna happen with short, tangled fibers.
I have to go back and see if I've missed any other conventional wicking materials I have on hand. If not, I'll take a look at the ReadyXWick next.
OK, here's one that seems to have a big fan base. Came as a "rope" in a big blue box that will last forever. Clean, white, fluffy and squeaky.
Decent axial alignment of short, uniform diameter fibers that tears easily into long strips, albeit with quite a bit of fluff.
Teased apart, you can see that the fibers are all heavily interlocked.
At 10x, you can more clearly make out the small interlocked spun cellulose strands. The fibers aren't really aligned at this scale - rather, they are quite heavily randomly tangled. It does seem as though they carve out a lot of free volume that could serve to hold a lot of liquid.
Easy enough to tear off a strip and roll it into a wick. Fluffy, but it holds its form. Not too easy to point the ends with your fingers - seems better to moisten them. Very compliant and resilient. Very low tensile strength, unless you roll it up very tightly.
The mechanical structure of this semi-synthetic (it's still cellulose) material seems to have quite a bit going for it as a wick. Wish it had more strength, but it just isn't gonna happen with short, tangled fibers.
I have to go back and see if I've missed any other conventional wicking materials I have on hand. If not, I'll take a look at the ReadyXWick next.
ReadyXWick
The wick I'd love to love. But we just haven't been able to hit it off just yet.
It's this gorgeous, glistening white, perfectly woven little rope.This is a serious engineering component, modified for vaping.
Pick the end apart and you can see the long, perfect fibers in all their glory. A very small amount of fibers/particles get generated during this process.
Cut off the end you just frayed, and you immediately get this - a bunch of short, scary-looking fibers. Scattered over your table. Nothing like the nice, little, fuzzy puffs you get with a cotton or rayon wick. The thing is, the evidence available strongly supports that these fibers, because of their length, are NOT a significant respiratory hazard. AND, because ReadyXWick can reportedly last an extremely long time, your average exposure to them should be miniscule to begin with. Any qualified ReadyXWick fanatics out there: PLEASE jump in and clarify this issue for people. I'm personally totally comfortable with using this material.
A quick 15x closeup to show the braid. Very nice.
It's very easy to do an angle cut to assist in twist-threading ReadyXWick through your coil. Even after doing so, I find it extremely frustrating to twist-thread ReadyXWick through my coil without totally fraying the end. YMMV.
A very impressive engineered material. I've already prematurely post some of my impressions of it. If it fits your vaping style, well worth a look.
The wick I'd love to love. But we just haven't been able to hit it off just yet.
It's this gorgeous, glistening white, perfectly woven little rope.This is a serious engineering component, modified for vaping.
Pick the end apart and you can see the long, perfect fibers in all their glory. A very small amount of fibers/particles get generated during this process.
Cut off the end you just frayed, and you immediately get this - a bunch of short, scary-looking fibers. Scattered over your table. Nothing like the nice, little, fuzzy puffs you get with a cotton or rayon wick. The thing is, the evidence available strongly supports that these fibers, because of their length, are NOT a significant respiratory hazard. AND, because ReadyXWick can reportedly last an extremely long time, your average exposure to them should be miniscule to begin with. Any qualified ReadyXWick fanatics out there: PLEASE jump in and clarify this issue for people. I'm personally totally comfortable with using this material.
A quick 15x closeup to show the braid. Very nice.
It's very easy to do an angle cut to assist in twist-threading ReadyXWick through your coil. Even after doing so, I find it extremely frustrating to twist-thread ReadyXWick through my coil without totally fraying the end. YMMV.
A very impressive engineered material. I've already prematurely post some of my impressions of it. If it fits your vaping style, well worth a look.
Put a medium needle thru the center of the rediwick and wrap your coil around the rediwick.
Yeah, I've watched a bunch of RXW videos, but as important as wicking is to me, I still like to build my coil first and then add the wick. And I mostly work with 22 and 24 ga. Which makes this challenging, at least for me.
yeah the larger gauges would make using this wicking material difficult. I figure it is good for up to about 28 ga wire. Maybe 26?
Received my new digital scale.
I'll try to get to the e-liquid retention study in the next few days.
I'll try to get to the e-liquid retention study in the next few days.
I think this is the best.Native Wicks
Shockingly white (not so obvious in this nighttime kitchen table photo) long staple cotton, very tightly compacted.
Tease it apart and the length and alignment of the fibers is readily apparent. Really strong - maybe even stronger than the Vapers Choice cotton from page 1 (which I just realized I forgot to post pictures of - I’ll do it next).
Really easy to work with. Simply peel off the number of parallel strands you want...
And lightly roll into a wick. Easiest to push through a coil if you cut the ends on an angle before rolling them to a point. Many of the fibers go from end to end of a wick, making it difficult to tease the end into a point without thinning the wick.
At 10x the long aligned unentangled strands are apparent. They're really quite gorgeous.
Relatively easy to work with (sharp scissors needed), clean, strong, nice packaging.
Next up: Vapers Choice (really)
Setting up for the first round of experiments: juice retention
I have an 8/9 wrap 22 ga coil installed on my Twisted Messes RDA. Roll, install and trim a wick. Then remove it, re-roll it if necessary, weigh it, and lay it in a bath of 75/25 VG/PG to fully saturate. Remove the wick using a pair of needle-nose tweezers gripping at the center of the wick, allow the wick to drain for 30 seconds with the ends of the tails JUST touching the e-liquid, and weigh. Three trials for each wicking material, discarding the lowest value.
First trial with Graham Rayon Cellucotton went well - fairly consistent soggy little snotballs were produced. We’ll see how this goes.
I have an 8/9 wrap 22 ga coil installed on my Twisted Messes RDA. Roll, install and trim a wick. Then remove it, re-roll it if necessary, weigh it, and lay it in a bath of 75/25 VG/PG to fully saturate. Remove the wick using a pair of needle-nose tweezers gripping at the center of the wick, allow the wick to drain for 30 seconds with the ends of the tails JUST touching the e-liquid, and weigh. Three trials for each wicking material, discarding the lowest value.
First trial with Graham Rayon Cellucotton went well - fairly consistent soggy little snotballs were produced. We’ll see how this goes.
Some initial results:
Japanese Organic Cotton (skin removed)
Wick #1: 0.032 gm
E-liquid: 1.453 gm
Wick #2: 0.030 gm
E-liquid: 1.478 gm
Drago Egyptian Cotton
Wick #1: 0.046 gm
E-liquid: 1.629 gm
Wick #2: 0.047 gm
E-liquid: 1.560 gm
FiberFreaks #1
Wick #1: 0.035 gm
E-liquid: 1.518 gm
Wick #2: 0.035 gm
E-liquid: 1.529 gm
FiberFreaks #2
Wick #1: 0.035 gm
E-liquid: 1.190 gm
Wick #2: 0.034 gm
E-liquid: 1.204 gm
More to come later.
Japanese Organic Cotton (skin removed)
Wick #1: 0.032 gm
E-liquid: 1.453 gm
Wick #2: 0.030 gm
E-liquid: 1.478 gm
Drago Egyptian Cotton
Wick #1: 0.046 gm
E-liquid: 1.629 gm
Wick #2: 0.047 gm
E-liquid: 1.560 gm
FiberFreaks #1
Wick #1: 0.035 gm
E-liquid: 1.518 gm
Wick #2: 0.035 gm
E-liquid: 1.529 gm
FiberFreaks #2
Wick #1: 0.035 gm
E-liquid: 1.190 gm
Wick #2: 0.034 gm
E-liquid: 1.204 gm
More to come later.
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