Voltron buddy, this is my approach to these things with fluxos.
Flavors only *kind of* of stick to the plastic, so if you're using something strong (menthol, etc) that you don't want to taste, then you can
1) flush with scalding hot water
2) gently wiggle the outer plastic off (this is optional, what it really does is speed up drying)
3) drop it in PGA (vinegar works as well, but not on powerhouse flavors like menthol)
4) flush with hot water again, and set the parts on a paper towel with the wicks touching the paper towel. it will be dry in about an hour
Now what flavor really does cling to, and what shortens the lifespan of these things, is the coils. Do you own a manual? If you do, dry burning can restore the coils to pretty much brand newness. (So as you can infer, if its not a super strong flavor, you can skip the PGA soak entirely, and just rely on the following steps to get rid of the taste. At most you'll taste the old flavor for a few hits, eventually it'll get pushed out)
1) attach the guts (no shell) to your manual (make sure your guts are DRY, it will make this much faster)
2) open a window or do this somewhere ventilated so you're not inhaling toxins
3) hold the button for three seconds, then stop and blow quickly on the coil. repeat. repeat. repeat. It will be hissing like mad as the water is being evaporated.
4) now the wick will start to look like crap as the gunk starts to move off the coils and into the wick, worry not, keep going
5) now the hissing starts to go away, and the coils start to glow by the 3rd second of each pulse.
6) hissing is gone, and each time you press the button the coils are bright red and the surrounding wick is more or less pristine, except for a few light brown spots at most
***When I dry burn, I am more reckless because I've done it so much, meaning I will pulse for 5 seconds with no blow out. But I don't recommend you do this until you get a feel for it, as you can pop the coil. ***
**** you may notice a pile of ash on your coils after you're done dry burning. most advocate flushing again with water to get rid of it. I'm a ..... and often just fill and vape, and don't inhale the first few hits. the ash taste goes away immediately. that doesn't mean bad things don't entire your lungs, I don't know. probably not because with juice in there the coils can only get so hot.****
you can take this a step further if you own a torch and just take the torch to the wicks. they will NOT burn, and will become shock white. Keep in mind your silicone cup has heat shrink on it, as do your wires, so if you're not careful you'll roast them.
The wick doesn't really become a limiting issue in so far as a spot here and there, so you can just ignore it. the coils are everything.
And be gentle with the wick, because everytime you touch it, handle it, you run the risk of progressively shearing off more and more of it. not a deal breaker, because you can use these things with about half the wick they come with, or even better, snip the wicks down to just the area of the coil (a tad more) and use Pyramid Tea Bags as substitutes; they actually work best this way.
If you want to be super careful with the wicks, don't bother ever wiggling off the plastic tube. It just means you do the same steps above but have to wait longer for the wicks to dry and get to the dry burn step
NEVER throw anything out. We can show you how to recycle/rebuild these things ad infinitum. Keep a fluxo graveyard bag and just throw anything that bites it right in there.
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