cotton for wicks

[genevieve]

i've watched many videos about using cotton for wicks. they seem to all use "organic" cotton rolls or balls. however, all that i have at the moment is "sterile" cotton balls. they are 100% cotton. are they not the same as the organic ones? and if not, can i still use them? would it still be a good vape?

 

[Steamix]

100% cotton ? - Sterile ?
Won't get any better than that. But balls is the wrong shape ( least for wicking ). Bleachedcheesecloth is said to give the best results.
If not sure, boil it for a few minutes and let it dry again...

Enjoy!

 

[Jonathan Tittle]

Sterile Cotton can be used (that's what I'm using right now). The purpose behind Organic Cotton is that it hasn't been bleached white, thus, it's come in contact with fewer to no chemicals. Organic Cotton has a slightly off-white color while Sterile Cotton and Cotton sold from Walmart, Walgreens, etc is pretty much solid white.

Regardless of what type of cotton you use, I recommend boiling the cotton for 10-15 minutes on the stove (no, it won't burn unless you heat all of the water out of the pot ), squeezing the excess water out and then allowing to dry overnight. You can fluff the cotton in the mean time to speed up the drying (just be careful since boiling water is going to be absorbed into the cotton).

 

[Jonathan Tittle]

100% cotton ? - Sterile ?
Won't get any better than that. But balls is the wrong shape ( least for wicking ). Bleachedcheesecloth is said to give the best results.
If not sure, boil it for a few minutes and let it dry again...

Enjoy!

Cotton is rolled, and can thus be unrolled . Cotton balls are perfect for creating your own wicks. Anything else is going to be a major pain to use (i.e cotton pads, gauze etc) as it won't unroll as easy, if at all.

Not heard anything about cheese cloth, so I'll still to what I know works and is working now in about 30 attys .

 

[genevieve]

Sterile Cotton can be used (that's what I'm using right now). The purpose behind Organic Cotton is that it hasn't been bleached white, thus, it's come in contact with fewer to no chemicals. Organic Cotton has a slightly off-white color while Sterile Cotton and Cotton sold from Walmart, Walgreens, etc is pretty much solid white.

Regardless of what type of cotton you use, I recommend boiling the cotton for 10-15 minutes on the stove (no, it won't burn unless you heat all of the water out of the pot ), squeezing the excess water out and then allowing to dry overnight. You can fluff the cotton in the mean time to speed up the drying (just be careful since boiling water is going to be absorbed into the cotton).

have you ever used the sterile cotton without boiling it first? i will go ahead and boil some. but, it'd be really nice to set up this new atty with cotton right now. would it be a bad vape using cotton unboiled?

 

[Plumes.91]

I've used cotton balls. I now use 100% cotton string. Its like crochet string but a fair bit thicker. Not sure where my momma found it but she gave me half the roll and it'll last me years. Love the stuff. Lasts longer than silica for me for some reason, and NO dry burning needed. I just resituate the cotton when the hits get less intense and that usually fixes it. This stuff is a godsend. I don't boil my cottonballs or my string and it doesn't taste bad at all. I've heard people boil it just to be sure it'll be safe and to be sure the first 10 hits don't taste like cotton. I've actually tasted the cotton the first few hits with one cotton string I used a while ago, but I don't have to boil the one i'm using now to avoid the taste. Its tasteless the minute I fire it up. If you have the time, boil it! But its not a 100% necessity. Just make sure your not vaping semi synthetic cotton and you should be fine.

 

[genevieve]

100% cotton ? - Sterile ?
Won't get any better than that. But balls is the wrong shape ( least for wicking ). Bleachedcheesecloth is said to give the best results.
If not sure, boil it for a few minutes and let it dry again...

Enjoy!

the balls can be unwrapped to a flat rectangular shape. they are actually rolled to make the ball shape.

question about cheesecloth tho... i happen to have some in the kitchen. but, the material is so different from cotton. can you give me some insight as to how i'd use it (shape the wick, etc)?

 

[DoogieTony]

Sterile cotton balls will work great.

Plenty of people don't boil their sterile cotton and say its just fine. I do like to boil mine, just in case.

 

[genevieve]

I've used cotton balls. I now use 100% cotton string. Its like crochet string but a fair bit thicker. Not sure where my momma found it but she gave me half the roll and it'll last me years. Love the stuff. Lasts longer than silica for me for some reason, and NO dry burning needed. I just resituate the cotton when the hits get less intense and that usually fixes it. This stuff is a godsend. I don't boil my cottonballs or my string and it doesn't taste bad at all. I've heard people boil it just to be sure it'll be safe and to be sure the first 10 hits don't taste like cotton. I've actually tasted the cotton the first few hits with one cotton string I used a while ago, but I don't have to boil the one i'm using now to avoid the taste. Its tasteless the minute I fire it up. If you have the time, boil it! But its not a 100% necessity. Just make sure your not vaping semi synthetic cotton and you should be fine.

*googling "cotton string" now

 

[genevieve]

Sterile cotton balls will work great.

Plenty of people don't boil their sterile cotton and say its just fine. I do like to boil mine, just in case.

sweet! heard the words i've been wanting to hear......bless you!

 

[unsure]

Just another recently made interesting informative video cotton wick tutorial - YouTube

 

[josefmistal]

The cheese cloth you "unstring" - To my knowledge you cut it into about 3" by 1" strips and then take the time to take each thread out, The kanger evod i redid with that worked well at 30strings ( 15 folded in half while pulling thru the coil = 30) and 15 threads for flavor wick. I got that idea from a fellow on here i would give them credit where due but for the life of me i cant remember their name,,

 

[AlB53]

I use 100% cotton balls sterile, no boil, just take a small pice and your good to go

 

[Chas F.]

'Cotton String' would be called yarn wouldn't it? I use the Peaches 'n Cream brand from Walmart. Works great so far and I didn't' boil it first.

 

[legoleague]

Great advice.

 

[legoleague]

Thanks for the video!

 

[irehc77]

Great thanks for this link! It helped a lot!

Just another recently made interesting informative video cotton wick tutorial - YouTube

 

[Laythor]

The idea of "boiling" the cotton always struck me as odd. Let me get rid of the chemicals i'm afraid of by boiling the cotton in water... how exactly is that removing the chemical with any certainty? I suppose if you boil, rinse, boil, rinse, etc etc etc you'll remove something. What that something is I have no clue.

If it makes you feel better, then go for it .

I've been using sterile cotton balls and have had excellent results. It's very cheap, easy to get, super easy to swap out of standard, micro, and super micro coils. I carry a couple with me in my kit to swap out if I accidentally dry burn one of my RDA's. At the end of the night I usually pull out my cotton wicks, wipe off my decks, and everything is ready for the morning.

 

[SpyderClouds]

The idea of "organic" cotton balls is the lack of pesticides that are used in "non organic" cotton balls. BUT, both of them are treated with some sort of sterilizing agent. All of the organic cotton ball I have seen is treated with hydrogen peroxide. Not sure what the plain ones are treated with. I'm thinking as long as it is 100% cotton, your good. I don't boil, not sure what you could boil out of them...

Just my .02

 

[unsure]

Thanks for the video!

Great thanks for this link! It helped a lot!

Credit goes to pwrstrk02 in the REO forum. Till I saw it I was using too much cotton in my coils.