Organic cotton wicks

[ltrainer]

I recently started making cotton wicks from cotton balls. It's the best vape I've had with my rba. One of the reasons I wanted to try cotton wick was a concern about health issues with silica. My brother was diagnosed with intersistal lung disease a year ago. One of the causes of this disease is exposure to silica particles. I figured that if the cotton wick worked well that it would have to be a safer alternative to silica because it's a natural material.

i did some googling of cotton and found some interesting facts. The growing of cotton uses a huge amount of chemicals(pesticides and herbicides). It accounts for 25% do the chemicals used in agriculture. Furthermore some of the chemicals are extremely toxic. A typical tee shirt uses 1/4 pound of these chemicals.

The processing of the cotton adds more chemicals used in the dyes, bleaching, softening the fibers etc..

an article about growing and processing cotton can be found here: How to get rid of chemicals in fabrics. (Hint: trick question.) | O ECOTEXTILES

there is a better alternative is if any of this is a concern....organic cotton. It appears that organic cotton balls are readily available at drug stores. I'll be buying some soon. Can't hurt as far as I'm concerned and I'm one of those that believes in eating a "peck of dirt."

 

[Della Cirque]

Sorry to hear about your brother, Loren. Thanks for passing this info along...will definitely be picking up some organic cotton balls.

 

[Commie]

Uuhm. Great.

Now I'm at work, got 8 hours to go, and am scared to vape

 

[colt45]

it may not be any better but it wicks better for me. bamboo crochet thread, been using this for weeks
Amazon.com: Aunt Lydia's Bamboo Crochet Thread-Natural: Arts, Crafts & Sewing

 

[rasci2]

How do you wrap cotton balls?

 

[nerak]

How do you wrap cotton balls?

Very carefully!.............Be gentle.........

Actually your take a little piece of cotton and roll it between your fingers to compress it into a strand. Then you can take that strand and carefully insert it into the coil. Works well for me!

wrapping cotton balls........why does that make me smile?

 

[synic]

Is his silica inhalation from vaping, or from working at a factory or something?

 

[ltrainer]

Is his silica inhalation from vaping, or from working at a factory or something?

They are not sure what caused his lung disease. He did manufacture for several years oxygen generators which used a silicate powder but the connection to that has not been made. He works out a lot everyday now and his lung capacity has remained the same for a few years now although there is no cure. He's 68 and working hard on fighting it off. Fibers get into the lungs and get into the area that surrounds the air sacs. This tissue gets stiff so your lungs don't expand as they should. He never smoked or vaped. I smoked two,packs a day for 40 years and so far I'm ok.

 

[synic]

I'm trying to make the switch to cotton, or even bamboo, but I'm not having the best of luck with it.

I've got some cheesecloth from Bed Bath and Beyond, it's unbleached and supposedly free of any additives. I've boiled it. Out of all the cotton wicks I've tried (and I've tried a few now), this one has the least offensive flavor to it. It does, however, still have a flavor. Combined with some of my juices, it's not so bad, but with some other juices, like Boba's, it tastes horrible. Usually I vape on it for a bit, then toss the coil and go back to silica.

Is this flavor something that goes away after some time? Or is it something you get used to? Or perhaps I'm just doing it wrong all together.

My wick doesn't seem to be burning or anything, and it looks to be plenty wet. What am I doing wrong here?

 

[JC Okie]

synic, I use all cotton wicks....yarn, crochet thread, embroidery thread, cotton from cotton balls, etc. YES...the taste goes away pretty quickly for me. I love cotton wicks.

 

[inkdog]

Synic, I usually let cotton wicks steep in my tanks for a few hours before vaping them. Then I start at low voltage and increase slowly to my sweet spot. I'll get a few less than great puffs but nothing bad

 

[synic]

Ok, sounds like it's normal then. I'm going to stick with it.

Silica freaks me right out. The other day I was test firing it just to make sure, like you do. One of those loud "pops" happened, and it blew a bunch of the fibers out. Scary scary.

 

[super_X_drifter]

I have been using rolled cotton, as suggested by Hildicat. It comes is called sterile rolled cotton from CVS. The box contents look like they would last forever considering the small amount it takes to wick a chalice.

I haven't been boiling - is it supposed to be boiled?

Thank you.


Shot thru cyberspace with my iGun

 

[JC Okie]

I have been using rolled cotton, as suggested by Hildicat. It comes is called sterile rolled cotton from CVS. The box contents look like they would last forever considering the small amount it takes to wick a chalice.

I haven't been boiling - is it supposed to be boiled?

Thank you.


Shot thru cyberspace with my iGun

I never boil mine. I have boiled some of my threads, but never the cotton.

Jan

 

[jeenam]

First started with rolled cotton from cvs and then read a thread about hemp twine. Picked up a roll of this stuff and haven't looked back.

Hemp Twine Cord 1mm 20 Test 5 10 or 25 Yards Color Selectable | eBay

With rolled cotton the wick would get clogged up after a few days, and cotton is quite fragile. It has been 2 weeks since the most recently installed hemp wick was installed and the flavor is still top notch. There is no burnt flavor as hemp will let you know much sooner when it needs more juice. Also, wicking speed is very fast as well.

I refuse to use silica wicks.


edit: be sure to boil the hemp once you receive it for 15 minutes. It does have a flavor but will go away in short order. Natural is probably the best type to get - less chemicals to boil out (theoretically).

 

[swamijivan]

First started with rolled cotton from cvs and then read a thread about hemp twine. Picked up a roll of this stuff and haven't looked back.

Hemp Twine Cord 1mm 20 Test 5 10 or 25 Yards Color Selectable | eBay



With rolled cotton the wick would get clogged up after a few days, and cotton is quite fragile. It has been 2 weeks since the most recently installed hemp wick was installed and the flavor is still top notch. There is no burnt flavor as hemp will let you know much sooner when it needs more juice. Also, wicking speed is very fast as well.

I refuse to use silica wicks.


edit: be sure to boil the hemp once you receive it for 15 minutes. It does have a flavor but will go away in short order. Natural is probably the best type to get - less chemicals to boil out (theoretically).

Will give a try..asked if they have a 2mm ... Thanks

 

[jeenam]

I think someone posted the 2mm doesn't have as any many threads (4 vs. 12 for the 1mm version) and thus did not wick as well as the 1mm. With the 1mm I simply fold the twine in half and roll a coil around 2 strings side-by-side. Works great, lasts a long time, and is definitely natural.