Question about cotton

[snowyghost]

Ok so I've started building my own coils and have been rewicking all my stock ones with cotton because I feel like its better. I'm reading all this stuff about boiling your cotton and wearing gloves when making the wick. Is there a reason for this I feel like all of jucies taste fine does it make them taste better?

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[AlB53]

I don't boil my cotton, I use 100% sterile cotton balls and it taste just fine . Gloves? Why? I don't do that...LOL
When I wrap a coil I always dry burn it 2x then the cotton goes in...

 

[snowyghost]

I don't boil my cotton, I use 100% sterile cotton balls and it taste just fine . Gloves? Why? I don't do that...LOL
When I wrap a coil I always dry burn it 2x then the cotton goes in...

That's exactlly what I do. Thanks just making sure.

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[Ryedan]

The only time I would wash cotton was if I were using material that's not sterile or may have some manufacturing residue in it.

 

[State O' Flux]

When you boil cotton, it's very easy to get it confused with the pasta you're making for dinner. Pasta wicks fairly well... but you simply cannot get cotton al dente.


;-)

 

[ta2dave76]

Pfft....I wear gloves, safety glasses and my motorcycle helmet when I re wick micro coils....

 

[Ryedan]

Pfft....I wear gloves, safety glasses and my motorcycle helmet when I re wick micro coils....

You should really take more care when you mix juice! This is how I do it:

 

[State O' Flux]

You should really take more care when you mix juice!

And here I thought... those were your street clothes.

 

[generic mutant]

This is going to be controversial, but hey.

My position is that the pesticides used in cotton production probably leave residue in the product.

Using 'organic' cotton doesn't protect you against that, because 'organic' production methods still use pesticides - sometimes more dangerous than the synthetic ones they avoid, because they aren't 'natural' for a more or less arbitrary definition of 'natural'.

Boiling stuff isn't necessarily going to help. But it won't do any harm, and in the absence of data telling you you're safe, it's prudent anyway. It isn't like it takes that long (you can boil 6 months' worth in an hour. Are you that busy..?)

 

[stevegmu]

This is going to be controversial, but hey.

My position is that the pesticides used in cotton production probably leave residue in the product.

Using 'organic' cotton doesn't protect you against that, because 'organic' production methods still use pesticides - sometimes more dangerous than the synthetic ones they avoid, because they aren't 'natural' for a more or less arbitrary definition of 'natural'.

Boiling stuff isn't necessarily going to help. But it won't do any harm, and in the absence of data telling you you're safe, it's prudent anyway. It isn't like it takes that long (you can boil 6 months worth in an hour. Are you that busy..?)

Not just the vast amounts of pesticides used to grow cotton and defoliants used before picking cotton; but if it is sterile, surely it is safe There's also the fact that most cotton balls are made from gin trash, but if it isn't smoking, it must be safe...

 

[flybykite]

I boil the cotton because there is a light perfume used in the production. I can taste that stuff for at least half a tank if I didnt boil it first. Anyway, boil a bag of cotton balls and you're good for life. I just wash my hands before re wicking so I dont muck it up.

 

[Moodyfisherman]

This is going to be controversial, but hey.

My position is that the pesticides used in cotton production probably leave residue in the product.

Using 'organic' cotton doesn't protect you against that, because 'organic' production methods still use pesticides - sometimes more dangerous than the synthetic ones they avoid, because they aren't 'natural' for a more or less arbitrary definition of 'natural'.

Boiling stuff isn't necessarily going to help. But it won't do any harm, and in the absence of data telling you you're safe, it's prudent anyway. It isn't like it takes that long (you can boil 6 months' worth in an hour. Are you that busy..?)

I don't think it's controversial........but interesting.

I boiled a sandwich baggie of "pure rolled cotton" with distilled water, rinsed with said distilled water. Mentally I feel better about using it now, but it Jacked up all the fibers so it is hard to get parallel strands pulled off for wicking

So if there was pesticides in this box of rolled cotton nothing was "removed" in this cleaning process? Could it be "toxic" to any degree out of the box
to worry about?

Hope some chemical engineers are vapors and an EFC user to see what they think?

 

[generic mutant]

Google "organic pesticide" if you're curious.

Anyone that thinks that organic products don't have "chemicals" in has a failure-to-understand-how-the-world-works problem. The funny thing is normally I think they allow exactly the same "chemicals" in certain circumstances - it's just you have to test below a certain percentage before you can be certified "organic"

Not that the synthetic ones are necessarily better But I'd hazard a guess that boiling it three times isn't going to make it worse. You want to just hope that stuff doesn't make a difference to your brain in thirty years? Cool beans. I'll spend literally something like one hour every six months boiling cotton, wondering at how boring the world can be while you boil cotton, staring at the ceiling. Will it help? God knows, but screw it, I'll do it anyway - it's *very* unlikely to make it worse.

 

[stevegmu]

I'm going with non dyed, hand spun Alpaca Mohair yarn.

 

[Rickb119]

I'm going with non dyed, hand spun Alpaca Mohair yarn.

Yea, but do you know what them critters have been eating?

 

[stevegmu]

Yea, but do you know what them critters have been eating?

Hay and grass.

 

[generic mutant]

I'm going with non dyed, hand spun Alpaca Mohair yarn.

I presume you're joking.

But it might be helpful if somewhere there was a sticky link to stuff that was reasonably assumed to be 'unadulterated'.

I didn't have much of a clue, and had to order it online. I got organic, on the assumption that will have less residue in. It doesn't state it's not bleached.

(I **massively** echo the request for any chemists or industrialists to chime in here: if you know what you're talking about, we're just guessing, and rolling the dice with our health)

 

[Ryedan]

Hay and grass.

And what goes on the hay and grass ... fertilizers and pesticides

I have no idea really, never grew any grass other than in the yard, but it wouldn't surprise me.

 

[stevegmu]

I presume you're joking.

But it might be helpful if somewhere there was a sticky link to stuff that was reasonably assumed to be 'unadulterated'.

I didn't have much of a clue, and had to order it online. I got organic, on the assumption that will have less residue in. It doesn't state it's not bleached.

(I **massively** echo the request for any chemists or industrialists to chime in here: if you know what you're talking about, we're just guessing, and rolling the dice with our health)

Yes, but the thought actually crossed my mind today when we drove past a free range Alpaca farm earlier in the day. Certified organic meets certain standards, even if minimum, that make me feel better. Am I wasting money only buying certified organic food? Maybe. Makes me feel better, though, and I'd rather support the small farmer who is doing it right, than the corporate farm who is more worried about the bottom line.

I started investigating cotton a year ago when a friend had a baby who developed respiratory problems. Read a lot about how cotton is grown and processed. Seems cotton baby wear made in a certain country may be harmful to developing lungs and even older people. The baby wear was replaced with organic baby wear made in the US and the respiratory issues subsided. Coincidence? Who knows. I know I wouldn't want to use a cotton ball wick, though, that has been through the traditional methods of growing, picking and processing.

You won't get much helpful info on this forum concerning the dangers of cotton. If it is not as bad as smoking, it must be safe is the consensus. I didn't quit smoking to inhale pesticides and defoliants, which is why I have concerns about cotton wicks.

 

[stevegmu]

And what goes on the hay and grass ... fertilizers and pesticides

I have no idea really, never grew any grass other than in the yard, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Not from the looks of the free range Alpaca farm I saw today. Grass and hay have no problem growing where I live and weeds are treats to Alpacas.