Quick question on wicking material.

[JCIMX]

Hi. I was looking for some cotton in a drawer and found a this exact type of gauze Cardinal Health:SOF-WICK™ Sponges made a wick for my vivi nova and is working great.

My question is if the material is safe or not. I've searched the forum but have not found a definite answer.
Thanks,
JC.

This is a picture of the material.

 

[Renzuli]

Don't know , but because they are sterile , they might have been treated with some sort of chemical . At the very least , I would boil them for ten or 15 minutes , then let them dry out . But don't know if I would even trust them then . Good Luck .

 

[CloudZ]

If it is just a sterile cotton gauze, its good to go right out of the package.

If its some "mystery material" I wouldn't trust it.

0_0 *** Sent from my Droid Incredible 4G LTE *** 0_0

 

[fabricator4]

Hi. I was looking for some cotton in a drawer and found a this exact type of gauze Cardinal Health:SOF-WICK™ Sponges made a wick for my vivi nova and is working great.

My question is if the material is safe or not. I've searched the forum but have not found a definite answer.
Thanks,
JC.

The main problem is that you don't know what the material is actually made of since they don't state what it is. My main concern is that it's a synthetic that may break down with extreme heat or acids in the the juice and produce toxic fumes. If it's a natural fibre this is less likely, but could still burn (It might just be cotton).

Most dressings are sterilised with radiation these days, no chemicals involved, but I still wouldn't use it without knowing exactly what the material is.

Silica wire is pretty cheap and works, and is known to be safe: concerns about "silicosis" are completely unfounded since that is caused by a physically different product.

 

[Oktyabr]

Sounds like it is a type of rayon fabric. I don't think I'd be vaping with it!

Johnson & Johnson 2391 Sof-Wick Fenestrated Drain & IV Sponge - 4" x 4", 6-ply, 2/pack, Box 25

 

[steved5600]

If it is 100% cotton ok but it will burn IME. I have some for back up if I run out but I use silica or SS mesh when ever possible. No burnt cotton to mess up the taste. IMO.

 

[Kursha]

who is going to put nice clean DRY cotton in and NOT have it wet with juice..... I have been using just regular cotton in my clearomizers...iClear30's and protanks and have yet to ever have one dry up to the point where it could in anyway catch on fire...I understand to be wary of things that burn but if it is wet ( will always be wet even with no juice in tank ) it will not burn up like a silica wick does and fall apart.

New wicks I use for about 2 weeks after that it all goes cotton...

 

[JCIMX]

Sounds like it is a type of rayon fabric. I don't think I'd be vaping with it!

Johnson & Johnson 2391 Sof-Wick Fenestrated Drain & IV Sponge - 4" x 4", 6-ply, 2/pack, Box 25

I've been trying to look up more info on why rayon wouldn't be safe within the e-cig context but can't find anything.
Would you care to point me in the right direction?

 

[JCIMX]

who is going to put nice clean DRY cotton in and NOT have it wet with juice..... I have been using just regular cotton in my clearomizers...iClear30's and protanks and have yet to ever have one dry up to the point where it could in anyway catch on fire...I understand to be wary of things that burn but if it is wet ( will always be wet even with no juice in tank ) it will not burn up like a silica wick does and fall apart.

New wicks I use for about 2 weeks after that it all goes cotton...

I also have the habit of keeping enough liquid in there to avoid this exact thing.
I haven't had a dry hit in the four hours I've been vaping with this, it has been wicking extremely well, no funny taste at all.

 

[JCIMX]

The main problem is that you don't know what the material is actually made of since they don't state what it is. My main concern is that it's a synthetic that may break down with extreme heat or acids in the the juice and produce toxic fumes. If it's a natural fibre this is less likely, but could still burn (It might just be cotton).

Most dressings are sterilised with radiation these days, no chemicals involved, but I still wouldn't use it without knowing exactly what the material is.

Silica wire is pretty cheap and works, and is known to be safe: concerns about "silicosis" are completely unfounded since that is caused by a physically different product.

It is sterilized and seems to be rayon according to the link provided by Oktyabr.

The thing is there is not much choices for supplies where I'm from, I couldn't find kanthatl unless I was ready to buy by the kilo and had to buy nichrome instead.

 

[JCIMX]

Thanks everyone for your quick replies.
Looking forward for more inpunt on this topic.

JC

 

[JCIMX]

Well I just found the post below and burnt a square inch of this material and it turned to ash, don't know how reliable that is as proof.

MikeE3

A simple test of yarn, cotton balls or gauze is to burn it. It should turn into fine grey ash, dare I say it, like tobacco ash. If there's synthetics in it, it will melt and clump up like burning nylon string.

 

[fabricator4]

Well I just found the post below and burnt a square inch of this material and it turned to ash, don't know how reliable that is as proof.

Fairly reliable, actually. Most types of plastic like rayon and nylon will burn with a smelly hot flame and leave hard deposits and/or tar like condensates. Toxic.

 

[JCIMX]

Fairly reliable, actually. Most types of plastic like rayon and nylon will burn with a smelly hot flame and leave hard deposits and/or tar like condensates. Toxic.

Damn. Not what I wanted to hear, it wicks beautifully. Thank you for clearing this up, back to cotton for the moment.

JC

 

[fabricator4]

Damn. Not what I wanted to hear, it wicks beautifully. Thank you for clearing this up, back to cotton for the moment.

JC

? I thought you said it just burns to ash. Ash is fine. If it's plastic, you will know.

 

[JCIMX]

? I thought you said it just burns to ash. Ash is fine. If it's plastic, you will know.

It is rayon, according to some website. When I burned it, I dropped it on a tile floor and while it did turn into a fine ash and smelled like just burning paper, I noticed a kind of wetness underneath it, cleaned it with a tissue and it was a yellowish residue. The weird thing is that I then rolled a ball of cotton and burned as well and it also left some sort of wetness, maybe it was some sort of condensation and the floor was dirty.

 

[heateris]

100% pure cotton balls make great wicking material.

 

[CloudZ]

I just want to add that sterile cotton gauze works perfectly fine as wick material. As previously stated, so do cotton balls (or cotton "rounds", depending on what they are called in your region). I personally use 100% cotton yarn for my wicks, but I boil it first since it isn't sterile. Its just super easy to work with.

If you can order on eBay, small quantities of whatever you need should be available to ship to you.

 

[woden57]

Rayon is wood fiber, not plastic. It should be fine.
I haven't thought of it before but it should wick extremely well. I will try it.