Un-dyed Cotton Yarn, better/cheaper than Silica? What is a Microcoil?

[Arnie H]

I have heard you can use uncolored cotton yarn and/or cottom ball material as wicking. Anyone know any good sources, particularly on Amazon for like 3 mm yarn?

Also what is a microcoil, and how does it differ from a regularly wrapped single coil?

Thanks.

 

[bambloo!™]

I use regular 100% cotton balls, boiled, then just pinch off and roll what I need. Works great, though I'll probably pick up rolled sterile cotton from cvs next time so I don't have to boil.
I've heard "peaches'n creame"brand cotton yarn works just as well, and you can pick that up from Michaels arts and crafts or Wal-Mart. Some boil, some don't.

I do my micro coils by wrapping 28ga kanthal around a 1/16" nail really tight so all the wraps are touching(but no over lap)
Than pull it off the nail and squeeze the coil with tweezers and fire them with a torch till they flew, this keeps it coiled tightly .
I attach it to the rba, feed the cotton thru it, saturate the wick, then vape.

Individuals have their own techniques on making, and what constitutes a "micro coil"
This is merely what works best and most efficiently for me, so ymmv. Good luck and vape on

 

[Jonathan Tittle]

Cotton is wonderful! You can use cotton balls or yarn (I use cotton balls personally, the unroll easy) and from my experience, it does indeed wick better than silica. The only true downside is that you cannot dry burn it, otherwise you'll basically incinerate it and have to re-wick.

You can find cotton balls and yarn at Walmart and Walgreens. You'll have a choice of either standard pure cotton or organic; if you have the option organic is the better of the two simply because the organic label means the cotton isn't subjected to the pesticides and other chemicals that traditional cotton is. It may be a little off-white, but that's nothing to worry about.

 

[Arnie H]

Thanks for the replies. I think I am going to go for yarn, since I can get that already rolled and in various sizes. Much cheaper than silica and I've heard perhaps better for you.

 

[stevegmu]

After doing a lot of research regarding cotton, only use non-dyed organic 100% cotton. I'm still shopping around for a good RBA, but have settled on organic, raw, unprocessed cotton bolls- maybe even a cotton plant.

Cotton Bolls

Do a little research about how standard cotton is grown, processed and what is in it and you will understand why.

 

[Rickb119]

I've used the cotton yarn before and like this better. Buy 100% Natural Cotton 500-Foot L Cone Cooking Twine from Bed Bath & Beyond Be sure to boil it first several times as it is natural unbleached cotton. It's cheap enough that you could try both to see which you prefer.

 

[Nermal]

Interesting website, steve, but 1 Premium cotton boll at 8.75 is a bit overbudget.

 

[E_DeCastro]

 

[stevegmu]

Interesting website, steve, but 1 Premium cotton boll at 8.75 is a bit overbudget.

You can probably make like, what, 20 wicks out of 1 big boll?

 

[Arnie H]

Ok, I picked up some of the peaches and cream cotton yarn from Walmart. Not organic and wasn't sure which was undyed, got one in white and one that is sorta off white (ekkru or something). I am not certain, but I believe cotton in its natural state is probably not white and is probably processed by bleaching (to make it white) or dyed (to make colors). I don't think rice and wheat come out of the ground perfectly white either. This is why I prefer whole wheat and brown rice.

Also picked up a box of sterile cotton balls from CVS. I am guessing, since they are sterile, I won't have to boil them.

 

[degnr8]

I am guessing, since they are sterile, I won't have to boil them.

Exactly. That's why people get it.

 

[OlDogNewTricks]

Cotton works great, just don't let it run dry of juice... yuck. A microcoil (although there is a lot of dissension about this definition) is simply a coil that has all the coils tightly packed together, but not overlapping. A typical coil has separated individual coils. The real advantage to me is that the dreaded 'hot spots' don't happen with microcoils. Instead of heating from the outside in, as with typical seperated coils, the microcoil heats from the middle of the coil outward. Check Youtube for rip trippers, he has terrific videos on both cotton and microcoils. Good luck and have fun!

 

[E_DeCastro]

cotton is white naturally. I have seen them grown in central California.

 

[Arnie H]

I was on the phone with a representative from Peaches & Cream, regarding the yarn I had purchased at Walmart for wicking material.

I bought a white colored ball and one called Ecru, which according to wiki is as follows: "Ecru describes the shade greyish-pale yellow or a light greyish-yellowish brown. It is often used to describe such fabrics as silk and linen in their unbleached state. Ecru comes from the French word écru, which means literally 'raw' or 'unbleached'."

The representative told me that the white yarn, has been bleached using Hydrogen Peroxide, to give it a snow white appearance which she said is not its raw/original color. The Ecru she said is the closest thing to the raw/natural color of cotton they offer and is the least processed of their products. So I am giving the white yarn to my cat!

The white cotton that was referred to in the previous post, may be what is termed Naturally Colored Cotton, which according to wiki is as follows: "Naturally colored cotton is cotton that has been bred to have colors other than the yellowish off-white typical of modern commercial cotton fibers."

She also affirmed what I understood regarding the raw/unprocessed organic colors of rice, wheat, and sugar. Wheat does not come from the ground looking like Wonder Bread!

 

[bluecat]

Thanks Arnie.. your post I saw or another in a different thread and then went and bought the ecru at least I hope it was. I can't say the shelf was very organized, one reason I boiled.

My question if you boiled, do you have like "black" flecks?

this yarn is wonderful... even the white was (I did boil it too)

 

[Arnie H]

Thanks Arnie.. your post I saw or another in a different thread and then went and bought the ecru at least I hope it was. I can't say the shelf was very organized, one reason I boiled.

My question if you boiled, do you have like "black" flecks?

this yarn is wonderful... even the white was (I did boil it too)

I haven't gotten round to doing anything with it yet. I do plan to boil or sterilize it though, so I can't confirm about any "black flecks". Could be dirt or other particulate matter, or might be a natural reaction. The Ecru is off-white in color. And is weight #4 (and those who know about knitting and such know what this means). It is about the same diameter as my 3 mm silica.

One thing I don't know, is how dry it after boiling and do you boil the whole roll in a big pot or just a length at a time. I don't have a blow dryer. And if ya put in in the clothes dryer, it probably would not be sterile afterwards. Hehe.

So am gonna try these and the sterile cotton balls from CVS, and see which works best.

 

[Gary Mcroy]

After doing a lot of research regarding cotton, only use non-dyed organic 100% cotton. I'm still shopping around for a good RBA, but have settled on organic, raw, unprocessed cotton bolls- maybe even a cotton plant.

Woah that would be wicked dedication to grow your own cotton plant just for pure wicking. Im totally not that particular, but hey someone has to be the ocd vaping guy and it might as well be you, by god

 

[Ryedan]

You've already got a good description of a micro coil. If you want more info on them see this thread.