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There are at least 2 types of lung disease caused by inhaling cotton (and other organic) fibers. Google "cotton fibers in lungs" and give it a read. While your at it Google "silica fibers in lungs". The only 100% safe alternative right now is, don't vape or smoke.. But, I don't see myself quitting any time soon.
Everything that comes up when your search terms are used (copied and pasted) refer to cotton dust, as in a workplace enviroment. IMO there is a huge difference between inhaling airborne particulates all day vs vaping what equates to water vapor with the possibility of a minute trace of a moist particulate. Apples and oranges. At least according to your search results and my opposing opinion.
Air has more risk than all of it put together.
Do the math. (I'm not good at math but)
The safe limit for airborne cotton dust is 250ug/l per 8hrs up to 750
So given how much air we breath in an 8 hour time that would be 156million cotton particles per 8 hours and you would still be safe. Even if I was vaping pure cotton dust ,,, I don't vape that much.
IMO, until I see some scientific research done with the specific materials, liquids, temperatures, and all the other variables that are involved, this is all opinions. If you think about, the wicking material that the powers that be decided to use when they invented these devices, were IMO, the ones that functioned best. Just like without proper research and testing of juice and all the other aspects of vaping, its all mostly opinion. 
Agreed, all we can do is make educated guesses for now.
but a bit about cotton industrial exposure
"Byssinosis, also called "brown lung disease" or "Monday fever", is an occupational lung disease caused by exposure to cotton dust in inadequately ventilated working environments.[1] Byssinosis commonly occurs in workers who are employed in yarn and fabric manufacture industries. It is not thought that the cotton dust directly causes the disease and some believe that the causative agents are endotoxins that come from the cell walls of gram negative bacteria that grow on the cotton"
PG is damaging to microbes, I don't think a cotton wick in a PV can harbor such microbes. %100 VG on the other hand? dono.
@ kwalka et al,
you said this is all opinions. you are 100% correct. We are the Guinna pigs for this whole industry.
I am one to remember how many bad things that are in the analogs that we puffed for decades. and I believe that anything is better than them things. I refuse to turn into a worry wort after 40 years of sucking on them things. I was in my Dr.'s office twice a year with bronchitis and was listed as a COPD patient. I have been vaping for about 2 years and haven't so much as had a cold. So at this point I am just looking for a wick that tastes good.
you said this is all opinions. you are 100% correct. We are the Guinna pigs for this whole industry.
I am one to remember how many bad things that are in the analogs that we puffed for decades. and I believe that anything is better than them things. I refuse to turn into a worry wort after 40 years of sucking on them things. I was in my Dr.'s office twice a year with bronchitis and was listed as a COPD patient. I have been vaping for about 2 years and haven't so much as had a cold. So at this point I am just looking for a wick that tastes good.
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I'm inclined to say that this is not present in sterile cotton, but rather in harvested unprocessed cotton.
So for those of us that had to ride in the short bus, what does "et al" mean?
"and others" or And All, persons Involved. (and all)
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I'm enjoying the cotton wick for the consistency of the vape. Hopefully I can reproduce my first wick, 'cause I didn't ever really have as a consistent vape from silica.
Like the saying goes 'You don't know what you had until its gone'; and I'm glad that I know that silica is a thing of the past
Like the saying goes 'You don't know what you had until its gone'; and I'm glad that I know that silica is a thing of the past
I didn't even think of that until you mentioned it. i'm looking for some wood to knock on.LOL. Hack, hack, weeze green smegma and. Like a elephant standing on your chest and still trying to smoke. Tasted like dodo and it still didn't stop me.
Cotton taste good like a knock, knock E cigarette should.
Report on my cotton ball (bunny ball) wick in my bottom coil Pheonix/Ce3 XL I made last night, for those not familiar with the ce3 bottom coil. they use a vacuum in the tank combined with partial obstruction of the hole by the wick to prevent the liquid from just running past the wick and leaking, as you vape small air bubbles come past the wick into the tank breaking the vacuum in the tank therefore letting fluid out onto the wick and coil but just enough to wet the coil and no more, cotton balls have no weave or other structure to keep them together, less structure than even gauze, also my wick was oversized and as soon as the liquid hit them where the wick exits the holes into the tank pretty much exploded into a jiant spread out tufts, I think this obstructed the hole too much, restricting air from coming into the tank past the wick creating too much vacuum locking liquid in the tank, I would sometimes get the "clothes dryer" taste, I have determined this is a cotton dry hit, its very mellow compared to a silica dry hit, very strong primer puffs would get the air bubbles out and add enough fluid to the wick to get rid of the "clothes dryer" taste for a while.
Today I picked up 710 yards
(smallest i could get), of white Bernat Handicrafter Cotton yarn , it is marked as medium #4, made in Canada with cotton imported from the US, it would have been nice to get a smaller size and to get organic non bleached natural cotton but i could not find any locally, I boiled 16' of it and got the same clothes dryer/hot cotton smell while it boils, I have so far made 2 cotton wicked ce3s with this stuff and it is working well, learning from my cotton ball tuft problem I kicked the wick ends to the side as they enter the tank, this leaves access for air to come in, the first few vapes had a slight dishrag taste I have heard talked about in this thread, never got that with the cotton balls, I have learned to just take the 10 or so short non inhale puffs to get them going. after that I have no detectable flavor at all just clean e-juice, no dry hits or flooding with this wick, just clean vape,
one thing I have noticed is that the range of acceptable vape voltage is much wider on cotton than silica, with silica to little voltage no vapor, to much and nasty dry hits, with cotton too low a voltage makes weak but usable vapor too high and flavor is muted but still usable, the "weirdo" flammable cotton wick is surprisingly difficult to burn as long as it is wet, very high voltages are possible, I have gone to 9 volts on a 5 ohm coil, 16 watts!, vapor is very strong, flavor is gone but not burnt like I would expect on silica. I have a 4.5 ohm joytech atomizer that does not like to go over 7, nasty dry hit.
that same 5 ohm coil can make some vapor at 3.7v, yea its very weak vapor and its takes a long pull to get a vape but it still producing, silica cannot do that it would just be air.
I made one 2.5 ohm for my ego batts a bit weak but quite usable, I think this wick is a bit to large in diameter for the 3.4v 2.5 ohm setup, going to try for 2.0 ohms next,
Today I picked up 710 yards
(smallest i could get), of white Bernat Handicrafter Cotton yarn , it is marked as medium #4, made in Canada with cotton imported from the US, it would have been nice to get a smaller size and to get organic non bleached natural cotton but i could not find any locally, I boiled 16' of it and got the same clothes dryer/hot cotton smell while it boils, I have so far made 2 cotton wicked ce3s with this stuff and it is working well, learning from my cotton ball tuft problem I kicked the wick ends to the side as they enter the tank, this leaves access for air to come in, the first few vapes had a slight dishrag taste I have heard talked about in this thread, never got that with the cotton balls, I have learned to just take the 10 or so short non inhale puffs to get them going. after that I have no detectable flavor at all just clean e-juice, no dry hits or flooding with this wick, just clean vape, one thing I have noticed is that the range of acceptable vape voltage is much wider on cotton than silica, with silica to little voltage no vapor, to much and nasty dry hits, with cotton too low a voltage makes weak but usable vapor too high and flavor is muted but still usable, the "weirdo" flammable cotton wick is surprisingly difficult to burn as long as it is wet, very high voltages are possible, I have gone to 9 volts on a 5 ohm coil, 16 watts!, vapor is very strong, flavor is gone but not burnt like I would expect on silica. I have a 4.5 ohm joytech atomizer that does not like to go over 7, nasty dry hit.
that same 5 ohm coil can make some vapor at 3.7v, yea its very weak vapor and its takes a long pull to get a vape but it still producing, silica cannot do that it would just be air.
I made one 2.5 ohm for my ego batts a bit weak but quite usable, I think this wick is a bit to large in diameter for the 3.4v 2.5 ohm setup, going to try for 2.0 ohms next,
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I'm wondering if anyone else has seemed to have had any degree of persistent throat, lung, and/or sinus irritation from using cotton wicks. I seem to get a fairly mild inflammatory response from using any of the three types that I've tried (yarn, cheesecloth, and cotton balls.)
I mostly notice a slightly irritated throat after a bit, but it doesn't seem to get worse with continued vaping after that, which is in stark contrast to my experiences with too much PG, or any alcohol in my juice. My sinuses and lungs are a bit congested on the morning after using cotton wicks. I'm a bit puzzled by it. While I've had more than my share of problems with allergies, especially when I was young, I simply can't fathom the idea that I may be even slightly allergic to cotton.
I'm not throwing the towel in yet on cotton, because I do like the way it works. I'll continue to troubleshoot it as best I can, and I'll post back here If I figure anything out.
I mostly notice a slightly irritated throat after a bit, but it doesn't seem to get worse with continued vaping after that, which is in stark contrast to my experiences with too much PG, or any alcohol in my juice. My sinuses and lungs are a bit congested on the morning after using cotton wicks. I'm a bit puzzled by it. While I've had more than my share of problems with allergies, especially when I was young, I simply can't fathom the idea that I may be even slightly allergic to cotton.
I'm not throwing the towel in yet on cotton, because I do like the way it works. I'll continue to troubleshoot it as best I can, and I'll post back here If I figure anything out.
its not so strange my friend, and if you're sure there is a one to one correlation, you probably do have a mild hypersensitivity to cotton (not trying to throw medical jargon at you, just trying to be clear; what people usually refer to as 'allergy' is called a Type I hypersensitivity reaction)
these reactions are poorly understood, and can develop at any time. and cotton fibers are a known culprit. and if you have a history of allergies, it increases your risk by definition (more jargon, clinically we'd call this atopy)
try a different fiber for a while maybe, and see how it goes?
the other confound here is the seasonal change. it could just be allergies to 'something else' during this time of year, and the vaping irritating your mucosal linings after they have already flared up
Report on my cotton ball (bunny ball) wick in my bottom coil Pheonix/Ce3 XL I made last night, for those not familiar with the ce3 bottom coil. they use a vacuum in the tank combined with partial obstruction of the hole by the wick to prevent the liquid from just running past the wick and leaking, as you vape small air bubbles come past the wick into the tank breaking the vacuum in the tank therefore letting fluid out onto the wick and coil but just enough to wet the coil and no more, cotton balls have no weave or other structure to keep them together, less structure than even gauze, also my wick was oversized and as soon as the liquid hit them where the wick exits the holes into the tank pretty much exploded into a jiant spread out tufts, I think this obstructed the hole too much, restricting air from coming into the tank past the wick creating too much vacuum locking liquid in the tank, I would sometimes get the "clothes dryer" taste, I have determined this is a cotton dry hit, its very mellow compared to a silica dry hit, very strong primer puffs would get the air bubbles out and add enough fluid to the wick to get rid of the "clothes dryer" taste for a while.
Today I picked up 710 yards
one thing I have noticed is that the range of acceptable vape voltage is much wider on cotton than silica, with silica to little voltage no vapor, to much and nasty dry hits, with cotton too low a voltage makes weak but usable vapor too high and flavor is muted but still usable, the "weirdo" flammable cotton wick is surprisingly difficult to burn as long as it is wet, very high voltages are possible, I have gone to 9 volts on a 5 ohm coil, 16 watts!, vapor is very strong, flavor is gone but not burnt like I would expect on silica. I have a 4.5 ohm joytech atomizer that does not like to go over 7, nasty dry hit.
that same 5 ohm coil can make some vapor at 3.7v, yea its very weak vapor and its takes a long pull to get a vape but it still producing, silica cannot do that it would just be air.
I made one 2.5 ohm for my ego batts a bit weak but quite usable, I think this wick is a bit to large in diameter for the 3.4v 2.5 ohm setup, going to try for 2.0 ohms next,
Raven:
when I use cotton yarn in the phoenix, I actually pull both ends of the wick really hard before cutting flush against the center tube.
then I press down on the wick ends with a tooth pick or equivalent, and pull, press down, pull, in an effort to tamp down the wicks. reason being, as you said, second they get saturated they will explode and fill the holes, occluding juice/air exchange
another fix is to file out crescents into the metal tube. if you want a link let me know its been posted in the phoenix thread a few times
EDIT: Sorry still drowsy, just re read and see you had success with the yarn vs. the ball
Great work!
Just a quick blurry pic of the cotton roll (batton) wick in CE2 (aerial view ). Made wick on Wednesday morning, washed with warm water Wed evening; no cleaning since then. Probably around 4 mL vaped since cleaning. Still vaping down to ~1/4 full or less in the XL clearo before refilling; which I never did with the silica wicks.
). Made wick on Wednesday morning, washed with warm water Wed evening; no cleaning since then. Probably around 4 mL vaped since cleaning. Still vaping down to ~1/4 full or less in the XL clearo before refilling; which I never did with the silica wicks.
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