Yarn vs Cotton balls

[Nataani]

I am a cotton enthusiast when it comes to wicking, especially in my protanks and rda's.

I used cotton balls for a very long time, until I noticed a huge spool of cotton yarn at the back of my local vape store one day. I had heard of this before, but never really considered trying it until I built a coil at the shop and tried it out. Since then, about two weeks now, I have been using Peaches and Cream cotton yarn exclusively.

My impression after these last two weeks is that the yarn just blows cotton balls out of the water. Not only does it wick better, but it is consistent. After a lot of practice with cotton balls I can achieve a relatively consistent wick, but still, especially when trying a new internal diameter for a coil, I encounter that age old struggle to get the wick just right. With the yarn though, I never have issues, within a maximum of three tries at the wick I have it perfect.

Needless to say, I am pretty sold on the cotton yarn now. So I wanted to see what other cotton enthusiasts think about it?

Also, does anybody know which color of the yarn is the safest to use, and what treatment if any people do with it? I never boiled cotton balls, simply because I used to buy organic. I am loathe to boil a spool of yarn... so.. what do you all do?

 

[V8inDamma]

I don't boil the whole thing at once. I take a good foot or two and boil that. Then let it dry and put it in a Baggie. I love the yarn. Oh and white 100% cotton is what I get.

 

[Huckleberried]

Thanks for posting. I'm curious to read everyone's thoughts.

My first micro and cotton turned into a slinky. I did one just a few minutes ago, turned out great with a good reading. I also used sugar and cream yarn. I bought white, it's what the guy at the vape shop had. He said he doesn't boil his, so I didn't bother. I mean, I used to smoke, right? Couldn't really be that much worse, could it?

I haven't loaded mine up yet, but I'm anxious to.

 

[Jonathan Tittle]

Everything, even organic, gets boiled. Farms that were once standard, non-organic farms, still used the same pesticides and chemicals to prevent pests from invading their crops. Those pesticides can stay in the soils for years, which can eventually creep into a crop. Boiling everything ensures sterilization and in the rare event there is something in the cotton, the boiling water bath will kill it.

That being said, I prefer organic cotton over yarn. The yarn strands are simply too thin for me and while they don't burn up, they simply don't give me the same flavor profile that I get from rolling my own cotton and pulling it through. Cotton Yarn is typically one size as well, so if I build a larger coil I have to bother with folding it over and pulling a loop through or forcing my coil to be the size of the wick.

Cotton Yarn works pretty well, but I feel cotton on its own is more absorbent and in the past 8 months, I've never had a single wick burn, even at .3-.4 ohms.

 

[Ryan1888]

I have used cotton yarn in the past but prefer regular cotton. A lot less hassle free, in my opinion.
Use whatever works best for you.

 

[Zealous]

I have used cotton balls in the past but I prefer the yarn. Performance wise I like them both but with the yarn I can get the wick just the right size without having to guess so much. I've mostly been doing 1/16th micro coils & it's easy to know 3 strands fits in that coil perfectly where as I would sometimes get too much or too little with a cotton ball. That sucks when you've just set up your kayfun & filled it only to discover you got the cotton wrong lol. I also like being able to cut a bunch of them ahead of time & store them in my little rebuilding box. It's easy to just grab one when I need to rewick & throw it in my atty & carry on with vaping.

 

[bluecat]

There is a thread somewhere around here which I cannot find again. It does a pretty good job of explaining the different wicks.

The yarn I use is Wall Mart Peaches and Cream Ecru. At first I bought the white but they said it was bleached and to use the Ecru. It was open sitting on the shelf so I boiled it. After working in a loading dock through high school, I don't trust anything out in the open. Took about 10 feet (stretched out arm length) Boiled twice, draped over the basket rack in the kitchen. It dried in an hour. Put it in a baggie and use as needed.

On top coils I have issues threading the coil. I went through the wifes sewing supplies and found something similar to this.
Amazon.com: Dritz Looped Needle Threaders - 6 Count: Arts, Crafts & Sewing
Works great for me. For bottom coils and drippers I just thread with my fingers and moisten the edge.

 

[Nataani]

Thanks for the responses guys. Couple questions regarding them.

What is Ecru vs any other type? I have heard this thrown around but my google fu must be failing me, I cant find why 'ecru' is so important.

Regarding boiling. Do those who have boiled it find that damages the thread at all? Does it remain the same width before and after boiling, etc? While not so important when using cotton balls to roll your own wicks, this would be more of an important factor when relying on a standard width of yarn.

 

[montara]

I am a cotton enthusiast when it comes to wicking, especially in my protanks and RDA's.

I used cotton balls for a very long time, until I noticed a huge spool of cotton yarn at the back of my local vape store one day. I had heard of this before, but never really considered trying it until I built a coil at the shop and tried it out. Since then, about two weeks now, I have been using Peaches and Cream cotton yarn exclusively.

My impression after these last two weeks is that the yarn just blows cotton balls out of the water. Not only does it wick better, but it is consistent. After a lot of practice with cotton balls I can achieve a relatively consistent wick, but still, especially when trying a new internal diameter for a coil, I encounter that age old struggle to get the wick just right. With the yarn though, I never have issues, within a maximum of three tries at the wick I have it perfect.

Needless to say, I am pretty sold on the cotton yarn now. So I wanted to see what other cotton enthusiasts think about it?

Also, does anybody know which color of the yarn is the safest to use, and what treatment if any people do with it? I never boiled cotton balls, simply because I used to buy organic. I am loathe to boil a spool of yarn... so.. what do you all do?

BIG yarn fan here. Tried several "organic" balls and like you, consistency is key. Didn't find the SnC @ Michale's so just picked up 40,000 yards of 100% white cotton (it's all the same from here) for like $3.00 , rip off 20 yards and boil. 20 min, rinse, 20 more... hang from the rafters overnight to dry... It's the only wick I can use anymore, use it in EVERYTHING.

 

[degnr8]

I haven't tried yarn yet, but I can at least answer the ecru question. It's an off white color and is important in this context because it's the natural color of cotton, so is undyed and unbleached

 

[emus]

My cotton ball wicks wick much faster than my yarn wicks.

 

[Leothwyn]

I've only tried cotton balls so far. I'm really happy with them, but I guess I'll have to give the yarn a shot soon.

I've never boiled mine. I guess I'm not understanding the boiling thing. Is it to get rid of pesticides? (If so, wouldn't a long rinse work better, rather than having it sit in the same water that the pesticides leached out into?) Or is it that there some worry about catching some kind of disease or something?

 

[Nataani]

I haven't tried yarn yet, but I can at least answer the ecru question. It's an off white color and is important in this context because it's the natural color of cotton, so is undyed and unbleached

Aha, thank you very much.

So after much google-fu I finally came to this

Clicky

It is organic, ecru cotton yarn. They have various weights (widths) of yarn. This seems like the ultimate clean yarn for yarn lovers. Not cheap though. If anyone has found any other organic+ecru yarns, please let me know!

My cotton ball wicks wick much faster than my yarn wicks.

So far I haven't seen a noticeable difference. I will say that the yarn does take a bit of getting used to, it needs to be packed a bit tighter than cotton balls to achieve the same wicking speed. Maybe some testing is in order, though I should note that I don't use gennys.

I've never boiled mine. I guess I'm not understanding the boiling thing. Is it to get rid of pesticides? (If so, wouldn't a long rinse work better, rather than having it sit in the same water that the pesticides leached out into?) Or is it that there some worry about catching some kind of disease or something?

Many pesticides are soluble at high temperatures, others are protein based and will simply break down. If you fish the yarn out when it is still boiling you can further reduce the chance of any of bad stuff precipitating on the yarn.

 

[Portertown]

I've only tried cotton balls so far. I'm really happy with them, but I guess I'll have to give the yarn a shot soon.

I've never boiled mine. I guess I'm not understanding the boiling thing. Is it to get rid of pesticides? (If so, wouldn't a long rinse work better, rather than having it sit in the same water that the pesticides leached out into?) Or is it that there some worry about catching some kind of disease or something?

I boil whatever cotton I am going to wick with. I don't know if it is absolutely required or not. I just do it to be as safe as I can and for flavor.
I boil my cotton in DISTILLED water for twenty minutes, rinse in fresh distilled water and boil again for twenty minutes in more distilled water. I then place the cotton on a piece of stainless steel mesh which is placed over an empty pot. This lets air get to all sides to assist the drying. I will let cotton balls sit like this for a couple of days to make sure they are dry on the inside. One time I placed them in a ziplock bag before they were totally dry on the inside. Boy, they got funky for sure.
The reason I use distilled water is that tap water has chemicals from treating the water and natural minerals in it. I think the boiling in distilled water gives a little better flavor.
Just what I do, may not be required.