Too Much Cotton? Too Little Cotton?

[Matty Vapes]

So as some of you might know I recently got my first RDA. I was wicking it with the cotton that came with my Coil Master DIY v3 Kit..Good stuff. I was getting crazy flavor. Than I chatted with a guy online about Cotton Bacon. (I got some of that too and thought I'd try'er out today) Anyway he said not too tight or too loose or they would "collapse" but they should be snug. Turns out my first week using my RDA the were probably too loose. They sometimes looked a lil pathetic but man I was getting INSANE FLAVOR..Now I'm using CB and it's a snug fit and I feel I wicked it "proper" but I'm not getting the same flavour and it actually vapes different. Not worse just different..I guess I'm wondering..Is there a wrong or right way to go about wicking your cotton?!? is there different methods for different results? Newb stuff I know but that's where I'm at lol

 

[Khassy]

You don't want it too snug, as the cotton expands when it gets wet.

 

[JuicyLucy]

So as some of you might know I recently got my first RDA. I was wicking it with the cotton that came with my Coil Master DIY v3 Kit..Good stuff. I was getting crazy flavor. Than I chatted with a guy online about Cotton Bacon. (I got some of that too and thought I'd try'er out today) Anyway he said not too tight or too loose or they would "collapse" but they should be snug. Turns out my first week using my RDA the were probably too loose. They sometimes looked a lil pathetic but man I was getting INSANE FLAVOR..Now I'm using CB and it's a snug fit and I feel I wicked it "proper" but I'm not getting the same flavour and it actually vapes different. Not worse just different..I guess I'm wondering..Is there a wrong or right way to go about wicking your cotton?!? is there different methods for different results? Newb stuff I know but that's where I'm at lol

Wicking material is a lot like juice - subjective to the vaper

The only thing that is universal with cotton (or cellulose, etc) is making sure it is put in correctly so it wicks and vaporizes properly

You will find as many opinions on the "best" wicking material as you will find vapers, lol

PS I love Cotton Bacon the best myself, but that is no guarantee you will like it best

 

[gakudzu]

I'm a fan of Cotton Bacon, too. I tend to wick just a tad on the loose side, as it seems to swell a bit when it gets saturated. The few times I've used organic cotton strips or pads that were included with attys, I ended up stuffing the coils a lil tighter, as it seemed to shrink when wet, instead of expanding.

As for the taste, I can't tell a huge difference between OC and CB. Some folks swear by one, and shun the other. Me, I prefer the CB mainly because it's what I've used most, and it's consistent. I find some of those OC pads don't always peel the same. Some even had an extra outer layer in the middle. Granted, I wasn't using the "Gold" or "Super Premium Platinum" stuff though. I'm sure that would make a YUGE difference lol.

 

[JuicyLucy]

I really like Native Wicks Platinum also - but - it takes longer to "break in" and the taste goes off on it faster than CB

One night a week I break my mods down, dry burn the coils on the atties, and rewick

Native Wicks starts to go off a little at about day five

I'm a super-taster (sadly, I taste everything ) and CB has the least taste of everything I've tried, which is not everything out there

Cellulose is 100% out for me, tastes awful, though many vapers swear by it

I've tried out quite a few OG and they take too long to break in and also leave more of an aftertaste than CB

 

[HondaDavidson]

As said above... if you like the results and it's not leaking... you got the wicking right....... if not you got it wrong....

My favorite wick for flavor is silica followed by SS mesh.. but they don't work in all my atties... I have settled on plain old drug store cotton balls.... yeah the fancy vaping cotton is a little easier to learn with..... but i can't tell the difference once I hit the fire button. Besides $2 for 200 balls... I've used less than 10 so far this year wicking every other day.

Here's how to perfectly wick every build..... peal off a strip of cotton... I'd say about 4 or 5 times bigger than coil...... lightly stretch and straighten wick. Twist one end insert and pull through coil. Slide wick back and forth a bit.. make sure it not too tight. If it is pull out peal a bit off reinsert.

From this point your on your own as the rest varies from wet and vape to You name it.
.

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[helmet648]

for the price, you can't beat white cloud cotton balls.

 

[Khassy]

For me, there was a bigger difference in how I used the cotton than what kind of cotton it is. I use both the organic cotton pads and Cotton Bacon, but since I started doing the Scottish Roll, I've gotten much better flavor and longer use from both types.

 

[GKG2017]

I get great results using Cotton Bacon V2 in my RDA's. In my RBA's,RTA's,RDTA's I get good results with Cotton Bacon V2 the same as using OC from Whole Foods. I just ordered some 100% Rayon so going to try that out.

When I wick my RDA, I try to get it snug not too tight. Able to pull the wicks back and forth with a little resistance. Fluff up the ends and gently tucking them in the juice well. Making sure the ends of the wick touch the bottom of the juice well. The key is leaving a vacant spot right under the coils as not to trap the air flow. Primarily I use the RDA the most. Dual Coil Build running 40w Using 20pg/80vg juice. The most I ever get out of the wicks is 2 days. Right about the 48 hours point the taste starts getting a little funky. Sometimes even sooner like a day and a half.

Yesterday I switched to T/C mode so I might get different results, will see.

 

[Matty Vapes]

Thanks for the input ninjaz!!! I gotta say since switching over to cotton bacon I haven't had a leak yet!! and my RDA has bottom airflow. I'm loving my setup

 

[helmet648]

you should do a blind vape-test of cottonbacon vs some cottonballs. see if you can tell a difference. i personally could not, which works for me because a bag of 400 of them is like $3.75. a bag of 40 is only $0.99

also 1 cottonball is usually enough to do two 4mm id coils

 

[Matty Vapes]

you should do a blind vape-test of cottonbacon vs some cottonballs. see if you can tell a difference. i personally could not, which works for me because a bag of 400 of them is like $3.75. a bag of 40 is only $0.99

also 1 cottonball is usually enough to do two 4mm id coils

I love cheap but I also love quality and I bought enough Cotton Bacon to last me awhile. It's what $7.50 CAD..i can spare that lol I know where your coming from tho..I may take the test one day

 

[krypto909]

Cotton Bacon V2 is the best wicking material I've used so far. I've used Kendo Gold and the flavor is not even close to CBV2. From what I've read Rayon is the best for flavor but you gotta wick it completely different from cotton. I've tried Rayon once and it tasted horrible but from what I know now I wicked it waaaaaaaay wrong. I'll give it another try though in a few days.

 

[AndriaD]

I'm a super-taster (sadly, I taste everything ) and CB has the least taste of everything I've tried, which is not everything out there

Cellulose is 100% out for me, tastes awful, though many vapers swear by it

I've tried out quite a few OG and they take too long to break in and also leave more of an aftertaste than CB

By cellulose, do you mean rayon? If so, I agree; tastes vile! And I'm really NOT a super-taster, not by any stretch of the imagination, but I wonder if there is such a thing as a "super smeller"? I would definitely qualify for that! Since taste is about 85% scent, I wonder if that makes me some odd type of super-taster. All my life, even when I smoked, I would be able to smell things that other people would swear I was hallucinating, but I was always proved right -- and since I quit smoking, that ability is flat off the chart.

I've tried several types of organic cotton; organic cotton balls weren't bad, but when I found Shiseido cotton, I fell in love -- I like it much better than KGD, because it's pure white, not "ecru", has no black spots, and it breaks in MUCH faster than KGD. Haven't tried CB, since I love Shiseido so much, and still have a buttload of it. Got a buttload of rayon too, which was PIFed to me, but I can't abide it. A dry hit from rayon makes a dry hit from cotton seem downright tasty!

Andria

 

[JuicyLucy]

By cellulose, do you mean rayon? If so, I agree; tastes vile! And I'm really NOT a super-taster, not by any stretch of the imagination, but I wonder if there is such a thing as a "super smeller"? I would definitely qualify for that! Since taste is about 85% scent, I wonder if that makes me some odd type of super-taster. All my life, even when I smoked, I would be able to smell things that other people would swear I was hallucinating, but I was always proved right -- and since I quit smoking, that ability is flat off the chart.

I've tried several types of organic cotton; organic cotton balls weren't bad, but when I found Shiseido cotton, I fell in love -- I like it much better than KGD, because it's pure white, not "ecru", has no black spots, and it breaks in MUCH faster than KGD. Haven't tried CB, since I love Shiseido so much, and still have a buttload of it. Got a buttload of rayon too, which was PIFed to me, but I can't abide it. A dry hit from rayon makes a dry hit from cotton seem downright tasty!

Andria

Oh yeah

 

[Train]

I also like shiseido, but then I tried pricey "VCC" (Vapers Choice Cotton). I mean, even at "pricey" it's maybe $20 a year? Not gonna worry about it. It takes a minute longer than japanese cotton to initially wick, but then I find it runs longer before I need to re-wick.
And I LOVE the "fresh" taste of fresh cotton - but hated using a couple other wicks that supposedly would be more of a pure taste. Never did try rayon...

 

[krypto909]

I also like shiseido, but then I tried pricey "VCC" (Vapers Choice Cotton). I mean, even at "pricey" it's maybe $20 a year? Not gonna worry about it. It takes a minute longer than japanese cotton to initially wick, but then I find it runs longer before I need to re-wick.
And I LOVE the "fresh" taste of fresh cotton - but hated using a couple other wicks that supposedly would be more of a pure taste. Never did try rayon...

I've heard that VCC has a slight taste to it. Have you experienced that at all with it?

 

[Train]

No - to me, it's very similar to Shiseido or KGD, just a different "texture" - as it kind of has a direction to it.
But I think wick "taste" is TOTALLY going to be unique to each person...and you just try stuff til you're happy and stop. lol.

I've heard that VCC has a slight taste to it. Have you experienced that at all with it?

 

[Deucesjack]

I love the VCC Cotton. No funny taste for me. I did a full review of VCC and Native Wicks here.

Native Wicks
http://vapingunderground.com/index.php?threads/331829/

VCC Cotton
http://vapingunderground.com/index.php?threads/333268/



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[MaxPerilous]

I use cotton bacon v2. I have limited experience with rebuildables and haven't used any other wicking material. I saw somewhere that if you wick with a little more cotton it will cut down on the "popping". So today when I rewicked (literally the 4th time ever lol) I used just about as much cotton as I could without messing up my coils while pulling it through.

It did noticeably cut down on the popping. I no longer have little sprinkles of liquid hot magma splattering on the back of my throat. BUT I also noticed that it muted the flavor of my vape a little bit. Now this might be because the cotton is still fresh, so I'll have to comment later if for sure it's muted or not.

 

[Matty Vapes]

I use cotton bacon v2. I have limited experience with rebuildables and haven't used any other wicking material. I saw somewhere that if you wick with a little more cotton it will cut down on the "popping". So today when I rewicked (literally the 4th time ever lol) I used just about as much cotton as I could without messing up my coils while pulling it through.

It did noticeably cut down on the popping. I no longer have little sprinkles of liquid hot magma splattering on the back of my throat. BUT I also noticed that it muted the flavor of my vape a little bit. Now this might be because the cotton is still fresh, so I'll have to comment later if for sure it's muted or not.

I also am new to RDA's and I now I know why peeps give a bit of an exhale before inhaling lol I always wondered why people blew into their device before inhaling I believe it's to solve that problem of flying hot juice!!! Seems legit and works for me Also since wicking proper with Cotton Bacon my flavor was also muted a bit but I believe it's vaping the way it's supposed to now .

 

[MaxPerilous]

I might have to wick looser next time, like I was before, and try your method of blowing in for a sec before taking a toot. With looser wicking, I was def getting more flavor initially than I am now. Cloud potential hasn't changed much. The other thing to consider is maybe I have been over dripping and that's been causing my "popping"?

 

[voicenyerhed]

I'm quite new to wicking & have now tried the cotton that came with my 2 RDTAs, cotton bacon, & now have invested in some InnoVaper Organic Cotton. Since switching to the OC I have only wicked once, which was almost 2 weeks ago. One pad was enough to wick both my coils on my set up & have enough left over to wick another coil. The flavor is still really good & have yet to get any hint of a burnt wick. Could be a fluke, but so far in quite happy with this stuff!

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[Matty Vapes]

I might have to wick looser next time, like I was before, and try your method of blowing in for a sec before taking a toot. With looser wicking, I was def getting more flavor initially than I am now. Cloud potential hasn't changed much. The other thing to consider is maybe I have been over dripping and that's been causing my "popping"?

a little popping is not bad to my knowledge. If your getting big ass pops I don't know what the cause is maybe too much wattage? I honestly don't know. From my experience looser wick have much more flavor but I also think you risk your rda getting too hot for comfort. Since using a nice but not overly snug fit I found my rda to not get as hot and just perform better all round. The loss of flavor is not to the point where I feel it sucks. It's still a flavor machine

 

[voicenyerhed]

a little popping is not bad to my knowledge. If your getting big ass pops I don't know what the cause is maybe too much wattage? I honestly don't know. From my experience looser wick have much more flavor but I also think you risk your rda getting too hot for comfort. Since using a nice but not overly snug fit I found my rda to not get as hot and just perform better all round. The loss of flavor is not to the point where I feel it sucks. It's still a flavor machine

Also, I have learned to train my cotton a bit more reduces the popping. Wet burn your wick a little more & lightly push down any areas where you see the popping coming from. I didn't like this idea at first, as I thought I would be wasting good hits from my new wick but it has proven worth it for me.

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[voicenyerhed]

One thing I might mention, too, is that I vape at lower wattage than some. My usual wattage is between 40 & 60 watts.

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[Matty Vapes]

yup for the basic builds I'm doing with 24gauge kanthal I find myself vaping 50-60 watts.

 

[David Wolf]

I really like Native Wicks Platinum also - but - it takes longer to "break in" and the taste goes off on it faster than CB

One night a week I break my mods down, dry burn the coils on the atties, and rewick

Native Wicks starts to go off a little at about day five

I'm a super-taster (sadly, I taste everything ) and CB has the least taste of everything I've tried, which is not everything out there

Cellulose is 100% out for me, tastes awful, though many vapers swear by it

I've tried out quite a few OG and they take too long to break in and also leave more of an aftertaste than CB

I'm the same way, I even taste the metal in metal drip tips so I use Acrylic drip tips. Cotton Bacon V2 has no odd taste like some Organic cotton does until it's broken in, and it's much easier for me to work with than cotton sheets. I've been using that little bag for a year probably and hardly put a dent in it!
And rayon/cellulose yuk! I've tried it twice and it has a nasty taste to me. The only thing I can figure is some flavors must mask that for some folks

 

[MaxPerilous]

I'm the same way, I even taste the metal in metal drip tips so I use Acrylic drip tips. Cotton Bacon V2 has no odd taste like some Organic cotton does until it's broken in, and it's much easier for me to work with than cotton sheets. I've been using that little bag for a year probably and hardly put a dent in it!
And rayon/cellulose yuk! I've tried it twice and it has a nasty taste to me. The only thing I can figure is some flavors must mask that for some folks

Or some of us have smoked for so long that it killed our taste buds. I've been stinkie free almost a month this time and am just barely tasting/smelling things again.

 

[David Wolf]

Or some of us have smoked for so long that it killed our taste buds. I've been stinkie free almost a month this time and am just barely tasting/smelling things again.

Congrats on the one month, keep it going pal!

 

[GKG2017]

The popping effect. From my experience I'm thinking it could be the juice. Or bad juice. Usually I re-wick and change the juice and it goes away. The juice get's put aside, forget about it...

 

[AndriaD]

Or some of us have smoked for so long that it killed our taste buds. I've been stinkie free almost a month this time and am just barely tasting/smelling things again.

It took me 2 yrs to start bringing my strawberry & cream down from 31.5% flavoring. It's still about 27%. But some tastes, I can't tolerate anymore, though I didn't mind them at first -- like anything "redhot", anything that uses cinnemaldehyde instead of real cinnamon flavoring -- it tastes like burnt metal to me. And the smell of acetyl pyrazine slaps me in the face HARD in any flavor that contains it, even in trace amounts. Yet chocolate proved very elusive, till I found Molinberry's Glamour Chocolate.

Andria

 

[Mr RELENTLESS]

I only use cotton bacon v2 also. I use it in my OBS Engine Nanos. I only vape SS316L exotic Coils so I have wrap my wires sometimes 3.5-4mm ID 6-7 wraps so that's a lot of cotton needed to fill the coil. My trick is I stuff the cotton down into the two wicking holes, of course the cotton is snug in the coil, then take some pointy curved metal tweezers and comb down into the wicking hole quite a few times loosening up and fluffing up the cotton. I've experimented and wicked these size Coils with same amount of cotton and DID NOT comb/fluff the wicks into the wick holes to see what would happen. And what happened was it choked out my RTA. It wouldn't wick hardly at all. So I tested it. I'd have to wait a good 15-20 min between puffs for the cotton to fully wick. When I comb downward into the wick hole fluffing the jam packed cotton in the wick hole, it wicks perfectly every time I can chain vape on high wattages no problem and the cotton keeps up staying fully saturated no problem at all. It's all about fluffing out the cotton without fluffing it to the point you're losing half your wick by fluffs coming loose and off the wick making it thinner and less cotton for juice to soak into


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[Aaronmc]

For me, there was a bigger difference in how I used the cotton than what kind of cotton it is. I use both the organic cotton pads and Cotton Bacon, but since I started doing the Scottish Roll, I've gotten much better flavor and longer use from both types.

Ive seen the scottish roll before on youtube vids, and Im going to give er' a try soon. I bought some Kendo Vape Cotton, and Im not sold on just that. Time to try some other stuff..

 

[Khassy]

Ive seen the scottish roll before on youtube vids, and Im going to give er' a try soon. I bought some Kendo Vape Cotton, and Im not sold on just that. Time to try some other stuff..

It's pretty easy to do once you get the hang of it. And definitely worth trying.

 

[Lotus Insane]

I stick with Native Wicks Platinum for one reason. I tend to chain vape and dry out the cotton before I know it. At least with this stuff it doesn't torch up as quick and I can just re-wet the cotton and away I go.


To OP: Hopefully you find the cotton that best fits your needs.

 

[voicenyerhed]

Ive seen the scottish roll before on youtube vids, and Im going to give er' a try soon. I bought some Kendo Vape Cotton, and Im not sold on just that. Time to try some other stuff..

That's how I roll...

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[pjetroo]

For those who use Cotton Bacon, how many wicks do you get out of one piece of cotton?
I divided it into 4 pieces for 3mm coils and it feels about right but it's hard to tell when you're new at this...

 

[Matty Vapes]

For those who use Cotton Bacon, how many wicks do you get out of one piece of cotton?
I divided it into 4 pieces for 3mm coils and it feels about right but it's hard to tell when you're new at this...

not hundred percent sure but you don't need that much. I bought two packs of the stuff and I'll have cotton well into next year maybe even into 2019 LOL

 

[krypto909]

not hundred percent sure but you don't need that much. I bought two packs of the stuff and I'll have cotton well into next year maybe even into 2019 LOL

That's exactly right. I bought 2 packs of CBV2 From Amazon for $10 a few months ago and I haven't even gone through 1/2 of one pack yet. The stuff goes a very very long way.

 

[MaxPerilous]

4-6 with one strip of CBv2

 

[pjetroo]

4-6 with one strip of CBv2

Ok, so I'm close. I'll try 6 next time and see how that works out.

 

[Skullzz]

I have a ton of organic cotton I bought off ebay before I knew the cotton actually made a difference. Luckily, it has good flavor. I also have a drawer full of the little bags of CB that came free with the Jam Monster juice (they give you free cotton because the juice is terrible on cotton and coils lol)....I have no idea how to use it. I am sure there is a youtube video out there. I have learned a lot from this post, thanks to the OP for asking the question!

 

[Khassy]

I have a ton of organic cotton I bought off ebay before I knew the cotton actually made a difference. Luckily, it has good flavor. I also have a drawer full of the little bags of CB that came free with the Jam Monster juice (they give you free cotton because the juice is terrible on cotton and coils lol)....I have no idea how to use it. I am sure there is a youtube video out there. I have learned a lot from this post, thanks to the OP for asking the question!

Search "Scottish roll." You won't be sorry.

 

[Raymcconn]

I have a ton of organic cotton I bought off ebay before I knew the cotton actually made a difference. Luckily, it has good flavor. I also have a drawer full of the little bags of CB that came free with the Jam Monster juice (they give you free cotton because the juice is terrible on cotton and coils lol)....I have no idea how to use it. I am sure there is a youtube video out there. I have learned a lot from this post, thanks to the OP for asking the question!

As Khassy said look at the Scottish roll. I took that and adapted it so it works well for me. Been happy ever since.

 

[MaxPerilous]

I dunno. To me the Scottish Roll just takes extra time with not much different results. I just pull off a small piece from on the bacon strip twist one end so I can slide her in, and snip. Fluf'fer, stuff'er, and vape away.

Regardless of technique I wind up changing cotton every 2-3 days anyways.

 

[Aaronmc]

When using cotton bacon, I cut one strip in half and get about 6 wicks out of each half. Im wicking 3-3.5mm builds. I could probably cut the strip down to thirds and save cotton, but the stuff is so cheap I dont worry about it. I usually end up cutting a good bit off each side after wicking. Id rather be safe and have enough cotton to work with. Also, I try to not handle the center of the cotton while wicking, so a longer piece is prefered.