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Rayon Cellucotton Wicks


3Rutez

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A new trend is popping up, with vapers throwing out their cotton balls and replacing them with Rayon Cellucotton. I have heard that it wicks much better than cotton.

May have to pick some up from Sally's and give it a whirl.

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Just did some quick searches on Rayon, I'm not sure...

The manufacture of rayon begins with cellulose, frequently extracted from wood pulp, although any plant material with long molecular chains is suitable. The cellulose is steeped in caustic soda, which concentrates some of the cellulose into soda cellulose, which is then rolled or pressed to remove excess soda solution. After pressing, the cellulose is shredded into a substance called white crumb.

The white crumb is allowed to oxidize, forming shorter molecular chains, and treated with carbon disulfide. The soda cellulose reacts with this substance, forming yellow crumb due to inorganic compounds that emerge during the chemical process. This yellow crumb is dissolved in a caustic solution, which relaxes the hydrogen bonds in the cellulose, producing a highly viscous substance. This substance gives its name to the manufacturing process, called the viscose process.

This viscous fluid is allowed to age, breaking down the cellulose structures further to produce an even slurry, and then filtered to remove impurities. Small air pockets are forced out to ensure a strong, even fiber, and the mixture is forced through a spinner, which forms many even strands of fine thread that enter a setting solution to form cellulose filaments: also called rayon. The rayon is stretched to form a strong, even bond, washed, and then formed into rayon fabric.

This complex process results in a great deal of environmental pollution, inspiring a drive to clean up the industry. http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-rayon.htm
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This has actually become quite the debate lately. Majority are saying that they will just stick to cotton, but there is also a big percentage saying how safe this Cellucotton is, and that when cotton was first being used as wicking material that it received the same criticism and skepticism.

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I am considering giving this a try even after a few have claimed it wouldn't be safe to me in other places. Like you said above 3rutez what is new is often labeled as unsafe at first but a few people have told me it really is ok to use for vaping. It is washed free of those chemicals although I know that the same rayon used in the garment industry is highly allergic for some people and it's often associated with the chemical residues and not the fiber itself. So if I do try it I'd probably give it a good rinse and dry first in distilled water. I may even boil it and I don't even boil my organic cotton. I don't see the need it's perfectly fine as is. Peroxide evaporates and oxidizes long after the whitening process yet still people claim it's bad if you don't boil it.

I tried japanese cotton a few weeks ago and it's so easy to cut up and wick and that's where it stops. It doesn't hold juice better than regular organic and it sure tastes a lot worse. Leaves a bad taste to me.

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I am considering giving this a try even after a few have claimed it wouldn't be safe to me in other places. Like you said above 3rutez what is new is often labeled as unsafe at first but a few people have told me it really is ok to use for vaping. It is washed free of those chemicals although I know that the same rayon used in the garment industry is highly allergic for some people and it's often associated with the chemical residues and not the fiber itself. So if I do try it I'd probably give it a good rinse and dry first in distilled water. I may even boil it and I don't even boil my organic cotton. I don't see the need it's perfectly fine as is. Peroxide evaporates and oxidizes long after the whitening process yet still people claim it's bad if you don't boil it.

I tried japanese cotton a few weeks ago and it's so easy to cut up and wick and that's where it stops. It doesn't hold juice better than regular organic and it sure tastes a lot worse. Leaves a bad taste to me.

I have come to the same conclusion with the KGD Cotton. Not a fan. Although it is super easy to wick.

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The wickless coil has been around for quite a bit. There are a few people who are using quartz as wicks as well. The things vapers come up with. Truly amazing.

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Picked this up at Sally's Beauty Supply for $11 on sale this morning. 500 ft is going to last a very long time. Now I have a bag of organic cotton balls, an 80 count bag of japanese cotton squares, and 500 ft of cellucotton. Wicks for years.

2nb64g4.jpg

A little simple dual macro build with 5 wraps of 26g kanthal and the cellucotton wick. Feels synthetic even though I know technically it's not. Very easy to wick though. Easier than cotton balls not quite as easy as the japanese cotton but very simple.

1402uo.jpg

Didn't boil it or anything. It looks clean and other than feeling like pillow stuffing it's pretty much the same as organic cotton. I think it holds juice the same. It draws it to the coil a little better but I think it does that because the fibers are parallel and in line with each other like the japanese cotton. Doesn't taste bad. Might even say it brings out a little more of the flavor of the juice over cotton. Seems to wick nice and even you don't get dry around the coils while still being wet in the bottom along your juice well. I don't want to run it dry and see if it gives a nasty burnt hit or anything. Overall I'd say it's pretty good. Worth the $11 for that much and it's in a nice big box that you can pull out a few inches and cut off with some scissors and go about your wicking. Just nothing revolutionary. Probably works great from rebuildable tanks. I might give it a shot in my russian 91% next week.

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I did quite a bit of research on this Thursday (slow day at work and I worked late because my girl was there working late)

I don't feel good enough about it yet to convince others it's safe but I feel good enough after talking with some chemists to feel safe trying it for myself.

If anyone does their research and wants to try it and is in the US, PM me and I'll mail you some to try. I just bought 500 feet and will share with at least the first five.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've been running rayon for a while now in a .4 ohm parallel coil dripper and a .7 KFL and I can say that I really enjoy this material. I got mine from halcyon yarn on the internet, I ordered 3 oz for like 7 bucks. I taste just the juice, and I can taste flavors in the juice I never knew were there. It wicks wonderful and I even pushed it to dry hit a few times and it wasn't the "omg I just inhaled Death" feeling we know from sub-ohming cotton, it actually wasn't bad. It was more like a negative flavor shift than a throat burn. After a few hours of chain vaping I pulled out the wick and it was discolored under the coil but I ran it under some water and it just washed out, that tells me that even after running it dry a few times and hours of Serious vaping it was not damaged at all by the heat of the coil. I believe that is due to the unbelievable wicking ability of this material, it doesn't absorb the juice it just channels it. Conclusion: I feel better using this over cotton, it wicks better than cotton, it lasts longer than cotton, it even runs dry better than cotton. It is worth a try

Edited by VIAWOL
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I've been running rayon for a while now in a .4 ohm parallel coil dripper and a .7 KFL and I can say that I really enjoy this material. I got mine from halcyon yarn on the internet, I ordered 3 oz for like 7 bucks. I taste just the juice, and I can taste flavors in the juice I never knew were there. It wicks wonderful and I even pushed it to dry hit a few times and it wasn't the "omg I just inhaled Death" feeling we know from sub-ohming cotton, it actually wasn't bad. It was more like a negative flavor shift than a throat burn. After a few hours of chain vaping I pulled out the wick and it was discolored under the coil but I ran it under some water and it just washed out, that tells me that even after running it dry a few times and hours of Serious vaping it was not damaged at all by the heat of the coil. I believe that is due to the unbelievable wicking ability of this material, it doesn't absorb the juice it just channels it. Conclusion: I feel better using this over cotton, it wicks better than cotton, it lasts longer than cotton, it even runs dry better than cotton. It is worth a try

I agree with most of that. I still think the dry hits are nasty but I did think it might be even worse because of the material and how it feels in the hand. You almost assume it will melt and fuse together. It does seem to just wick and channel the juice to the coil instead of absorb like cotton. It's much less wasteful in that way. I don't wash and reuse but I do think it discolors less quickly than organic cotton. Taste wise I think it's very similar. Slightly different but I will notice more tastes in each one going between them so I can't say I prefer one over the other for taste. $7 for 3oz is pretty steep compared to the 500 ft box you should search for the nearest Sally's beauty supply store when you run out and get one of those big boxes. Wicks for life.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I broke down and bought some of the rayon cellucotton from Sally's. Its not bad, no break in taste. Crisp and clean taste from the start. Other then that though I haven't noticed any significant advantages over organic cotton.

Really depends on wicking style you use sometimes to notice an advantage. With U wicks or anything that needs to draw from the well up to the coil you should notice the cellucotton draws it up better. It's all single parallel fibers. Sometimes you can get that going with organic cotton balls if you unroll them and pinch off a piece right but some people just twist a piece and stuff it under without much concern and for that type of wicking you'll see the advantage of cellucotton. I still use both. I actually am using japanese cotton patches more than anything. It's just so easy to cut to size and holds juice better than regular organic or the cellucotton. Soaks up so much better and then wicks evenly. I don't get that dry area around the coil with a still soaked bottom.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've started using cellucotton and the flavor is cleaner, it does wick better and faster than cotton. Dry hits are also not as harsh when compared to cotton.

I was able to find cellucotton at my local beauty store, 500ft box for $9

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