Hey there everyone, I have been having problems trying to find a good cotton for wicking. I have tried to use cotton pads but it seems like when i use that the cotton falls apart when i try to feed into the coil. Cotton balls don’t work well for me because i have a hard time trying to roll them out. Anyone know any good alternatives.
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Well the new trend is cotton shoelaces lol, there’s plenty of companies making them. One of the more popular ones is cottn thread, you can Google it and see what it is.
I personally don’t like it, because they remind me too much of cotton bacon/v2/prime, which is the next product people swear by.
I personally use nothing else since switching to kendo cotton gold at the beginning of this year, but it’s a bit tricky to get right. But if you do, it’s amazing in my opinion.
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Make it easy. These are awesome for 3mm ID coils.
These are perfect for anyone new to coil building and wicking. I use Muji cotton pads but have switched over to COTN because it takes 2 minutes or less to rewick with these.
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If you’re talking about the Muji type squares, they have a weak side and a strong side. If you take a full square and lightly pull at opposite sides, you will see that when pulled apart one way, the pad separates easily. But pull from the other sides, and the pad is firm and doesn’t give. Be sure to have the firm side be the way it’s cut to width and oriented so when you put it through the coil, it doesn’t shred.
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I’ve been using the Pima cotton available at eciggity for close to three years. I’ve never experience cotton separation in the middle of my build.
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With any cotton pad you cut with the fiber rather than across the fiber. I always pull off the outer layer, if you do this you can easily see which way the fibers run.
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Another thing, be sure you’re not making a blivit out of the cotton through the coil (i.e. stuffing 10 pounds of poo into a 5 pound bag). Try to jam too much in and you could easily tear it too or smoosh up the coil for that matter.
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The easiest method I have found is to make a “threader” take a 3" piece of 22g or so wire fold it in half and crimp the fold. roll the wicking material to tighten it, then slip the end of the wick between the legs of the wire to the crimp. Roll the area where it meets the wire tool. Insert the wire legs into your coil and pull it through. adjusting the amount of wicking material helps
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Those are all great remedies and I will look into them thank you very much. Another reason why I love this site
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there are a lot of videos on You Tube about the flat pads, it will be older vids but will explain different methods of use, look at many, not one will tell it all, good luck !!
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If I remember correctly you have some vision problems. Cotton pads make it hard for me to see the grain and my eyesight is decent. If you like I can send you 2-4 of the COTN Threads to try them. They will fit in a regular envelope pretty easy.
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Me too. The ‘pull test’ will sort that grain thing right out for you.
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I get the 60 * 80 Koh Jen Do pads. Fibers run the long way and my old eyes don’t have to see the grain 
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@Vaporraven I cannot stress enough what @Letitia just said. I’m not 100% sure I’m understanding about what you meant regarding the cotton falling apart, but the grain must run lengthwise to your strips of cotton if you are using cotton pads. It’s not mandatory but many of us pad / strip users cut a strip of cotton WITH the grain running lengthwise, then carefully peel off JUST the outer skin, which is a very thin outer layer on BOTH sides of the pad. Some people claim it doesn’t wick as well as the softer, inner cotton. Can you elaborate on what you mean by falling apart ??
I prefer KGD cotton, and have never had an issue with it.
https://www.amazon.com/Koh-Gen-Do-Pure-Cotton/dp/B00EMCGTAW/
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Cotton coming apart. It’s something that does happen. You wick and vape and sometime when you go to pull out the wick only half comes out and it’s very clear the center part of the wick under the coil collapsed.
You find this more commonly with contact coils.
Just google collapsed cotton, vaping and you will find some references
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The cotton pads are sometimes hard even with the pull test because after I make the strip and I am feeding the cotton in the coil it falls apart as I’m pulling it through. I have a hard time getting it just right not too thick so that it bunches up on the other side or it’s too thin and I end up replacing the wick after 3 days.
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There are dozens of wicking methods. This one I’ve used for a few years and serves me well…
The Scottish Roll
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I have to agree with @SessionDrummer and @TorturedZen and others, KGD works Great! And the Scottish Roll method was a game changer for me! Don’t know if you have ever viewed any of his videos but his experiments really help me with wicking.
I have to work to get my cotton through my coils, I pull it back and forth and don’t get in a hurry. It’s really tight. I use contact coils and at times have to hold the end of the coil as I am working the cotton into the coil. YMMV but since I have been wicking this way my vape experience has been 100% more enjoyable! I get no dry hits and spit back ever! My nemesis “Zeus” single coil RTA had me cussing trying to get it wicked but since I changed how I wick I can even get it to behave!
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Might like to read through:
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I’ll second the rayon, easier to wick with and lasts much longer
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