Why did silica wicks fade away?
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Probably because they are a PITA to wick…
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What’s a “PITA”?
Excuse my ignorance.
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Pain in the um, Apple…
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Phill is right, pain in the a$$, and don’t worry, I just learned what it meant and enjoyed using it in a sentence. 
It’s funny you ask about the silica because just the other day I was going through a “vape box” and found some and decided to try and use it in s small Mouth to Lung (MTL) device and couldn’t.
I worked at it too and then looked for a video of which there were none (in English) and finally gave up. I would be interested if you know how to do it.
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Me?! Are you kidding?!
I have just managed to get the hang of cotton wicking. Any time I embark on wicking while I’m tired it almost always end in a mess!!
I want to know if anybody has experience with this kind of wick material. Plus if it’s safe enough to use.
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I think I’d stick with the cotton if I were you. Who needs the hassle?
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In my early days, 10+ years ago, switching from store-bought silica wicks to cotton was the best, most significant improvement in vape quality I experienced. Dozens of tank design since then, different coil materials, countless juice formulas, each giving micro improvements. But I remember cotton over silica was a game changer.
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Well, that’s the end of that, I guess.
Thanks for the feedback.
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I remember wrapping the rope 3 or 4 times around my 4 fingers to make a loop. Then compress the loop in the middle. Then lay a large darning needle against the middle portion, this gives you the support you need to wrap the wire around, however many times you want. Remove the needle, then trim the end loops to the length you want. Then you have several strands in a coil. Most used 28 guage, some did 29 or 30. There ya go. Wicked pretty well, not as well as cotton. But dry hits were not a thing with this stuff.
Also, you couldn’t wrap the wire too tightly, like you do around a rod. I always seemed to end up with a coil around 2 or 2.5mm diam. Kind of cool to watch the silica turn translucent when the juice hit it.
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