Pros and cons of wicking with Rayon

[scwcustoms63]

Not even sure if this is in the right place, but what are the pros and cons of wicking with Rayon? I have heard many different opinions, some stating its the best, and some stating that its not good for you. What are y'all's thoughts? I have been wicking with the organic Egyptian cotton, but it's getting on my last damn nerve. It falls apart way too easy while inserting into the coils.

 

[obijuan77]

I LOVE rayon. Don't use anything else. It's perfectly fine to use for wick material. We're not burning it! As a matter of fact, I find it easier to get a dry hit using cotton than rayon....

 

[jwill]

This is just my humble opinion on rayon.

I use it, do not hate it. It lasts and lasts and lasts, holds up to high heat and delivers flavor. It wicks like it is supposed do, is readily available and is dirt cheap. I generally prefer cotton bacon (V2 or prime) but certainly not opposed to rayon.

 

[AndriaD]

I used rayon briefly; it helped me learn how to wick, since you need a real lot of it, really stuffed into the coil, unlike cotton, which needs very little -- when I first started making my own coils, I always tended to use too much cotton, causing dry hits, so rayon helped me a lot when I was learning.

HOWEVER... if you ever get a dry hit from rayon, you will want to amputate your tongue and nose, it's so horribly ungodly FOUL. After that, I could no longer use rayon at all, all I can taste from it now is that horrible dry-hit taste.

I use Shiseido cotton; to me, it's the best organic cotton available, because it's jsut the right size for the wicks I need, and I LIKE that it does seem to be bleached -- with peroxide, not bleach -- because the pure white allows you to see easily when gunking is getting to be a problem -- it becomes brown. KGD is kinda off-white and has black specks, and that's not workable for me, with my high-gunk juice. Shiseido also has a MUCH shorter break-in than KGD.

Andria

 

[scwcustoms63]

I LOVE rayon. Don't use anything else. It's perfectly fine to use for wick material. We're not burning it! As a matter of fact, I find it easier to get a dry hit using cotton than rayon....

It does take more of it correct? It has to be tighter in the coil than cotton? This is for both you, and AndriaD

 

[AndriaD]

It does take more of it correct? It has to be tighter in the coil than cotton? This is for both you, and AndriaD

Yes, that's correct; when wet, rayon tends to shrink/compact, whereas cotton enlarges/fluffs up. I think it's because cotton is actually absorbent, and rayon isn't.

Andria

 

[Droogbc]

Love Rayon. It's all I've used for the past few years. Bought a bag of rayon beauty balls from the grocery store and never looked back.

Actually, I looked back last week and the grocery store no longer sells them. Shame. Now I'm gonna have to get a multiple lifetime supply from Sally's.

 

[obijuan77]

It does take more of it correct? It has to be tighter in the coil than cotton? This is for both you, and AndriaD

Yep, as Andrea said, it tends to compact when wet, so when you wick, you definitely need it in there tight, but not so tight that it distorts the coil. When pulling the rayon through the coil, you can actually hear it 'squeak'. It's not really a squeak, but more like the sound compacting snow makes.

When explaining the properties of rayon vs cotton, I like to think cotton acts more like a sponge, and rayon acts more like a whole bunch of straws bunched together to transport the juice to the coil, if that makes sense.

 

[scwcustoms63]

Love Rayon. It's all I've used for the past few years. Bought a bag of rayon beauty balls from the grocery store and never looked back.

Actually, I looked back last week and the grocery store no longer sells them. Shame. Now I'm gonna have to get a multiple lifetime supply from Sally's.

Sally's has 500' coils of it. A couple of those should last good while, lol

 

[obijuan77]

Sally's has 500' coils of it. A couple of those should last good while, lol

a couple?! 1 box is a lifetime supply lol. That's exactly what I bought and I've barely made a dent in it!

That's another huuuuge pro for rayon. A $15 dollar box of rayon will last you literally a lifetime, or close to it

 

[AndriaD]

Yep, as Andrea said, it tends to compact when wet, so when you wick, you definitely need it in there tight, but not so tight that it distorts the coil. When pulling the rayon through the coil, you can actually hear it 'squeak'. It's not really a squeak, but more like the sound compacting snow makes.

When explaining the properties of rayon vs cotton, I like to think cotton acts more like a sponge, and rayon acts more like a whole bunch of straws bunched together to transport the juice to the coil, if that makes sense.

Who's Andrea?

Andria

 

[obijuan77]

Who's Andrea?

Andria

LOL slip of the finger. It won't happen again Andria

 

[scwcustoms63]

a couple?! 1 box is a lifetime supply lol. That's exactly what I bought and I've barely made a dent in it!

That's another huuuuge pro for rayon. A $15 dollar box of rayon will last you literally a lifetime, or close to it

Well, some people go through cotton faster than underwear, lol! But, Yes, one box can eventually be passed down to your kids, lol! My wife picked one up for me this evening, and I just about shit when she walked through the door with it! That's a lot of damn cotton!

 

[obijuan77]

Well, some people go through cotton faster than underwear, lol! But, Yes, one box can eventually be passed down to your kids, lol! My wife picked one up for me this evening, and I just about shit when she walked through the door with it! That's a lot of damn cotton!

wait, did you get cotton or rayon?

 

[scwcustoms63]

wait, did you get cotton or rayon?

Rayon. She was already out, so I had her go by and pick some up. Sorry, calling it cotton is habit, lol

 

[obijuan77]

Rayon. She was already out, so I had her go by and pick some up. Sorry, calling it cotton is habit, lol

ah ok, well hopefully you like it, cause you have a ton now lmao. Another pro for rayon, is that you don't have to dry burn/rewick as often, depending on the juice of course, but you should notice more longevity. I only rewick once a week usually

With that huge box you can keep practicing if your not satisfied. Keep us posted!

 

[scwcustoms63]

ah ok, well hopefully you like it, cause you have a ton now lmao. Another pro for rayon, is that you don't have to dry burn/rewick as often, depending on the juice of course, but you should notice more longevity. I only rewick once a week usually

With that huge box you can keep practicing if your not satisfied. Keep us posted!

I will. Thanks for the input. I really appreciate it. Thanks to all of you for the help

 

[scwcustoms63]

ah ok, well hopefully you like it, cause you have a ton now lmao. Another pro for rayon, is that you don't have to dry burn/rewick as often, depending on the juice of course, but you should notice more longevity. I only rewick once a week usually

With that huge box you can keep practicing if your not satisfied. Keep us posted!

Well, I just re-wicked my Kayfun, and it's actually not bad. It doesn't have that sweet cotton taste that my Egyptian cotton did. In fact, It would sometimes overwhelm my juice flavor. I can't even taste the wicking now. One thing I do need to figure out though, is when I do a mouth to lung hit, I can't really taste my flavors. But, when I hit straight to lung, I can taste them. Is that a wattage/ohm/voltage issue, or is it like that for everyone?

 

[obijuan77]

I can't even taste the wicking now. One thing I do need to figure out though, is when I do a mouth to lung hit, I can't really taste my flavors. But, when I hit straight to lung, I can taste them. Is that a wattage/ohm/voltage issue, or is it like that for everyone?

well that is another pro for rayon, you shouldn't have any 'additional' flavor, but some people say they taste some nutty flavor in the beginning, but I don't get that. That might be over-wicking.

As for the MTL, I can't offer any input as I'm more DTL...but I think @AndriaD vapes MTL

Edit: It could also just be you have it a tiny bit tight & it's slightly choking the juiceflow, but if that is the case, it should be fine after a few puffs

 

[AndriaD]

well that is another pro for rayon, you shouldn't have any 'additional' flavor, but some people say they taste some nutty flavor in the beginning, but I don't get that. That might be over-wicking.

As for the MTL, I can't offer any input as I'm more DTL...but I think @AndriaD vapes MTL

Edit: It could also just be you have it a tiny bit tight & it's slightly choking the juiceflow, but if that is the case, it should be fine after a few puffs

I do vape MtL, always, but i can't deal with rayon since I got that dry hit from it. I stick with Shiseido cotton. I don't even get the cotton taste from it, except maybe 1-2 hits when I first re-wick.

Andria

 

[scwcustoms63]

well that is another pro for rayon, you shouldn't have any 'additional' flavor, but some people say they taste some nutty flavor in the beginning, but I don't get that. That might be over-wicking.

As for the MTL, I can't offer any input as I'm more DTL...but I think @AndriaD vapes MTL

Edit: It could also just be you have it a tiny bit tight & it's slightly choking the juiceflow, but if that is the case, it should be fine after a few puffs

I thought about it being too tight, but it was the same with my Egyptian cotton. I was careful about not wicking too much with this rayon. Its tighter than my cotton was, yet it still moves back and forth (with a little more effort than the cotton), and I could feel and hear what you were telling me earlier. It did sound like packed snow, lol.

 

[scwcustoms63]

I do vape MtL, always, but i can't deal with rayon since I got that dry hit from it. I stick with Shiseido cotton. I don't even get the cotton taste from it, except maybe 1-2 hits when I first re-wick.

Andria

I can kind of taste my flavors when I hit MTL, but even more so when I hit straight to lung. Maybe it's just me. IDK :/

 

[inspects]

Love rayon too...lasts twice as long as cotton, I get zero rayon flavor... unlike cotton. Oh..and it's cheap.

Have about 400 foot of Sally's left after giving many feet away.....should last the rest of my life.

 

[Syythe]

I bought a 3lb box of it from my local sallys. That's around 1200ft. Im pretty sure I bought too much, lol, but I never have to worry about running out.

I love rayon. Best wicking material i have used in my opinion. I don't pack it in the coil super tight, just a little tighter than cotton. Pure, clean flavor and I always end up needing to dry burn before the rayon wears out.

I have gotten a dry hit from it before, but I never experienced the unbelievably foul taste that others seem to get. Might just be me though, I'm an odd guy.

From my understanding, cotton wicks by pulling liquid through the center of each fiber. Over time those fibers clog up and wicking gradually gets worse and worse. With rayon it wicks liquid up around the exterior of the fibers. The fibers never gets clogged so it extends the life of the wick greatly.