Prepping Cotton Wicks

[tayone415]

Organic cotton and Sterile cotton and boiling. I know some if not all organic cotton is brightened with hydrogen peroxide, some people boil it and some don't. I hear hydrogen peroxide isn't harmful and is harmful, and that boiling cotton can lead to mold and bacteria and when wet can collect things in the air.

So wanted to see how people vote and hear any more opinions.

 

[gratefulbuddy]

I really can't think of any reason to boil cotton. I guess people thought this would be good as a sort of "sterilization" - like holding a needle in a flame for splinter removal. In other words to kill those bacteria contained in the cotton that would be killed by high heat. I am no scientist but I don't hink boiling cotton is making it any cleaner unless somehow you are heating some trace chemical in the cotton to its evaporation point where it could turn into a gas and escape the boiling water. And all that seems a little unrealistic for a pot of boiling water - distilled or not. And hopefully your cotton doesn't contain too many harmful bacteria when you buy it.

PS - distilled water is water that is collected from the evaporation of water - so it should be free from all minerals and only "PURE" h20. Totally safe to drink but is not giving you the minerals that normal water will have and humans need to an extent.

 

[weinner]

Actually distilled water has trace elements in it. The only way to strip water down to 0ppm is through reverse osmosis.

 

[tobarger]

If it needs to be boiled I don't need it

 

[SonHouse]

I really can't think of any reason to boil cotton. I guess people thought this would be good as a sort of "sterilization" - like holding a needle in a flame for splinter removal. In other words to kill those bacteria contained in the cotton that would be killed by high heat. I am no scientist but I don't hink boiling cotton is making it any cleaner unless somehow you are heating some trace chemical in the cotton to its evaporation point where it could turn into a gas and escape the boiling water. And all that seems a little unrealistic for a pot of boiling water - distilled or not. And hopefully your cotton doesn't contain too many harmful bacteria when you buy it.

PS - distilled water is water that is collected from the evaporation of water - so it should be free from all minerals and only "PURE" h20. Totally safe to drink but is not giving you the minerals that normal water will have and humans need to an extent.

You boil cotton to get the taste out. Distilled water isn't as good for you as regular water since it will leach minerals from your cells via osmosis.

 

[gratefulbuddy]

The only time I have had issue with unboiled cottons taste was because I was overwicking. When I am using the appropriate amount I taste nothing of note. YMMV

As far as the chemical makeup of distilled water goes - it seems safe to say people are using that because it is widely-available and generally considered "cleaner" than ones tap-water, right?

 

[KitchenSoap]

I've had problems with my cotton tasting bad. I boiled the cotton, still no effect. I later found out that I was over wicking.

More wicking material should mean more liquid is being wicked into the coils right? Wrong.

Now I put just enough cotton to have it slide in my coil with relative ease which allows more room for juice to flow and eliminated all nasty cotton taste. Don't boil your cotton for "taste". It really doesn't matter. As far as the health effects associated with either, I'm not qualified enough to answer. Personally, I don't bother with boiling.

 

[trouble1000]

I use cotton pads, so if I did boil them, pretty sure they wouldn't be pad shaped any more. I've never pre-treated any wicking material and never had any problems with flavour so far.

 

[Btsmokincat]

I use cotton pads, so if I did boil them, pretty sure they wouldn't be pad shaped any more. I've never pre-treated any wicking material and never had any problems with flavour so far.

Hmmm Never thought of that... if I run out of sterile cotton I can just grab a Stayfree cotton pad from my lady and wick away!

 

[trouble1000]

Hmmm Never thought of that... if I run out of sterile cotton I can just grab a Stayfree cotton pad from my lady and wick away!

Being a resident of the UK I wouldn't know what a Stayfree pad is, but I've got a pretty good idea

The ones I use are pinched from the Wife though. Their a 100% cotton, unbleached, untreated make up removal pad (for sensitive skin) - basically just compressed cotton. Dead easy to work with, I just cut a 1mm or 2mm strip, give it a twist and wick away.

The Wife got a box of 300 for about $6, so I've got enough for years

 

[wheelie]

Regular cotton balls do have a taste when I was stealing them from the wife. No taste with organic cotton I bought for myself and have it hid now from the wife. LOL

 

[Jugband]

I like what Pbursado say's, "I never boiled a ciggrette before I smoked it."

 

[VaPreis]

I'm no chemist mind you, but any hydrogen peroxide I've ever seen is a liquid. So is it not safe to assume that if cotton that was processed with hydrogen peroxide is dry, that the hydrogen peroxide is now gone?

BTW, I'm in the "I don't boil any cotton ever" club.

 

[HazMatt]

I have only used organic cotton balls and I do not boil them. The only bad taste I have ever had is from over wicking leading to burned cotton taste. And that doesn't last long because, the cotton wick burns up quickly. Then you have to re-wick.


Now, I also use just enough cotton. So that it slides easily through the coil. If I have a little too much cotton, I gently slide the wick through the coil. Then, carefully pull off or straiten out any cotton that wads up next to the coil.

 

[edyle]

every month of few when I need some more cotton, I take out a ball, drop it in a cup of water, put in microwave for 222 seconds and zap.

empty the water out the cup and leave to dry.

after that it probably gathers dust from being in the open air and maybe i should leave it in a covered container .

i dunno what chemicals might have been used in the cotton but no harm in giving it a zap.

 

[BTerry]

every month of few when I need some more cotton, I take out a ball, drop it in a cup of water, put in microwave for 222 seconds and zap.

empty the water out the cup and leave to dry.

after that it probably gathers dust from being in the open air and maybe i should leave it in a covered container .

i dunno what chemicals might have been used in the cotton but no harm in giving it a zap.

I'd be more worried about mold than dust