Some Good Wicks

Rayon is a fiber made from chemically treated wood pulp. To make rayon, wood pulp is treated with a solvent until it dissolves. The resulting compound is then spun into fibers. When people mention using rayon wicks for sub-ohm vaping, they're mainly talking about a beauty product called Cellucotton. Since Cellucotton comes out of the box already shaped ideally for wicking, it's very convenient to cut a length from the strand and thread it through a coil. When buying the Cellucotton brand, though, note that a cotton version is also available. The cotton version is most likely bleached and not organic - so check the box before buying. Some believe that the capillary action of rayon is far superior to that of cotton. While cotton wicks work primarily by absorption, people claim that rayon does a far better job of moving e-liquid rapidly from point to point. A few people actually feel that rayon wicks e-liquid too quickly, which isn't a claim made often about any wick for sub-ohm vaping. Opinions vary as to how safe rayon wicks are for sub-ohm vaping. On one hand, vaping with rayon is basically like vaping with wood, since that's what rayon comes from. On the other hand, cellulose doesn't become rayon without a lot of chemical assistance. Some say that rayon imparts an 'off' taste when used for vaping. Others say that only happens when you use too much material to make your wick. Also, rayon burns at around 420 degrees Celsius. It's less likely to burn than cotton, but can still potentially ignite when dry. Silica and Ekowool - a trademarked product made from silica - are popular wicks for sub-ohm vaping because of their ability to resist heat. While cotton will ignite at around 400° C, silica is heat-resistant up to about 1,000° C. Some people even clean their silica wicks by dry firing them to burn away the residual gunk left by sweeteners and NET e-liquids. Since most atomizer coils never reach 1,000° C, the wick doesn't burn even when dry. Silica doesn't burn at any vaping temperature - even if you dry fire it. If you find yourself constantly replacing your cotton wicks because they get gunky and burned, silica may be exactly what you're looking for. Things aren't tasting right because of coil gunk? No problem - just burn the gunk off.