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Rayon & Cotton - wildly different results
submitted about 10 years ago by kirktBring on the Diacetyl, baby

I'm working on a cloning experience to share with the sub & sort of a tutorial for those interested in recreating a juice. I had been working with rayon wicks on 2 identical mod/rba setups, and thought I had the juice nailed down - at least 90-95% accurate. For the final test, I rebuilt with cotton, and the difference between the original and my clone blew me away. The original had a MUCH stronger flavor on cotton than the clone - on cotton my clone is like dust, and the original very flavorful.

Any of you more experienced guys have any idea why this would be the case?

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11 points
 
by skiddlzninjaabout 10 years agoFrugivore

Yo kirk, you're supposed to use clean rayon, not the stuff you already used to take off your eyeliner after the "Norwalk Drag Nights."

11 points
 
by kirktabout 10 years agoBring on the Diacetyl, baby

You think the mascara is throwing it off-flavors?

Guess I should listen to you since you have extensive experience. Did you ever get that issue worked out with your fake tits?

Sorry to hear they wouldn't let you back in Thailand. I guess every country has its limits.

^^^Oh ^^^yeah ^^^I ^^^went ^^^there...

3 points
 
by skiddlzninjaabout 10 years agoFrugivore

Yeah, pine sap works wonders to keep the fake tits on.

And we agreed not to talk about Thailand. Not until the investigation closes.

2 points
 
by kirktabout 10 years agoBring on the Diacetyl, baby

Love it.

6 points
 
by scarr3gabout 10 years ago

I wonder if it even has something to do with the actual juice.

There is a local shop that makes its own juice. He uses rayon exclusively in his own builds, and I have found that his juice is WAYYYY better with rayon in mine. When I use cotton, it goes flat.

Perhaps the flavours of different juices are "built" for different wicks, and no one has noticed yet. That could explain why different people think different juices are the "best": their build closely matches their favorite juice's creator's build.

1 points
 
by kirktabout 10 years agoBring on the Diacetyl, baby

Yeah, this is what I want to explore.

1 points
 
by Plumphoneabout 10 years ago

Are you going to explore mixing for the best on both? Also, are you doing this to gear up for selling? I just don't remember, and am mobile.

2 points
 
by kirktabout 10 years agoBring on the Diacetyl, baby

I'm going to start from scratch on cotton. Well, not really from scratch because I think I have the flavors correct, just proportions.

I have no plans to sell at the moment. This is to prepare a post for the sub on my cloning process, to hopefully help others and to start a discussion on the cloning process in general.

3 points
 
by SnowDrifter_about 10 years ago

I've found rayon likes to be wicked very tight. You pretty much need to cram as much in as you can without pulling and bending the coil. Give that a shot and let me know how that works for ya

2 points
 
by Plumphoneabout 10 years ago

Without having done the testing, the wicking properties stand out as the culprit, as well as the heat transferal from the coil to the wick, and how well the wick gives up the liquid to be vapriized.

2 points
 
by kirktabout 10 years agoBring on the Diacetyl, baby

In theory though - wouldn't you think the "wicking properties & heat transfer" should be similar enough in Rayon that they would produce a similar result in cotton wicks?

2 points
 
by Plumphoneabout 10 years ago

I suppose? I was trying to browse reddit before I napped.

2 points
 
by JoatMasterofNunabout 10 years ago

I don't think. Usually the Rayon is twisted lines so it's got a bit less "space" so to say than unwound cotton.

The cotton will hold way more juice in it.

2 points
 
by tranceinateabout 10 years agoMixologist

Shitty wicking/installation of rayon?

Did you pick your cotton from jack's magic bean stalk way up in the clouds or something?

IDK, man. I've always gotten much stronger flavour/more clarity of flavour/less muting/increased perception/ability to discern notes from rayon than cotton. I haven't used cotton since sometime in December because of it; not to mention rayon handling high-wattage chain-vaping more efficiently.

1 points
 
by kirktabout 10 years agoBring on the Diacetyl, baby

No, I deliberately made both coils & wicks identical. Cotton is Japanese organic, rayon is that same sally beauty stuff everyone bought 12 months ago I used the Rayon for clone development because of it's ability to dry-hit & recover, which I exploited for different iterations. I was blown away when the cotton showed such a distinct difference.

1 points
 
by tranceinateabout 10 years agoMixologist

Which wick did you roll first? Did you wash your hands before making the wicks? Oil transfer from skin can mute flavours sometimes, I've found.

2 points
 
by kirktabout 10 years agoBring on the Diacetyl, baby

I always cut off any portion of wick which I've handled, twisted, whetted, or otherwise manipulated to get it through the coil.

1 points
 
by myep0nineabout 10 years agoOne of "The Damned"

i remember trying out rayon for a couple of weeks, and end up not liking it. just tasted off compared to cotton.

1 points
 
by subarutimabout 10 years ago

I don't know if this will help, but I've found that I can wick more densely with rayon than cotton, i.e. I use more material with rayon wicks than with cotton wicks. Cotton packs together when it's moistened, while rayon expands (or so it seems). I've found the flavor with rayon to be better, and it seems to wick the juice more quickly.

6 points
 
by tranceinateabout 10 years agoMixologist

It's actually the other way around....cotton expands, whilst rayon shrinks when wet & broken in.

I find flavour & wicking action better with rayon as well.

3 points
 
by kirktabout 10 years agoBring on the Diacetyl, baby

I've found the opposite; cotton expands so you can wick looser; rayon does not so you must wick tighter.

1 points
 
by subarutimabout 10 years ago

It seems like the ends of the rayon wicks expand more, covering the juice ports on my Billow 2 better. Maybe because I use more rayon and I wasn't using enough cotton. I'm using rayon exclusively in RTAs now, and saving the cotton for my RDAs.

1 points
 
by Irishhavocabout 10 years ago

I also use rayon in my billow 2, and I've found that it wicks higher vg percentages faster than cotton, too.

1 points
 
by AnAngryHippieabout 10 years ago

Did you rewick with cotton after it confused you? Maybe those wicks were bunk? Did you rewick with rayon and try the juice again? I would try to see if either the original wicks were some how adding flavor or if the new wicks were just fucked up. I'd also maybe step away from the whole set up for a few hours and drink some water and cleanse my pallet and come back and see if it was just my taste buds. Idk

1 points
 
by kirktabout 10 years agoBring on the Diacetyl, baby

I re-wicked both RDAs each time with each iteration of the clone. I had it dialed in with rayon - they were so damn close. WIth cotton - drastic difference. I plan on going back to step 1 and doing it with cotton and seeing what the result is.

1 points
 
by jeffulyaabout 10 years ago

I was super curious about this post and hearing what you guys will have to say. I have learned that there is no consensus and that people seem to have to contradictory experiences. I haven't actually tried rayon yet as I've always been happy with cotton. Is it worth it?

4 points
 
by itekkabout 10 years ago

$10 gets you a lifetime supply, the box is bigger than my head. I don't prefer it, but for that price, its worth finding out yourself imo.

1 points
 
by jeffulyaabout 10 years ago

Good to know. Thank you.

2 points
 
by clinodevabout 10 years agoVanillinist

I love it in drippers, but usually use cotton in tanks for various reasons. It's cheap, and if you're in local groups, I assure you someone will probably give you a couple feet to try out.

1 points
 
by dgpro5000about 10 years ago

You should try the wicking method posted last week on ecr. 20 hits without dripping or something. Working awesone for me.

1 points
 
by gardvarabout 10 years ago

Dude that blows :(

1 points
 
by dingo1799about 10 years ago

I've been on rayon for 6 mos now. Tried cotton bacon a couple weeks ago and couldn't taste anything. I'll never use cotton again

1 points
 
by AWWsteveabout 10 years agoOne of "The Damned"

I don't know the reasoning behind it but I've had the same experiences between rayon and cotton. Rayon seems to gives a cleaner/crisper taste than cotton. Going from rayon to cotton, it almost like you are vaping through a filter flavor-wise.

1 points
 
by yanmar091about 10 years ago

I don't really notice a flavor difference when either are fresh but the Rayon will perform much longer and wick much better. Like cotton there are different Rayons some better than others. When I started rayon a year ago or so, I never went back . Being lazy Is part of it. Rayon is less work because of the longer life.

1 points
 
by OctaVariuM8about 10 years agoOne of "The Damned"

Did you ever end up figuring this out?

I'm going to be picking up some rayon this weekend for use in my mixing RDA's, so I'm just curious mostly.

I actually have some of the Cotton Cellucotton that they also offer (that I ordered thinking it was the rayon stuff) from Amazon that I'll try out as well.

1 points
 
by kirktabout 10 years agoBring on the Diacetyl, baby

Had a busy week... no mixing at all unfortunately. Might mess around with it tonight.

1 points
 
by OctaVariuM8about 10 years agoOne of "The Damned"

Understandable. I'll be getting in 4 RDA's over the next week or so, so I might be able to help out with the research if you'd like. Should I just load up a juice I'm familiar with in one RDA with rayon and in another with cotton?

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