Essential consumable for all rebuildable enthusiasts, cotton comes in different forms, each, of course, having its advantages. But before starting, it is interesting to know a little about the history of this faithful companion of vape! In the beginning, many vapers used unbleached carded cotton. The latter, untreated and offering a phenomenal absorption capacity, was originally intended for surgery. But this cotton had a drawback: very delicate handling! Using cotton with very good capillarity is already a good start, but if each assembly becomes an obstacle course, the reconstructable loses much of its appeal…
Consumers, increasingly savvy and demanding, expressed a legitimate desire: to have a simple and effective consumable. After much research and more or less convincing tests, the manufacturers were able to market cotton worthy of the name. From now on, two main categories were going to compete, each with their specificities.
THE COTTON
The first big family is that of cotton. Here our dear friend is organic and untreated. Do not be afraid to find components such as chlorine for example! Specially selected and designed for vaping, cotton offers exemplary purity and allows you to make the most of your favourite e-liquids. The big advantage of cotton is its capillarity. Its unequalled absorption capacity makes it mainly suitable for RTAs. It will ensure you a generous vape and if the dosage is correctly carried out, you will not have any leaks!
FIBERS
The second family is that of fibres. The latter can be combined with cotton, but in general, they are used in their simplest form. The latter certainly has a little less capillarity than that offered by cotton, but they do well by offering excellent heat resistance. This strong point makes the fibres the perfect ally for the assembly of drippers. Generally used with high powers, these reconstructable indeed require a very robust consumable.
The more time goes by, the smaller the differences between the cotton and the fibre. The various manufacturing processes combined with constant research make it possible to have products with spectacular renderings.
THE CONDITIONING
To choose your cotton or fibre, however, you must now look at its shape. The characteristics are almost identical but some will turn to one product rather than another by worrying about a single criterion: the shape. Indeed, cotton or fibre can be in the form of a cloud. Here, we just pull a small amount with our fingers to have the perfect dosage necessary for assembly. This manipulation, which can be risky at first, quickly becomes child’s play when you know the quantity to take.
If you like to play scissors, you may be interested in pads. In this case, the consumable is presented in the form of strips that will have to be cut. Some love it, others don’t… But anyway, if you know the width you will need to make your coil, then this format will be ideal!
Recently, a new presentation has been emulated. The manufacturers were inspired by an everyday accessory to develop a rather original shape that allows you to edit at the speed of light. Were you tired of having to squint to put your cotton in the coil? You are not the only one and those days are over!
From now on, you can indeed count on slats whose button is surrounded by plastic. Like a shoelace, cotton or fibre has one of its ends trapped in a thin layer of plastic which allows it to slide easily into your resistance. It’s smart and it’s revolutionizing our way of doing things!
The shapes change, the textures vary but the renderings are more and more similar according to the categories. So fiber or cotton, pay particular attention to the format of the product, it will make your life easier!