Can Medical Absorbent Cotton Be Used as Wicking Cotton for E-Cigarettes?

Can medical absorbent cotton be used as wicking cotton for e-cigarettes? I just got into this hobby and have started making my own coils. During the process of buying materials, I discovered an issue: wicking cotton costs about 0.5 yuan per piece, which is quite limited, as everyone understands. Given my work nature, I thought of the medical absorbent cotton we commonly use, so the next day I took some from my workplace (which is not right) and started replacing the wicking cotton and refilling. I used a tank-style DIY atomizer. It worked very well. I thought about buying a roll for myself, and after checking online, I found it was quite cheap, just over ten yuan with free shipping, so I bought a roll. Let me introduce medical absorbent cotton: degreasing cotton refers to cotton that has been chemically treated to remove fat, made from raw cotton through processes like removing impurities, degreasing, bleaching, washing, drying, and finishing. It absorbs liquids better than regular cotton, is a sanitary product, and is also used to make nitrocellulose. It is also known as medicinal cotton... I found this on Baidu. One of the sentences states that it absorbs liquids better than regular cotton.

Alright, enough chit-chat. You can weigh this yourself; if you think a few yuan is not worth saving or you don't want to increase the fun of DIY, you can skip to the next point. This is my first post as a newbie, and I don't know the rules. If there are mistakes, please point them out, and I will appreciate reasonable feedback.

Can it be used? I don't recommend it. As a beginner, I am still quite numb to the flavor aspect; some players can't taste the cotton flavor. However, after using it for a while, beginners will find that the cotton tends to break easily when threading, and it also gets dirty easily. Additionally, players will notice that the flavor differs from that of dedicated e-cigarette cotton. Moreover, degreasing cotton is not heat-resistant, has less liquid retention than dedicated e-cigarette cotton, and is prone to burning and discoloration. It is still recommended to buy organic cotton.

I haven't used a whole roll of medical absorbent cotton, but I have used medical absorbent cotton balls. A small ball, when unraveled along the direction of the curl, is just enough for a dual coil with a 3.0 diameter; for a 2.5 diameter, I personally think a small strip needs to be torn off. Before I was particular, I thought it was very useful. Later, after getting some Madman cotton and some unknown cotton pads that came with e-liquid, I compared them and found that the absorbent cotton balls have a noticeable cotton flavor, especially with lighter flavored e-liquids, where the first 5-6 puffs have an off-flavor. The wicking ability is not much different from the cotton pads, but there is a significant gap compared to Madman cotton. When using cotton pads and Madman cotton, I didn't notice any obvious off-flavors. Additionally, the cotton fibers in the cotton balls are shorter, especially after loosening the cotton, making it prone to breaking during intense draws.

It's one way to go.

I bought mine from Muji, bought too much, 30 yuan for 180 pieces, and I can use one piece for about 5-7 days, which should last me almost three years, right?

After reading your post, I couldn't help but laugh and wanted to shake hands with you. I also work in a hospital, in the surgical department, and I use a lot of cotton balls every day. Like you, I had the same thought and used sterilized cotton balls from the supply room. How should I put it? Actually, it feels okay, quite useful, with good wicking speed, but as some of the previous friends mentioned, there is a bit of a cotton flavor, especially when exhaling, it feels a bit noticeable. Also, the toughness is slightly inferior; when threading the cotton too tightly, it can easily break. It's best to change the cotton after one tank of e-liquid. Anyway, using sterile cotton balls is still very convenient. For flavor, it's best to stick with Muji cotton, and if you want big clouds, using cotton balls is also not bad. I might try gauze next time.