Any cotton balls or rolled cotton will do. For me sterile cotton has the least taste. But then I hate the initial (first 7/8 toots) taste of the cotton. Thus, I boil it - at least 3 times. Crafty mentioned somewhere that he got some cotton, which imparted no taste, but I've forgotten the name. Hopefully he will come to the rescue.
To be totally honest I nowadays use mostly silica as you do not need to change wicks so often - just dry burn and you're good to go. I pull the silica through the micro using dental floss. Using 1mm silica and pull through doubled - thus ending up with a 2mm wick. If your silica is thicker, just unthread the silica and pull 2 threads through doubled. Like in the pictures below. Here I still used Kanthal wire to pull it through, but have found dental floss works much better, does not cut the silica. Stabilise the coil with your hand as you pull through.
To be totally honest I nowadays use mostly silica as you do not need to change wicks so often - just dry burn and you're good to go. I pull the silica through the micro using dental floss. Using 1mm silica and pull through doubled - thus ending up with a 2mm wick. If your silica is thicker, just unthread the silica and pull 2 threads through doubled. Like in the pictures below. Here I still used Kanthal wire to pull it through, but have found dental floss works much better, does not cut the silica. Stabilise the coil with your hand as you pull through.
