Silica/ekowool - What Is It Actually Made Of?

[devdev]

Saturday morning brainwave. Silica is a glass component.

Ekowool/Silica is fibre made of Silica.

Does this mean Ekowool/Silica is actually a kind of fibreglass?

If so we should be alot more careful in the handling of this stuff.

Comments?

 

[soonkia]

Umm, I like to think it's more like glass fibres than fiberglass.

But, you actually need a materials expert to answer that question

 

[devdev]

Sorry @soonkia, thats basically what I was meaning. A fibre made out of glass based material, not like traditional fibreglass in that sense.

I am just wondering if there are any safety considerations for handling.

I have been toasting my Ekowool from Vape Mob with my torch, and if I toast, cool, and retoast it actually disintegrates into little tiny fibres when you touch it. I am thinking its probably not the kind of stuff you want to get into the wrong places

 

[ET]

yes it is a kind of fibreglass, but more high tech and safe, especially proper ekowool

 

[Derick]

Yep it is glass fibers, but consider the safety considerations of fibreglass: This is for people that work with large sheets and 100's of kilos of the stuff every day of their lives.

You are going to work with 5mm of the stuff... and while it is wet, meaning no fibers can come loose.

So yeah, maybe over the lifetime of a wick you will inhale one fiber. This does not compare to someone working with fibreglass that inhales thousands/millions of fibers per hour

 

[annemarievdh]

Yep it is glass fibers, but consider the safety considerations of fibreglass: This is for people that work with large sheets and 100's of kilos of the stuff every day of their lives.

You are going to work with 5mm of the stuff... and while it is wet, meaning no fibers can come loose.

So yeah, maybe over the lifetime of a wick you will inhale one fiber. This does not compare to someone working with fibreglass that inhales thousands/millions of fibers per hour

Thank you @Derick, just another anwer if the question ever comes up.

 

[devdev]

My concern would be more dealing with it when it disintegrates. More from the point of view of skin irritation or micro splinters. Silicosis is not a concern and neither is inhaling it. Thanks guys

 

[Derick]

My concern would be more dealing with it when it disintegrates. More from the point of view of skin irritation or micro splinters. Silicosis is not a concern and neither is inhaling it. Thanks guys

In the size of wick you are working with, there is probably 5 or 10 glas fibers, so skin irritation if ever one of the glass fibers sticks in your skin, would be the same as removing a wood splinter.

Remember that when people working with fibreglass get's skin irritation, it is because they are working with large sheets of the stuff, and they get thousands of glass spinters in their skin.

You, working with a 5mm wick is not going to cause skin irritation - even if you somehow get all 5 or 10 splinters in your finger

 

[JakesSA]

If you haven't seen it yet, the ekowool website has some info as well on their specific product
Ekowool

 

[Spiri]

I agree with @Derick, I dont think there is any danger in using decent quality Silica/Ekowool. If we were to inhale any fibres, the body would expel it by means of coughing or phlegm. Our lung are made to filter out these foreign objects.
@devdev, I have also fiddled with the "Ekowool" (to me it just looks like braided silica) from Vape Mob, and I agree, it is brittle and dry after heating (hell, it even looks like powdery residue comes off when just cutting it).
When something looks dodgy, your instincts are usually right, it is dodgy. Mine went to the bin , 8m of it.
Do yourself a favour and get some authentic Ekowool from @RevnLucky7 at SΩV - you can clearly tell the difference.

 

[Zodiac]

I have purchased some Ecowool from an e-bay supplier a while back, and i can say with certainty that it did not become brittle after torching it. Even after torching it multiple times, it was still perfectly intact.

 

[Derick]

Ecowool is just a brand of silica wick. It gained popularirty because it was good quality and since then, there are plenty of "ecowool" suppliers on alibaba. So when you buy from a retailer, make sure to ask him where he got it from.

 

[RevnLucky7]

My concern would be more dealing with it when it disintegrates. More from the point of view of skin irritation or micro splinters. Silicosis is not a concern and neither is inhaling it. Thanks guys

Genuine Ekowool can be dragged through the fires of hell mate.
It will look the same when it comes out the other end, integrity intact.

Warning.

 

[Spiri]

Interesting fact: Ekowool is used as a insulator/lining in spacecraft, hence it's resilience to withstand high heat.

 

[RevnLucky7]

Interesting fact: Ekowool is used as a insulator/lining in spacecraft, hence it's resilience to withstand high heat.

LoversPlus should be looking into this.

 

[devdev]

LoversPlus should be looking into this.

Rev buddy, if you are experiencing overheating problems in that sense, I definitely don't think using Ekowool is going to make much difference

 

[Alex]

Cotton is much better anyway

 

[ET]

lolololol, so love this forum

 

[Sharrivz]

Chat to give about the safety aspect. He chewed on some the one day without thinking...

My concern would be more dealing with it when it disintegrates. More from the point of view of skin irritation or micro splinters. Silicosis is not a concern and neither is inhaling it. Thanks guys