Let me tell you a little about me.
I’m a thrifty type of person.
I shop at Goodwill, clearance rack and pretty much any consignment stores I can find.
I’m of a frugal nature.
Now, while I prefer words such as thrifty and frugal, I’ve also just straight up been called cheap, and I’m ok with that.
You know, just thinking about it, it’s a wonder that I never started smoking in the first place. I mean, come on, it’s literally burning money. You buy the nasty little cancer sticks and set them ablaze. And poof, there goes the $6 of hard earned cash that you just wasted to buy the yucky things.
Seriously a waste of money, but that’s a topic for another day. My frugalness (or cheapness if you’re of that mindset) plays a factor in two aspects of vaping.
The first is related to flavors.
Now I absolutely love to try new flavors. I love to read the descriptions and try to determine if the mixture sounds good. And from there I’m usually game to give it a try. But, cost is always a factor. There’s five in my family and things get expensive. My vaping budget is usually quite limited.
I’m blessed to have an awesome local vape shop and the owner has a pretty good handle on my tastes. More often than not she steers me in the right direction.
And subscription services are awesome too.
I personally use Vapebox and Zamplebox. I prefer Vapebox because they are usually right on point for what I want. And normally it’s a pleasant surprise, something I wouldn’t have thought I’d like and I end up loving it.
But some times you drop $15 or $25 on a new juice that everyone says is amazing. You stalk the mailman until is actually arrives and then you can’t stand it.
Ugh.
So, what do you do then? I’ve seen people in vape groups resell it. I’ve seen others give it away.
Either way it hurts the pocket book. And it hurts my heart.
Usually I force myself to use it up, just so I don’t waste the dollars. But I admit I’m not are careful with it as I am with the flavors I can’t get enough of.
Now, the other aspect of vaping that brings out my frugalness is disposable coils.
I’m primarily a tank user. I’ve got a handful of RDA’s in my stash and a couple RDTA’s. I mainly pull those out when I have time to play with them. I don’t keep them wicked, so I only use them when I know I have time to rewick and that I will be in a place where I can drop. Movie night is usually when they come out. And while I enjoy the amazing flavor these devices produce, I still just stick to my tanks. I have a selection of those as well. I like the baby beast but I don’t care for the coils.
My go-to tank is the Cleito 120. Flavor is awesome and coils last for a good many puffs. Ideally I’d love to change coils every time I change flavors. Especially after a strong dessert flavor and especially when it’s a flavor I don’t care for. But the price of coils, while only a few dollars apiece, adds up.
So, being my cheapsake self, I’ve looked into ways to clean them. And, naturally, I turned to Google. And of course YouTube.
On a side note, if you are new to vaping, or have questions you need answers to, there are some amazing videos out there. Vapers are part of an awesome community and more often than not vapers are happy to help others.
Now, back on topic. There’s a ton of different ways out their to clean reusable coils.
Some people recommend boiling them to get the excess gunk out. Others say just good, hot tap water will rinse out what needs to come out. I’ve tried both of these and I have to say I didn’t care for either method.
The best method I’ve found, and it’s just me, is to soak them in Everclear. Basically you are soaking them in rubbing alcohol that is safe to drink. Many places I’ve seen to soak them over night, rinse them out with hot water and then blow, repeatedly through the air holes to get all the liquid out.
I’ve watched many a YouTube video where the demonstrator says they are ready to use again within hours. Sadly, that’s never been the case for me.
Thankfully I’ve amasses a decent little collection of Cleito 120 coils. I keep a small, covered container filled with Everclear. When I’m ready to change out coils I drop it in the liquid and forget about it. A few days, or some times weeks later I’ll grab it out and drop it into my bucket of dry coils. Since I have a few, there’s always one that’s had a good, long while to air dry. Usually it takes at least a week to get all the liquid out and for it to be good and dry. My system seems to work pretty well for me, but every once in a while I still get some residual flavor.
I’m always open to new ways to clean disposable coils. I really try my best to make them be reusable, instead of disposable.
Do you have a tried and true method to get the old flavor out, and get it dry for reuse quickly? I would love to give it a try!