I guess you could call it a wick. I call it more like a membrane. See it sticks in the Oust fan. Picture below. I washed it out and the container with water a bunch of times then over 3 days, I kept soaking in water and soap. Then I ran doe urine through it for a 2 days and then put it out. It took a lot of work. Does anybody else know how to get rid of the good smell?