So, Estes "Flying Colors", parachute lines ripped out of the chute...

Looking at the rockets to see what I'll need to ready them for more flights. The parachute lines ripped the holes out. Is this normal? What causes the lines with the supplied parachutes to just rip out like that? Should I upgrade to the purple chute (that's 15", right?)? It's a shame, the chute wasn't burned (yay Borax + paper towel wadding!).

Also, I noticed the nylon rip-stop streamer I had added to the Estes Summit got a little burned, but since it's a streamer I figured we'd just use it again...this time with our home made wadding which seems to work so well.

I'm thinking of adding food coloring to the wadding to make it easier to find for cleanup...will the borax slow down biodegradation of the paper towel wadding very much?

First, welcome to the forum. I haven't read all your posts but I think I saw something about your flights this may be associated with.
Tear-outs at the shroud lines with plastic chutes can occur if the rocket's velocity at ejection is too high. This can happen if the delay time is too short or too long or if the trajectory is too ballistic.

The ideal is to have the ejection charge fire right at apogee of a vertical flight when the velocity is zero. If the rocket is still coasting upward or has started to come down, the stress of the lines pulling on the chute material is increased with the speed and can tear through.

With weather-cocking, the rocket may never approach a zero-velocity condition and the same stresses can damage the chute.

As a minimum, the attachment points on a LPR plastic chute should be reinforced with the sticky plastic rings you would use on punched holes in paper. These are available in sheets or strips at any office or school supply store.

Be careful of the paper towels you are using for wadding; some have a plastic mesh embedded in them for scrubbing strength. If you can, put a sample of your wadding and some manufacturer's wadding in a spot outdoors that won't be disturbed to see how each biodegrades. If you have a chance to attend a club launch in your area, check with them as to your burn marks; you may be loading the manufacture's wadding improperly.

When you get your rockets back in ready-to-fly condition, enjoyment increases tremendously.

Lines typically tear out because the model is going too fast on ejection. Either the delay was too short, so ejection happened on the way up, or it was too long and ejection happened past apogee while the rocket was on the way down.

Normally when you build a chute, you'd want to reinforce the attachment points for the lines. Those little paper hole protectors for notebook paper work great for that.

kj

Estes instructions show you installing "balls" of wadding. If you do this, you will often have burned parachutes, since the balls will not easily form a complete "piston" to keep the flaming fireball of ejection gasses on one side and the cool air and recovery system on the other side.

I recommend installing a long lengths crumbled gently to form a nice piston that fills the tube 2 to 3 times in length whatever the diameter is. Then blow this wadding blob down (like a blow gun) until it rests against the motor mount. it will go "THUNK" and you will feel no air leakage. This indicates a good piston that will slide easily yet protect the recovery system.

Use shorter delay times to avoid high speed deployment that ripe the parachute apart. MOST (not all) beginners select the wrong motor - particularly because the instructions say that you can use those motors. The longest delay time is often ONLY safe when there is zero wind and you are launching perfectly straight up and you did not build "heavy".

Regarding Wadding Tests and Tips:

https://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com/2014/11/wadding-wrap-tip.html

https://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com/2014/05/unscientific-wadding-degrade-test.html

https://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com/2014/07/wadding-test-part-4.html

The paper reinforcement rings are a good idea.
Be sure you get the plastic rings and not the paper.
The plastic rings will be shinier (reflect light) compared to the paper ones.