Using VG or PG as nicotine base

[stuvix]

Hello!
I have a question regarding the solubility of nicotine. Thus far, I've been using a nicotine PG base (70%) and then adding 0nic VG (30%).

I now want a nicotine VG base for some DIY e-juice. I've used a recipe calculator and it all checks out (the final nic amount is what I wanted).

I've read that PG dissolves flavour and nicotine better than VG. Would I be messing things up using VG?
I think that because I'm mixing the nicotine VG with the PG, the PG will do it's job and absorb the nicotine throughout the liquid.

To any pure VG vapers: Do you have nicotine in your juice?

 

[AzPlumber]

VG works just fine when making e-liquid

 

[buffaloguy]

Yes, vg is commonly sold the same as pg for nicotine bases. you can add pg to a vg base if you like but you dont really need to. nicotine, from everything ive found, has zero issues mixing with vg. 100% Vg juices do require a tad more flavoring, and sometimes a bit of dw (or alc if you prefer) as a dilutent because its a bit thicker. If mixing with pg you likely wont have that issue in a 70vg/30pg mix. Still have some dw handy just incase. A little goes a long way.

 

[Kurt]

To make a VG juice thin enough for good wicking and mixing, my general formula is %flavor + %water = 20-22%. So a 10% flavor (my usual) will need 12% water. I use distilled water. My unflavored e-juices are 20% water, VG and nic. These are all I vape, have for years now, and they work great.

Like many here, I have to keep PG to a minimum, so if the flavoring is PG-based, I don't use more than 10% in a juice, and sometimes much less than that, depending on the flavor.

 

[YorkieGirl1]

Honestly I think pg vs vg is another one of those taste preferences. I think pg is so icky tasting - where as I love the sweet taste of vg. I do agree that I tend to use more flavoring than others (often around 20%) but I am a flavor junkie too, so i put alot of flavoring in my DIY (but i think they turn out so good!!). The one negative though with VG is it is thicker, even with thinning - i seem to go through cartos quickly =(. I personally dont taste the nicotine at all when i use high VG, but taste it alot in 50/50 pg/vg mixes - go figure! Maybe the pg brings the flavor out more in the nic too???

 

[stuvix]

Honestly I think pg vs vg is another one of those taste preferences. I think pg is so icky tasting - where as I love the sweet taste of vg. I do agree that I tend to use more flavoring than others (often around 20%) but I am a flavor junkie too, so i put alot of flavoring in my DIY (but i think they turn out so good!!). The one negative though with VG is it is thicker, even with thinning - i seem to go through cartos quickly =(. I personally dont taste the nicotine at all when i use high VG, but taste it alot in 50/50 pg/vg mixes - go figure! Maybe the pg brings the flavor out more in the nic too???

That's what I was thinking - that the PG holds the flavour of nicotine more than VG. But if I'm still mixing both I don't think it should make much of a difference.

 

[Kurt]

Using water thins the VG juice. This does a few things:

1. Makes the juice wick and flow better in a carto or CE2-type tank. OTOH, thick VG juices are great for atty-dripping.

2. Thinner juice means it vaporizes to form smaller droplets, increasing the surface area available to the throat. I think of it as "opening up" the nic and flavors. Thinner generally means better TH, and that's a REAL throat hit, from nic, not the drying/irritation TH of PG. I don't think of PG "holding the flavor" better than VG, in fact it is the opposite from the chamistry standpoint. Thinner PG releases the flavor and nic more than thick VG, smaller droplets, etc. It is VG that holds the nic and flavors better, due to bigger droplets. At least in theory.

I can definitely taste PG. Its sort of flowery to me, and then it makes my lips chapped, and if I don't stop it will dry my whole mouth out terribly and upset my stomach. VG is sweet to me, but has no flavor to me in of itself.

 

[arnokouros]

i prefer vg!

 

[Cyrus Vap]

REAL TH is right! I think of PG TH as 'irritation,' which I guess some find pleasant if they're trying to mimic a cig. Its not TH at all.

Real TH to me is purely a nicotine thing, and it feels like a tickling followed be an 'ahhh, thirst quenched' kind of feeling in the throat/upper airways

 

[jackbox]

Too high a VG can gobble up the flavorings. I prefer a 70/30 pg/vg juice mix.

 

[buffaloguy]

I dont really agree that vg takes more flavoring. I did some tests recently out of curiousity on a couple of my tobacco recipes. Same recipe just swapping pg nic base and vg nic base for a 70/30 mix. Frankly, the vg tasted better, fresher, and popped more. The Pg base one tasted stale and old. Both were vaped on a clean 510 atty at 8watts, dripped. I then loaded two boge carts and the vg still vaped better to me. More flavor and zing overall.

I think Im a bit biased as I have to vape VG, but the tests I did at least for tobaccos tell me that VG is just plain better overall.

That being said taste is of course subjective.

 

[Cyrus Vap]

I agree with buffaloguy 100%, the only thing PG does for me is add throat irritation, a nasty chemical taste, and rob me of my thick vapor

 

[AzPlumber]

I agree with buffaloguy 100%, the only thing PG does for me is add throat irritation, a nasty chemical taste, and rob me of my thick vapor

I agree with all the other VG users here. PG just doesn't agree with me and not only robs my thick rich vapor, it also robs the moisture from my thick rich lips.

 

[donnah]

LOL "thick rich lips"

I've never used 100% VG because I've just never used it.. no real reason except that a friend of mine thought she might be allergic to PG so we ordered her some VG juice.. she hated it.. so I just figured that it wasn't good. Right now I mix 70/30 PG/VG.. I may have to try a higher percentage of VG and see what its like.

 

[ShogaNinja]

I was doing 70/30 PG/VG mixes since I started, using Boge LR 2.0's and Stardusts on a 4.1v KGO. When I did an experiment by mixing 60/40 the Stardust tasted better in my opinion with the higher VG but then the wicking issues hit and it totally stopped vaping. When I then cleaned out the same Stardust and mixed up the same exact flavor but with 80/20 PG/VG - the first juice I'd ever had with that much PG and that little VG, not only did the Stardust perform significantly better, I got that nic buzz I haven't had since the first few days of vaping. The flavor on the other hand was crappier. This is in defiance of all that has been said I know. I still am not 100% sure what to make of it. My initial experiment suggests that nicotine absorption is higher in a higher PG mix while the flavor suffers. The vapor is honestly about the same and maybe even a little more than the 70/30 PG/VG mix I am used to for months now. It seemed to produce less, but tastier vapor with a higher VG mix. Flavor and vapor production anomalies aside, I can't dispute the fact that I didn't get a nic buzz for months with the 70/30 and I did with the 80/20. Things that make you go hmmmm.