When I started into the idea of doing DIY, I realized it was time to 'clean up' my act. I had all these jumbled piles of vaping supplies in my china cabinet, and it was getting harder and harder to locate exactly what I was looking for. So, I decided to get organized.
The local dollar store is a treasure trove of organization and storage solutions. I bought three plastic trays with fairly deep sides for $1/set, and I bought three storage units that have three drawers each. i soon found three units would not be enough and bought two more. I may even expand another two! All of this will fit neatly in the top shelf of my china cabinet.
Why so much storage, you ask? Well, as a single vapor, I guess I would not need so many, but I have three vapers in the home. There are three different types of PVs here now, including 510, several eGos, and soon to be two Aloha mods (the Mano and the Lani from ivape.net).
Everyone likes different juices, so there is a wide variety of juice in the plastic trays, another tray hold empty, clean bottles, and yet another holds dirty measuring supplies for cleaning. Each of the drawers hold everything from spare carts and cartos to filler, and even my pg and vg. Dirty carts, cartos and caps go into another drawer until I find time to clean the steadily growing pile. Over time, I am gathering extra supplies such as atomizers, drip tips, and batteries. This insures that if something burns out, we have replacements. One drawer holds labels, permanent markers, and tape for labelling my DIY juice. In effect, every drawer of the original three storage units is taken, and this afternoon, I will be implementing the other two units, effectively organizing my stuff even better.
Of course, my storage solutions are personal, and many people don't go to the expense I have, but as a 'born unorganized' person, I have to force myself to be organized.
Today is cartomizer cleaning day for my LR 510 cartos. I decided to follow the advice on two different videos from youtube. The first showed how to boil them, courtesy of Nilius17 (YouTube - Cleaning a cartomizer by boiling) and the second showed that you can put your cartos in the oven at 170 degrees fahrenheit to help dry them faster, courtesy of VapeWithPuff (YouTube - How to Clean E-cigarette Cartomizers (KR808D-1 Compatible)).
Maybe you're thinking 170 degrees fahrenheit is too hot. Well, honestly, if a carto is not going to be screwed up in a car with all of the windows up while sitting on the dash of a car in the pure heat of a southern summer day, then that temperature will hardly damage them! A closed-up car gets MUCH hotter on the dash. And seeing that today is an overcast day here in the mid 70s, the temps in the car are not likely to even get that high. I suppose I could wait to let them dry overnight, but I have been spoiled by the idea of almost-instant gratification.
I have definitely found some must-have cleaning supplies that I need on hand. A small saucepan, a small bowl, a glass, a glass baking dish, and various, sturdy wooden stirring implements used ONLY for my vape-cleaning. Wood, because metal just turns me off, and glass because it sterlizes quickly and well. 70 to 90% isopropyl alcohol to quickly clean my measuring supplies and dirty e-juice bottles. Water for the soft caps and whatnot that come on bottles and cartos, as well as a mild dish detergent. Papertowels for everything under the sun. And if for some reason papertowels are scarce, I have found toilet paper to come in VERY handy from time to time.
I am sure I have forgotten something in that long list.
I think my time of big spending is nearly over, and then I will have time to breathe and allow myself to 'break even'. Even with the amount laid out for every vaper in the home, we should be able to do that in less than a month! Tobacco is NOT getting cheaper. And while regulation of DIY supplies and ready-made supplies may be more expensive should the FDA and whoall have their way, vaping is still likely to be quite a bit less expensive for those scouring the web for good quality deals. Especially for those that do DIY!
If you have storage and cleaning solutions that might be helpful, please let me know. The more organized I can get,and the better efficiency I have at cleaning my supplies, the happier I will be! And I hope in some small way this blog post will help others, though in what capacity, I know not.
Have a great day vaping, y'all!
The local dollar store is a treasure trove of organization and storage solutions. I bought three plastic trays with fairly deep sides for $1/set, and I bought three storage units that have three drawers each. i soon found three units would not be enough and bought two more. I may even expand another two! All of this will fit neatly in the top shelf of my china cabinet.
Why so much storage, you ask? Well, as a single vapor, I guess I would not need so many, but I have three vapers in the home. There are three different types of PVs here now, including 510, several eGos, and soon to be two Aloha mods (the Mano and the Lani from ivape.net).
Everyone likes different juices, so there is a wide variety of juice in the plastic trays, another tray hold empty, clean bottles, and yet another holds dirty measuring supplies for cleaning. Each of the drawers hold everything from spare carts and cartos to filler, and even my pg and vg. Dirty carts, cartos and caps go into another drawer until I find time to clean the steadily growing pile. Over time, I am gathering extra supplies such as atomizers, drip tips, and batteries. This insures that if something burns out, we have replacements. One drawer holds labels, permanent markers, and tape for labelling my DIY juice. In effect, every drawer of the original three storage units is taken, and this afternoon, I will be implementing the other two units, effectively organizing my stuff even better.
Of course, my storage solutions are personal, and many people don't go to the expense I have, but as a 'born unorganized' person, I have to force myself to be organized.
Today is cartomizer cleaning day for my LR 510 cartos. I decided to follow the advice on two different videos from youtube. The first showed how to boil them, courtesy of Nilius17 (YouTube - Cleaning a cartomizer by boiling) and the second showed that you can put your cartos in the oven at 170 degrees fahrenheit to help dry them faster, courtesy of VapeWithPuff (YouTube - How to Clean E-cigarette Cartomizers (KR808D-1 Compatible)).
Maybe you're thinking 170 degrees fahrenheit is too hot. Well, honestly, if a carto is not going to be screwed up in a car with all of the windows up while sitting on the dash of a car in the pure heat of a southern summer day, then that temperature will hardly damage them! A closed-up car gets MUCH hotter on the dash. And seeing that today is an overcast day here in the mid 70s, the temps in the car are not likely to even get that high. I suppose I could wait to let them dry overnight, but I have been spoiled by the idea of almost-instant gratification.
I have definitely found some must-have cleaning supplies that I need on hand. A small saucepan, a small bowl, a glass, a glass baking dish, and various, sturdy wooden stirring implements used ONLY for my vape-cleaning. Wood, because metal just turns me off, and glass because it sterlizes quickly and well. 70 to 90% isopropyl alcohol to quickly clean my measuring supplies and dirty e-juice bottles. Water for the soft caps and whatnot that come on bottles and cartos, as well as a mild dish detergent. Papertowels for everything under the sun. And if for some reason papertowels are scarce, I have found toilet paper to come in VERY handy from time to time.
I am sure I have forgotten something in that long list.
I think my time of big spending is nearly over, and then I will have time to breathe and allow myself to 'break even'. Even with the amount laid out for every vaper in the home, we should be able to do that in less than a month! Tobacco is NOT getting cheaper. And while regulation of DIY supplies and ready-made supplies may be more expensive should the FDA and whoall have their way, vaping is still likely to be quite a bit less expensive for those scouring the web for good quality deals. Especially for those that do DIY!
If you have storage and cleaning solutions that might be helpful, please let me know. The more organized I can get,and the better efficiency I have at cleaning my supplies, the happier I will be! And I hope in some small way this blog post will help others, though in what capacity, I know not.
Have a great day vaping, y'all!
