diluting e-liquid

[Granny of six]

First off, this is my first post but I've been reading throughout this forum for many weeks, so felt I was informed enough by all the great advice given here, to place my first order for a starter kit & begin vaping. I received my first ego kit a few days ago along with 3-10ml of juice...60pg/40vg+18mg nic. 2 bottles of the juices are a tobacco flavor with the other a cappuccino flavor. I vaped continuously throughout the day & into the evening switching back & forth to each flavor. I also smoked 3 cigs throughout this time, but felt that was a great accomplishment for me as I've smoked for over 50 yrs with only quitting a few times in short durations. Also, will add that I've been a PAD, or more , smoker throughout the yrs.

Having gone through my first day of vaping with feeling confident that I would do better the next day, I woke up at 2:30 a.m with a really bad sore throat that I don't remember having since I was a kid with strept throat. I know the rule is to drink plenty of water/liquids while vaping, so it's possible that I didn't do that enough with all the vaping I did that day. I did notice though that the TH I was getting felt a little too strong for what I was used to with my cigs, but thought I would just get used to it after awhile. Needless to say, I've only been vaping off & on while going back to my usual smoking cigs again as I sure don't want to experience that throat pain again. Which, I did finally go back to sleep after waking up that morning, and when I woke up later the sore throat was gone.

Anyway, after reading up more on here regarding juice flavors & nicotine strengths, I found where it's advisable to dilute the juice down with VG to help with less throat hit. I plan to order more juice soon with more VG than PG but not sure yet what ratio that should be....maybe 50/50 or 40pg/60vg? I'm also thinking about reducing the nicotine level down to 12mg instead of 18mg. In the meantime, I have close to 30ml of this juice still left that I'd like to try to dilute down with the VG so I can try it again until I place an order for the other juice. The only thing I couldn't find info on here was, how much VG (in drops) do I add to each drop of juice. Or, how many ml. of VG to how many ml. of juice. I went to Walmart yesterday & bought the glycerin & a childs oral syringe so I'd be able to measure accurately, but I need some advise/help from someone as to how much to add to the juice. I also have some distilled water to add to it if need be. If there's anyone reading this that can help me out on this, I'd really appreciate it. By the way, I really enjoy reading in this forum with all the helpful info that's offered by so many nice people.

 

[Genericname]

I would just order some zero nic of that flavor and dilute with that, otherwise you will loose the taste as well.

As for diluting till you get your order I would do it in small amounts so you don't ruin your entire bottle.

 

[minitater]

You mentioned that you "vaped continuously throughout the day & into the evening..." This is what may have caused your sore throat rather than the PG/VG mix or the juice. I would not lower the nic content yet because it is too low, it may make you vape continuously to get what your were used to on cigs. I ran in this same issue when I first started and vaped way more than I smoked until I upped my nic to 19mg and then I got on an even keel. You can "cut" your juice with water, glycerin, alcohol or PG. I like a few drops of moonshine in mine to cut the harshness, but then thats just because I make it myself. Others suggest using distilled water or glycerin. I'm sticking with my low nic level theory.

 

[MattyT]

Hey Granny of six and welcome!!!

I think your sore throat was more form the PG as opposed to the throat hit. PG can dry you out so drink plenty of water. Adding VG will definitely help that, but depending on what device your using you dont want to add too much VG due to it having a thicker viscosity and could cause wicking problems. If your using cartomizers I wouldnt go more than a 50/50 blend of PG/VG. Not sure on the dilution hopefully someone can help you with that. Hope this helps some

 

[Dana A]

If you add 2 mls of VG to 5 mls of your 18mg you will get 12.87mg. Try that. When I started vaping I needed 24mg but the 24mg burned my throat and tongue. I had to do what your about to do and slowly bring the nic back up to where I needed it to be. 24 no longer bothers me. You can download the E juice me up calculator and click on tools and use the noc combine tool to figure out what mixed with what = what. I would suspect the nic as the irritant rather than the PG. It made me feel like I had been sucking on a mouth full of pepper. Good luck

 

[mooreted]

You can order pure VG as well for dilution. It's really pretty simple: If you have 30ml of 24mg juice and you mix it with 30ml of 0mg juice you are cutting the nicotine in half so you end up with 12mg nicotine. 24mg nicotine means 24mg per ml. Less nicotine will reduce the throat hit.

 

[mynameisrob]

Welcome to ECF!

Im on my phone at work so I really cant do the math right now to tell you exactly how much to add, but you could always just do alittle trial and error to get it to where you want it. Adding VG will dull some of the "bite", but keep in mind that it will also dilute the flavor and nicotine content. Ordering juice for your next order with less nicotine and/or more VG will def help make the TH not as harsh.
Before you dilute the juice, how are you taking a hit? Keep in mind that you dont vape the same way you hit a cig. You might be doing this already, but if not, try taking smaller hits then hold it in your mouth for a few seconds and slowly inhale it into your lungs. That should help make it not feel as harsh and help your throat. Alot of people get a sore throat when they first start vaping, and it normally lasts for a few days until you get used to it. Taking smaller hits and doing what I mentioned above normally helps with that. I would try doing that for a day or so before you try diluting your juice and see if it helps. If not, then try diluting the juice to see if that helps. Everyones different so you gotta just find what works for you. After about a week or so your throat/lungs will get used to it and youll be able to take much bigger hits without coughing/getting a sore throat etc. Just dont give up bc it will def get better!!

Goodluck!

 

[Bebe56]

yes, you can add more VG and/or water but you'll lose flavor and lower the nic level... how much is hard to say, i guess you'll have to try.
your vendor might have the same flavor on a diff. VG/PG ratio - most common ones are 70/30 and 80/20 - you can combine it with the one you have.
In the mean time, get some Biotene moisturizing mouth spray (or gum or mouth wash) from your local pharmacy and drink plenty of fluids - but NOT milk - it helps.

 

[dlsw]

Nicotine can be an irritant and pg can dry you out. After two months, I still get a sore throat when I over do it. I have been lowering my nic levels by buying two bottles of the same juice; one is 18 and the other ten. I mix them 50/50 in an empty bottle to get 14mg. I could tinker with it more if I wanted to do the math, but this way I have 3 levels of juice that I like. (18, 14, 10) Welcome and super congrats on cutting down/quitting. You are doing really well.

 

[nansc]

Welcome ,over fifty years for me too.You can vape plain vg it's sweet and will give your throat a break I'm sure one of the DIY vets will jump in and give you the correct proportions.Try hard candy or cough drops to help your throat.It works for me and of course a lot of water.Good Luck

 

[Granny of six]

Thanks genericname & minitater for your input. I know about diluting with 0 nic generic, but was hoping to be able to use what I already have for now until I get a better mix of juice. As for losing the flavor by diluting it with glycerin, I don't really care about that as I don't really taste the tobacco flavor that much anyway, but can taste the cappuccino flavor pretty good. I have 2 10ml bottles of the tobacco flavor, so if I were to ruin one of those I'd still have the other 2 untouched. Just don't know how much glycerin it takes to mix in with the juice.

And minitater....No doubt that I did overdo the vaping but I've always been a chain smoker, so it's kind of hard to not be constantly wanting to drag on a cig. I don't know how long you've been vaping, but if you remember, how did you keep yourself from not vaping continously after your first time of doing it? As for adding your moonshine, I don't think I'd do too well on that. I experimented with that in my younger days & swore to never do it again. But hey, if it works for you, why not?

 

[mooreted]

Technically, you don't have to inhale at all. Hold the vapor in your mouth, breathe in through your nose then blow out the vapor. Nicotine will absorb quite well from nose and mouth.

 

[base234]

I would just order some zero nic of that flavor and dilute with that, otherwise you will loose the taste as well.

As for diluting till you get your order I would do it in small amounts so you don't ruin your entire bottle.

You posted exactly what I would have. Great advice on your first post! Welcome to ECF!

Reducing both nic strength and PG/VG level will help to smooth the throat hit out. It just goes with the territory, Granny of six. Hang in there and welcome to ECF!

 

[MickeyRat]

Am I really the only one that ready the OP's post and thought PG sensitivity? Granny of six, you can dilute but, it will wash out the flavor and nic but, I don't think that's your problem. I think you might have a PG sensitivity and that you ought to try some all VG juice. I can't recommend a vendor but, I'm sure someone else can.

 

[Iusedtoanalog]

Hi Granny. Welcome to the ECF. This calculator is a web based one that I like to use for making liquid. e-Liquid Calculator Now what you will want to do with this specific one will be to place the value of you liquid in the "nicotine juice strength" tab(18) select your target strength and place that in the "target strength" tab....i think you said maybe 12 you would like to try. You will want an empty bottle or somwhere you can store you new liquid. For now ignore the "VG/PG goals" tabs because right now you only need the raw numbers between you existing nicotine liquid your vg dilutant.Anyway this is the one I like because its easy to tinker with and it gives you the ability to see exactly what you want to see without already having a lab degree. Good Luck. Happy Vaping.

 

[jakkaball]

I agree with minitater, if you lower the nicotine too soon you may get analog cravings. I have a problem with 100% pg being too harsh for me as well. I usually vape at least 80/20 but my sweet spot for most juices is 60/40.

 

[Granny of six]

Thanks everyone for all the welcome's & good lucks, plus all your good suggestions, too. I started out by following Rob's suggestion by taking shorter hits on my ego, which is working a lot better so far, but am a little concerned about maybe ingesting too much nicotine with my habit of being a chain smoker. I'm still going to give it a day of trying it that way and see if I have any bad effects from it. I can deal with having some sore throat pain, but not as severe as I experienced the other night. Someone wanted to know if I was using cartomizors as I guess the more VG in the juice used with them isn't good. I ordered the Joye ego-T kit so I'm using the atomizers & cartridges, so not sure if they can handle more VG better than cartomizors. From what I've read here on the forum, it's usually better if you use more PG than VG if possible. Same for the darker flavored juices supposing to be harder on your attys & carto's.

Anyway thanks again for all your help & I've saved most of your suggestions to refer back to in case I have to move onto another phase, which I'm sure I will at some point during this process. Also thanks for that calculator info iusetoanalog as eventually I'd like to mix my own juices once I get organized better.

 

[Iusedtoanalog]

No problem granny, For what its worth, The thing about VG being hard on cartos I dont hold in much regard. I make my own liquids, which are high VG, high like around 93%VG, I do use flavoring that is PG based at 7% in my mix but otherwise its all vg and distilled water. I make my own liquid as thin as or possibly thinner than PG. I use cartos very regularly, a carto lasts me about six to eight days, and I use typically about 5mL per day. If you buy liquid it is safer to assume higher VG would be thicker but, there are many liquid vendors who offer it thinned so you would have a better chance of getting it to work with your tank carts. If you have a place in mind drop them a message and ask if this is an option that they could offer you. Good Luck. Happy Vaping.

 

[MsTick]

Granny, as MickeyRat pointed out, some of us are extra sensitive to PG. I found vaping very harsh on my throat and lungs until I switched to 100% VG juices. Alien Visions and VaporBomb are two popular vendors for VG juices. Any juice with more than about 30% PG will give me a sore throat and cough. I even have to minimize my use of 20-30% PG. And I have found that fillered cartos aren't great with VG juices, but they do work tolerably well. I've since found that CE-2 type cartos work great with thick VG juices, so don't be afraid to go VG if that helps.