A few terrible noob DIY mistakes I've made that you don't have to

[Kabooma]

Like the title says..

Lesson #1
Had my first experience with Oils last weekend. I got in my LorAnn direct order, and in it was their Cinnamon Oil. I usually mix at 20% flavor, and know that spicy flavors are usually stonger, so I mixed at 15%. Well, I mixed it, loaded it up in a fresh carto, and then did a few open puffs (didn't inhale) to get the wick/suction going for a good solid first hit.

And what a hit it was! It was an explosion of cinnamon. I cannot over-state how intensely spicy and strong this flavor is. But I will try. I wheezed like I had asthma the rest of the night. Every time I coughed, I tasted the cinnamon in my throat. It wasn't until Sunday that I was breathing normally again. I used to have asthma brought on by cats, and would wheeze and cough badly if I didn't have my inhaler and had an asthma attack.. this felt exactly like that.

Lesson learned.. start at 5% with oils!

Lesson #2
Mix 5ml or less when trying something new.. I've mixed 10-20 ml batches only to discover a concoction that was not fit for consumption.. and ended up tossing it all. Experiment in small quantities and save yourself.

Lesson #3
Go to staples or whatever, and buy a cheap Brother label maker.. they are only about $20.. and label every single bottle you put a mix into. I now have a shelf with over 20 unlabeled bottles of varying levels of juices. You see, when I put a bottle on the shelf, it was a specific color.. Creme de menthe was a cool vivid green, banana was yellow, and tobaccos were brown. I could tell them all apart from each other.

But two weeks later.. they all were varying degrees of brown.. dangit!

Now I slap a label on it within moments of mixing it. I also include seemingly obvious info like mix percent.. For chocolate, I will label it: "Chocolate 20%"
Pina Calada: "Pina Calada 4%pa-12%co-4%br" (pa=pineapple co=coconut br=butter rum)

Saves a lot of trouble.. trust me on this.

Lesson #4

Order backstock on your ADV flavors.. and also order large sizes! Nothing worse than running low, then going to order online and finding out they are out of stock. I used to order LA flavors from Wizard labels.. they sell 1-dram size (3.7ml I think). Seemed like a steal at $1.50 each, but I now order 5oz bottles direct from LA for $5-$7 each.. it's a better deal and you can keep a good level of flavor stock. Note: do this for your ADV's.. I still order the dram sized from WL when I want to try new flavors. Might be worth suggesting to stick with one flavor vendor to start.. I've found different vendors' flavors don't mix well, but that's more opinion than anything else.


Good luck!

 

[Hoofhearted62]

you mean like this? I pre label every bottle before i put a drop in it. that way if i get distracted I know what goes in it.

 

[Hoofhearted62]

the brother p-touch rocks

 

[Hoofhearted62]

i even label my tanks with what flavor is in them. because as you said the colors all change and sometime b color alone you cant tell what it is. and if anyone asks what is in it, they can read the label

 

[Kabooma]

I only have 4 tanks at the moment, and swap flavors way too often to bother labeling them.. but it's still good advice regardless. I'm sure one day I will regret not doing it! good stuff!

 

[dannyv45]

Yep beginner mistakes are always the hardest learned.

 

[yellowsnow]

Like the title says..

Lesson #1
Had my first experience with Oils last weekend. I got in my LorAnn direct order, and in it was their Cinnamon Oil. I usually mix at 20% flavor, and know that spicy flavors are usually stonger, so I mixed at 15%. Well, I mixed it, loaded it up in a fresh carto, and then did a few open puffs (didn't inhale) to get the wick/suction going for a good solid first hit.

And what a hit it was! It was an explosion of cinnamon. I cannot over-state how intensely spicy and strong this flavor is. But I will try. I wheezed like I had asthma the rest of the night. Every time I coughed, I tasted the cinnamon in my throat. It wasn't until Sunday that I was breathing normally again. I used to have asthma brought on by cats, and would wheeze and cough badly if I didn't have my inhaler and had an asthma attack.. this felt exactly like that.

Lesson learned.. start at 5% with oils!

Lesson #2
Mix 5ml or less when trying something new.. I've mixed 10-20 ml batches only to discover a concoction that was not fit for consumption.. and ended up tossing it all. Experiment in small quantities and save yourself.

Lesson #3
Go to staples or whatever, and buy a cheap Brother label maker.. they are only about $20.. and label every single bottle you put a mix into. I now have a shelf with over 20 unlabeled bottles of varying levels of juices. You see, when I put a bottle on the shelf, it was a specific color.. Creme de menthe was a cool vivid green, banana was yellow, and tobaccos were brown. I could tell them all apart from each other.

But two weeks later.. they all were varying degrees of brown.. dangit!

Now I slap a label on it within moments of mixing it. I also include seemingly obvious info like mix percent.. For chocolate, I will label it: "Chocolate 20%"
Pina Calada: "Pina Calada 4%pa-12%co-4%br" (pa=pineapple co=coconut br=butter rum)

Saves a lot of trouble.. trust me on this.

Lesson #4

Order backstock on your ADV flavors.. and also order large sizes! Nothing worse than running low, then going to order online and finding out they are out of stock. I used to order LA flavors from Wizard labels.. they sell 1-dram size (3.7ml I think). Seemed like a steal at $1.50 each, but I now order 5oz bottles direct from LA for $5-$7 each.. it's a better deal and you can keep a good level of flavor stock. Note: do this for your ADV's.. I still order the dram sized from WL when I want to try new flavors. Might be worth suggesting to stick with one flavor vendor to start.. I've found different vendors' flavors don't mix well, but that's more opinion than anything else.


Good luck!

I label every bottle with flavor %, nic strength, and PG/VG %

 

[Moogle]

After labeling multiple bottles, do Nicotine, then VG, them PG then all of the flavors for each. Nothing worse than wondering, "Did I put X in X juice?"

 

[jgoss]

I may have to get a label maker, never thought of that lol. I would suggest not putting all your info on the label though, that is what your handy dandy DIY e-liquid notebook is for! I actually keep my notebook right with my juices, so as they age, I can tweek the recipe here and there.

 

[Hillbillie]

I write the date and what I mix in my notepad with a label code next to it and label the bottle the same (like Hoof, I mark before I start mixing as I do several different mixes at one sitting).

For example, I mixed 8% Ry4 Double and 8% Asian Ry4....and simply labeled it "DrAsian" in my notebook and the bottle. To me it's easier to fit on a 5ml bottle label.


Thanks for sharing your tips, Kabooma!

 

[CommaHolly]

I may have to get a label maker, never thought of that lol. I would suggest not putting all your info on the label though, that is what your handy dandy DIY e-liquid notebook is for! I actually keep my notebook right with my juices, so as they age, I can tweek the recipe here and there.

now I love putting it on the label,,,,,,,,,,that way, I can always reproduce the recipe,,,,,,,,,it never fails, I misplace notebooks all over kingdom come,,,,,,,,,,,this way, I know from the bottle which recipe I like,,,,,,,

I label this way,,,,,,

Strawberry Chocolate Banana
0mg 10%/3%/6% S10

meaning, strawberry at 10%, chocolate at 3%, banana at 6%
0mg of nic and 10 drops of sweetener for a 30 ml bottle.

but each to her own

 

[dannyv45]

I use the juice me up cal and put every recipe that I do in it. Add my notes and save. Then just label the bottle with the juice name. It's easy to maintain because if I don't like a recipe I just delete it. I note all changes to the recipe in the note section this way I have a running history of the mix so If I don't like a change to the mix I have a running change log to refer back to.

 

[CommaHolly]

I use the juice me up cal and put every recipe that I do in it. Add my notes and save. Then just label the bottle with the juice name. It's easy to maintain because if I don't like a recipe I just delete it. I note all changes to the recipe in the note section this way I have a running history of the mix so If I don't like a change to the mix I have a running change log to refer back to.

I have that calculator too,,,,,,,,how do you save things? Never occurred to me to try that,,,,,,,

 

[dannyv45]

I have that calculator too,,,,,,,,how do you save things? Never occurred to me to try that,,,,,,,

Click on "file" then click on "save". Give it a name then click the "save" button.

to open the file

click on "file" then click on "open" select the file you saved then click the "open" button.

simple.

 

[Train2]

That's exactly what I'm doing.

I use the juice me up cal and put every recipe that I do in it. Add my notes and save. Then just label the bottle with the juice name. It's easy to maintain because if I don't like a recipe I just delete it. I note all changes to the recipe in the note section this way I have a running history of the mix so If I don't like a change to the mix I have a running change log to refer back to.

 

[Screamin Eagle]

There's also a nice calculator here ... dot1ml | Eliquid calculator & recipe repository . That's one that I use.

But as far as making the too much of strong flavoring mistake....Yep! Been down that road myself. My first mix was a spearmint (from LorAnns as well). I was seeing how everyone was going between 10% and 15% to start their mixes. I figgured since I really like spearmint I'd go for 15%. 8-o . My mixing room smelled like spearmint for a week.

Now, if I open a dram, sit it on my desk, and get a strong smell of it from sitting upright in my chair (about two feet away) I start mixing with only about 2% to 3% of it and go from there.