Advice for DIY Noob

[shurpacabra]

hello all and happy vaping.

I would like to delve into the world of DIY ejuice. I found a good startup guide at ecignificant.com/diy-e-liquid-tutorial/ which covers where to get materials, the materials you need, and the basic process. They advise that I get 100mg/ml nicotine and dilute it further. I'm not clear on how to properly dilute it myself. Some help would be great. Or should I buy nicotine already diluted? Also I'm looking for a great eliquid calculator. Preferably that also tells the mix in drops so I can use pipettes. I'm basically going to follow the guide that I found, but any other advice from experienced DIYers would be great. Thanks, and vape on!

 

[NaughtyGeek]

Bear in mind, for your calculator to be correct, you will have to count drops once and then tell the calculator how many drops per mL. Every dropper/liquid is going to have a different # drops/mL.

 

[doots]

here is a link to a good calculator
eJuice Me Up - Best eJuice Calculator

no, you dont have to use 100mg/ml nic but doesnt hurt to use it either..

Please check out the DIY forums here on ECF and learn as much as you can..

 

[Road_House]

Forget the pipettes. I have a bag full I don't use. Instead get a few 1ml, 3ml, 10ml and 30 ml syringes. Measuring will be much simpler and accurate. I pop the plunger out of the 30 ml and pour the vg in (too thick to suck through a needle), pop the plunger back in and push it into the bottle. Trust me, counting drops sucks

Like doots said, learn as much as you can here especially about safely handling and measuring the nic. 100 mg can put a hurtin on ya and if you have kids or pets it's even more imperative you learn safe practices.

 

[shurpacabra]

yeah I could see where counting drops would suck a lot. ive certainly been doing a lot of research.. im not just jumping straight into this. im aware of the safety precautions when handling nicotine. apparently just opening a bottle of it in a room can make everyone sick or worse! I just don't understand how to dilute 100mg/ml myself. do you just use less? do you add distilled water? or does the calculator just convert the amount for you?

 

[yellowsnow]

Forget the pipettes. I have a bag full I don't use. Instead get a few 1ml, 3ml, 10ml and 30 ml syringes. Measuring will be much simpler and accurate. I pop the plunger out of the 30 ml and pour the vg in (too thick to suck through a needle), pop the plunger back in and push it into the bottle. Trust me, counting drops sucks

Like doots said, learn as much as you can here especially about safely handling and measuring the nic. 100 mg can put a hurtin on ya and if you have kids or pets it's even more imperative you learn safe practices.

Give your VG a good 10 min hot water bath in a plastic cup makes it very easy to suck straight into the syringe.

 

[doots]

yeah I could see where counting drops would suck a lot. ive certainly been doing a lot of research.. im not just jumping straight into this. im aware of the safety precautions when handling nicotine. apparently just opening a bottle of it in a room can make everyone sick or worse! I just don't understand how to dilute 100mg/ml myself. do you just use less? do you add distilled water? or does the calculator just convert the amount for you?

That where the syringes come into play as Road_house said.. Be sure to get some 1,3,10 and 30 ml syringes..
100 can be cut easily own to any working strength.. Just use the calculator.. You are not going to make yourself sick by opening the cap.. Just be careful and cut it down to whatever mg you want using the calculator. If you are using Vg I would cut the VG down a little at least by 5% with distilled water before mixing your 100% nic down..

You can always cut your 100%nic to half (50%) by just cutting the 100% in half.. Then further mix it down to what you want to mix and vape..

 

[Rat2chat2]

Here is a place that I found helpful when I first started DIY'ing. There are also so many threads that will help also. I have had so much fun with it and really save a bunch of money too. Good luck to you. I hope this site helps you like it did me.

DIY E-Liquid Calculator Ten Flavors Plus PG/VG Adjusting

 

[pamdis]

yeah I could see where counting drops would suck a lot. ive certainly been doing a lot of research.. im not just jumping straight into this. im aware of the safety precautions when handling nicotine. apparently just opening a bottle of it in a room can make everyone sick or worse! I just don't understand how to dilute 100mg/ml myself. do you just use less? do you add distilled water? or does the calculator just convert the amount for you?

The dilution will come out in the calculator. I use ejuicemeup.

Think about it like this:

You tell the calculator that want to create 10 ml of 12mg/ml juice.

If you tell the caclulator that you are starting with 36mg/ml, it will tell you to put 3.33 ml of it in your bottle and the remaining 6.67ml would be PG, VG, and flavors.

If you tell the calculator that you are starting with 100mg/ml, it will tell you to put 1.2ml of it in your bottle and the remaining 8.8ml would be PG, VG, and flavors.

Download the calculator and play around with it for a while first, and you'll get the hang of it pretty quickly.

 

[DebiK]

I've never had a problem with the "fumes" from 100mg nicotine. DO wear gloves though!! I put them on before I even open the bottle. If you do by chance, get some on your skin, rinse it off immediately under running water. Don't panic and start rubbing it or you might absorb the nicotine.

Like most everyone has said, a calculator will tell you how much to use. You put in the strength of the nicotine base, whether it's PG/VG and your target strength. Starting higher, you can dilute it down to whatever you want. I use 100mg. I started diy at 16mg and now make 10mg. Hoping to get to 6 eventually.

 

[DebiK]

Oh, I forgot to add, good luck and have fun!!

 

[shurpacabra]

thank you so much everyone that helps tremendously. I'm so excited to buy some gear and see what I can come up with! vape on!

 

[shurpacabra]

I forgot to ask, what percentage PG/VG nicotine liquid should I start with? 50/50? I usually vape my blends between 50/50 and 70/30.

 

[pamdis]

I forgot to ask, what percentage PG/VG nicotine liquid should I start with? 50/50? I usually vape my blends between 50/50 and 70/30.

I also typically go with a 50/50 to 70/30 blend and I start with all PG 100mg/ml nic. I find this gives me the most flexibility for adjusting the final ratio. Remember that most flavors are also all PG.

 

[shurpacabra]

I also typically go with a 50/50 to 70/30 blend and I start with all PG 100mg/ml nic. I find this gives me the most flexibility for adjusting the final ratio. Remember that most flavors are also all PG.

how does it give you more flexibility? this is the one part that's hard for me to grasp. I understand using all PG nic for say a 70/30 blend, but lets say I want to make a 50/50 blend. wouldn't it be easier to use 50/50 nic at 100mg/ml? then just add equal parts pg and vg?

I keep hearing everyone say to get 100%pg or vg nic so I guess there's a reason behind it... I dunno why I keep fighting it haha.

 

[pamdis]

how does it give you more flexibility? this is the one part that's hard for me to grasp. I understand using all PG nic for say a 70/30 blend, but lets say I want to make a 50/50 blend. wouldn't it be easier to use 50/50 nic at 100mg/ml? then just add equal parts pg and vg?

I keep hearing everyone say to get 100%pg or vg nic so I guess there's a reason behind it... I dunno why I keep fighting it haha.

The higher the mg of the nic you start with, the less it really matters. You're going to end up adding both PG and VG probably anyway, so just pick something and get started, already!

With low mg starting nic, you could theoretically end up with some negative numbers in the calculator, which means what you are aiming for is impossible to make.

For example: If you're aiming for 18mg 70/30 PG/VG.

You start with 36mg/ml nic in all VG. It would be impossible to make because you would need 1/2 of you bottle just for the nic alone. So already, half your bottle is VG. You can't lower the VG percent below 50.

If you're aiming for 18mg 50/50 PG/VG.

You start with 24mg/ml nic in all PG. It would be impossible because 66% of the bottle is the PG nic. When you add 10% PG flavors, the min amount of PG in the bottle is now 76%. You can only add 24% vg. And sometimes you need 15 or 20% flavors, which could bring your PG up to 96%. There's now way to lower it.

So, if you're going 100mg/ml, then don't worry about it, you have lots of room to make just about any ratio, regardless if you start with all PG, all VG, or a blend.

You only have to be careful choosing the closer your starting nic level is to your desired nic level.

 

[shurpacabra]

The higher the mg of the nic you start with, the less it really matters. You're going to end up adding both PG and VG probably anyway, so just pick something and get started, already!

trust me I want to start right now! just need supplies! but thank you, I understand what you're saying. I definitely planned on getting 100mg/ml nic liquid.. just couldn't decide on what ratio. my mind keeps reverting to 50/50 so I think ill just start with that, seeing as I want to start DIYing with a final result of 50/50. I just think that would be a good place to learn, less room for error.