(Or 10 steps to heaven)
This is a comprehensive "How-to" on how to make your own juice, from someone who has just started out - for those who are just starting out. I'm sure others can add to this, I thought I had all the bases covered before I started, but theory and reality often don't talk to each other
.
There is no perfect way of mixing DIY juices, others will have their own system, more or less complex. I am a neophyte giant in comparison with others here, so this is not the definitive guide or the gold standard. This workflow suited me, and by the end of the afternoon I was getting creative, writing my own recipies and turning out bottles like a pro. What is important is that you enjoy yourself, but at the same time being diligent enough that if you do create that killer fluid that everyone wants a sample of, you have the recipe and skills to recreate it at will.
For me, this is pretty much a foolproof method, and gives you a lot of lattitude to roll back any major errors in nicotine or PG volume. It also scales up really easily, if you want to make 1L bottles, just get a bigger beaker (and obviously a 1L bottle to store your juice in)! What's more, it is accurate and reproducible.
If you'd rather go down the syringe and measuring column path rather than measuring by weight, just substitute the method that works for you. I hope you'll get something out of this how-to anyway. I've tried both, and to be honest for the extra outlay for a set of gram scales (£6 in UK money from Amazon), it's a no-brainer. Less mess, less fuss, no worrying about measuring at the meniscus or at the level. No suction. No big needles and small diameter holes. No guesswork, the biggest challenge you will have is the same one you have at the petrol pump - How to get £20.00 of fuel delivered rather than £21.69. As a beginner, I couldn't recommend measuring by weight more.
I used 20mg 10ml PG nicotine shots, and all my flavourings were PG based. If you are using VG based products, ignore my cautions about VG if you over measure, rather place PG in that category, unless of course, you are not using any PG in your mix at all. Some here would disagree regarding my dire warnings if you get the nicotine levels too high. From personal experience, I just wouldn't risk it. The same applies to PG, unless you are fairly certain you are not allergic to it, don't go for something crazy like a 100/0 PG/VG ratio, stick within the safe ratios and limits (e.g. 50/50, 30/70 PG/VG, 3-20mg nicotine / 50ml total juice and flavourings) and you'll be fine. If in doubt, ask. To my knowledge, there have been no reported adverse reactions to 100% VG juices, but I don't know what I don't know. Neither the author nor ECF take any responsibility for what lies below this sentence, after all I might be a psychotic axe murderer who smokes 80 a day, bent on revenge as my wife left me for a vaper. I'm not, but you get the message. Vaping is fun, but please vape responsibly.
Enjoy, and happy mixing
.
This is a comprehensive "How-to" on how to make your own juice, from someone who has just started out - for those who are just starting out. I'm sure others can add to this, I thought I had all the bases covered before I started, but theory and reality often don't talk to each other
.There is no perfect way of mixing DIY juices, others will have their own system, more or less complex. I am a neophyte giant in comparison with others here, so this is not the definitive guide or the gold standard. This workflow suited me, and by the end of the afternoon I was getting creative, writing my own recipies and turning out bottles like a pro. What is important is that you enjoy yourself, but at the same time being diligent enough that if you do create that killer fluid that everyone wants a sample of, you have the recipe and skills to recreate it at will.
For me, this is pretty much a foolproof method, and gives you a lot of lattitude to roll back any major errors in nicotine or PG volume. It also scales up really easily, if you want to make 1L bottles, just get a bigger beaker (and obviously a 1L bottle to store your juice in)! What's more, it is accurate and reproducible.
If you'd rather go down the syringe and measuring column path rather than measuring by weight, just substitute the method that works for you. I hope you'll get something out of this how-to anyway. I've tried both, and to be honest for the extra outlay for a set of gram scales (£6 in UK money from Amazon), it's a no-brainer. Less mess, less fuss, no worrying about measuring at the meniscus or at the level. No suction. No big needles and small diameter holes. No guesswork, the biggest challenge you will have is the same one you have at the petrol pump - How to get £20.00 of fuel delivered rather than £21.69. As a beginner, I couldn't recommend measuring by weight more.
I used 20mg 10ml PG nicotine shots, and all my flavourings were PG based. If you are using VG based products, ignore my cautions about VG if you over measure, rather place PG in that category, unless of course, you are not using any PG in your mix at all. Some here would disagree regarding my dire warnings if you get the nicotine levels too high. From personal experience, I just wouldn't risk it. The same applies to PG, unless you are fairly certain you are not allergic to it, don't go for something crazy like a 100/0 PG/VG ratio, stick within the safe ratios and limits (e.g. 50/50, 30/70 PG/VG, 3-20mg nicotine / 50ml total juice and flavourings) and you'll be fine. If in doubt, ask. To my knowledge, there have been no reported adverse reactions to 100% VG juices, but I don't know what I don't know. Neither the author nor ECF take any responsibility for what lies below this sentence, after all I might be a psychotic axe murderer who smokes 80 a day, bent on revenge as my wife left me for a vaper. I'm not, but you get the message. Vaping is fun, but please vape responsibly.
Enjoy, and happy mixing
.- Get your kit. I'd recommend as a minimum, 3 beakers with spouts, 5 pipettes, and lots of plastic storage bottles of different sizes. The 10ml are great for samples, but I'd recommend a few 50ml and 100ml as well, the more the merrier. You'll also need a small funnel, a label maker or masking tape and a pen, and an accurate set of scales that go down to 0.01g. I'll explain why this is the best method IMO in a minute. Once you get started and gain confidence, you'll want to try out different combinations and there is nothing more frustrating than having nowhere to store your creations. The larger bottles are great for mixing with, screw the lid on tight, give it a really good shake and you can get results as good as with a frother or whisk. PG and VG are really thick, syringes (especially the ones with needles) won't cut it. Buy some if you want, but I found pipettes much more useful. If you are going to steep your juice in hot water or an ultrasonic bath, get a few glass jars for that purpose. Heat causes some plastics to leach, and ultrasound doesn't work well with plastic bottles. You'll also need cleaning materials for mopping up dribbles of juice, and alcohol wipes are useful for cleaning your hands and the outside of sticky bottles etc. A notepad is useful, if a bottle does get knocked over you don't want juice inside your tablet, phone or laptop. Accidents happen. Disposable gloves are useful but not essential (In the UK and Europe nicotine only comes in low dose TPD containers now), but it is important you can feel what you are doing. This is not a job for thick gardening gloves. A decent amount of space to lay out your flavours, scales etc. away from children, pets etc. is vital. Try and pick a time where you won't be interrupted by the phone etc. If you get distracted, it is easy to lose track. It is also useful to have a "dirty" bowl, bucket etc. for items that will need washing up later, recycling etc. Ironically, this should actually be clean.
- Plan ahead. I put a spreadsheet together with the recipe name, the flavours, the manufacturer, the PG/VG ratio, nicotine levels (input and output), % quantities, gram quantities, date produced and volume produced along with my initial notes. Apart from the last 3 items, you can complete this in advance while waiting for your order to arrive. Unless you know the characteristics of each flavor, you will not be able to accurately design recipes, so to start with use some tried and tested ones to start. By all means, be creative when you order your flavourings, but certain groups work well together and some are bad. Really bad. You can't tell until you smell, so you will need some time to go through your flavours. I put a drop of each on my tongue and I'm still here, some just sniff, others put some in a small shot glass of water and taste that way. Do not add gin, whiskey or vodka as these will mask the flavours :+) . You will also need either an online calculator or an application to work out your ratios etc. Find one you are comfortable with, it should be intuitive and a pleasure to work with. As a bare minimum, you want one that measures % and grams. I also was consistent in my spreadsheet in the order I placed ingredients - Nicotine, PG, VG then flavours etc and matched this to the calculator format, it makes it easier to spot mistakes. If you are struggling, find something else. Google is your friend here - look up ejuice calculator. As I'm an old git, I still use the transport system the Victorians use ;-) .
- Once you have your spreadsheet printed out, and you have sampled all the flavours, it is time to begin mixing in earnest. Fill one beaker with PG and one with VG. The amount you use will depend on the ratio you are aiming for, but it is not critical. I was preparing mainly 70% VG and 30% PG, so if I had enough beakers I would have prepared just over twice as much VG as PG. I didn't, so I had to resort to pouring from a large bottle and using a pipette. Stick a pipette in each beaker and place these 6-9 inches in front of you with their respective bottles behind to remind you what is what. On your right, place all your flavours. Place your scales in front of you with a beaker on top of weighing platform. I kept my empty bottles in a box, level with the PG/VG on my left, but I am left handed. If you prefer to work in the opposite direction just swap things round. On my left was my box of 20mg PG nicotine in 10ml shots. I used a large 2L plastic jug for my "dirties" which was on my far left. Calculate how much nicotine you need for all your recipes and round down to the nearest 10ml (assuming your using 10ml shots). So if you need 45.77g, you will want 4 bottles. Give each bottle a shake to mix and decant this into one of your larger bottles, and screw the lid on. Chuck the empties in the dirty pile for washing and recycling, you can use them again. If you are mixing 0g nic recipes, obviously skip this part (and any other references to nicotine). Likewise, skip the PG bits if you are going 100% VG (including flavouring). Most people will be using a PG/VG mix. Layout your flavours on your left, left-to-right in the order they appear in your recipe. (If your not using TPD compliant 10ml nicotine shots, please ask for advice on the forum - I'm based in the UK and that is all we can get here so I don't know).
- Switch your scales on. If they are like mine, after a few seconds the display will read 00.00g. This is called "Auto Taring", and it means the scales were clever enough to work out there was a beaker on top and has automatically deducted the weight. If your scales read anything else, press the "Tare" button. The display should read 00.00g. You may have to adjust the mode, for your own sanity and physical wellbeing make sure you are in grams and not ounces etc.
- Look at the gram weight of nicotine your first recipe requires. Shake the big bottle you prepared, unscrew the cap and pour just a touch of nicotine into the beaker and wait 5 seconds. Your scales have a lag time of a few seconds, be patient. Don't pour too much in, nicotine in PG is quite liquid. If you are using VG nicotine it will be a bit thicker and take longer to pour. The key here is to get to know how runny your nicotine is and how quickly your scales respond etc. Continue until you come within 0.50g of your target. At this point, if you have rounded down your nicotine levels, you can crack open another 10ml TPD bottle (after shaking it of course) and gently drip drops into the beaker until you reach your target. I aim to be as accurate as possible, if the recipe called for 3.75g and I added 3.89g, I used a pipette to take the excess out to be used in the next recipe. 3.79g is fine, as would be 3.72g etc. Replace the caps on all bottles and return them to their positions. If used, place the filled pipette on a piece of kitchen roll out of harm's way. For serious errors, preferably decant the nicotine back into the big bottle and start over. If you can't decant the excess nicotine, and it is only a small amount, make a note that you were over in this recipe and by how much, and don't do it again in case the TPD police come after you. If you are sensible, recalculate your recipe to take into account your faux pas if it is major, e.g. more than 5% out. Or plough ahead regardless and enjoy the ride to hospital, if you make it. Your call.
- If you are using PG, tare the scales and gently pour the desired quantity out into your recipe (the one in the beaker, not the one in your notebook). If it is a really small amount, use the pipette. PG is thicker than nicotine shots, and depending on room temperature, thicker than the flavourings. It takes ages to start pouring, and when it goes, it really goes. Again, don't overdo it, if you are unsure use the pipette. I got over confident on my last recipe and had to turn it into a 50/50 PG/VG solution, rather an the intended 30/70 one. If you are just slightly over, make a note of it, otherwise consider recalculating as per an unmitigated nicotine disaster. It is not the end of world if you don't, you can just change the PG/VG ratios without modifying the nicotine or flavour amounts, but it will taste different as PG carries flavours differently. Purists would disagree on that hack, but this is your first juice after all. VG is the final part of your base before adding the flavours - get that substantially wrong and you will be diluting your juice and recalculating everything is your only option if you want your recipe to turn out anything like the chef intended. Of course, you can carry on without recalculating, but what you end up with you will have to fix or vape regardless of how insipid, foul or tasteless it is. And no, you can't give it away to your friends at Christmas or bury it in the back garden.
- Press the Tare button and repeat step 6 for your VG. VG is even thicker than PG. If you go over, blah blah (yawn).
- Press the Tare button. Grab your first flavour, give the bottle a shake and unscrew the cap. Gently drip drops of your flavouring in, but remember you can't take it back if you overshoot. Depending on the bottle, temperature and the viscosity of the flavour, a drop will be roughly between 0.01g and 0.05g. Use the same rule of thumb regarding accuracy as you used with the nicotine. Likewise, if you overshoot, make a note of the amount. Some folks on ECF are more pedantic than I am, and will log any discrepancies. On a 10ml sample it might be worthwhile, but anything over that, the tolerances I've suggested should be fine. When finished, screw the lid back in the bottle and place on the right hand side. That way if the courier arrives with more vaping goodness, you can pick up where you left off.
- Repeat step 8 for all your flavours.
- It is now time to decant your creation into the bottle of your choice. If you have a whizzy/whisky/stirring gizmo, feel free to exercise it on the contents of the beaker. A funnel is essential here, especially for narrow necked bottles like 10ml. Don't rest the funnel in the neck of the bottle and expect the juice to pour in, the suction in the bottle will prevent that. Lift the funnel clear so the nozzle has enough room to get some airflow. The last few drops can sometimes clog up the tip of the nozzle, gently blowing into the opening of the funnel will cure that. Alternatively, it you have the breath of a pregnant zombie and would like to be hygienic, use an opened, clean paperclip or a needle etc. to clear the blockage. Insert the needle cap into the target bottle if required (some caps have them built in and they click down when you screw the cap up. Sometimes.), securely screw on the lid, and give the bottle a hearty shake to distribute the contents evenly. I go for 2-3 minutes, until micro-bubbles start to form and the colour is uniform throughout. You can skip this step if you have already thoroughly mixed your solution. You can now add the beaker to the dirty pile, wash and dry it up or just let any residual drops carry on to the next flavour, depending on how pedantic or slovenly you are. A good wipe out with some kitchen roll should be OK though. And don't forget to name your creation and label the bottle with the nicotine mg (and PG/VG ratio if desired).
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