DIY questions.

[PhilBrown123]

so I got a vape play diy kit to try my hand at diy. I have made 3 flavors so far. one mountain dew, one strawberry waffles, and one candy apple cheese cake. all 3 have 6mg nic which I usually vape anyways. and all 3 are roughly 75/25 vg/pg which I prefer. my main question is I get a irritated throat when I vape them why is this? I mixed like so:
10 ml bottles
.6ml of nic its the ape play 100mg nic online calculators said use .6 for 6mg/ml nic
7.5ml vg
1.4ml of flavoring total (the multi flavors are split 60% fruit and 40% waffle/cheesecake)
and then I top off with pg
I allowed 2 days for steeping so far. flavors taste ok but this sore/irritated throat is not something I like. it feels like I just started vaping again. any help/ throughts are greatly appreciated.

 

[JCinFLA]

Well, first, don't be surprised if your thread is moved by a Mod to the DIY forum instead of where it is in General E-liquid.

Second, if any of your flavorings that you used have EA (ethyl alcohol) in them, that could be a reason for the sore throat. Other than that, I'll go check the calculator I use to see if other things look OK. Someone else may come along sooner though, too.

 

[JCinFLA]

OK, I checked the calculator. IF your 100mg/mL Nic was in a VG base, this is what it showed for a finished 10mL mix, with 15% flavoring, at 6mg nic and a ratio of 75VG/25PG:

Nic base - .6mL
VG - 6.9mL
Flavorings - 1.5mL
PG - 1mL

So, you're close to that on what you made it with.

 

[PhilBrown123]

any idea why it would cause a sore throat? thats my biggest gripe is im getting a serious sore throat. not sure if it's the flavorings or nicotine but it kind of stinks because I havent gotten a sore throat from vaping in a while
EDIT: not sure what brand the flavorings are they are in blank bottles with printed labels and cant find that info on vape play site. the kit is nice and I'm liking diy just dont care for sore throat
EDIT: heres the description of their concentrates
"Our flavor concentrates are exclusive to Vapeplay. We blended vape safe flavors to create unique blends that are both safe and flavorful for use with vaporization. No other on-line store offers our blend of flavors, but they may be available in some retail outlets that we supply. We use PG as our flavor base and for e-juice calculation purposes our flavors should be calculated as 100% PG for the best results. There is no Diacetyl, Acetoin or acetyl propionyl in any of our flavors."

 

[Steamix]

Math checks out.

25% PG isn't a problem usually - but some people are more sensitive to it than others.
Got the full range , like 100% PG with no issues to pure VG mixes...

If PG is the prob , replace with PEG400

Also check your supplier on the web.

Most of them a reputable, but there is always the odd black sheep out for a quick buck...

 

[PhilBrown123]

they have pretty good reviews and testimonials thats why I ordered from them. going to try out my freedom smokes soon

 

[JCinFLA]

not sure what brand the flavorings are they are in blank bottles with printed labels and cant find that info on vape play site.

I'd be concerned if they don't show you what's in the flavorings on the labels and that's not on their website either. I wouldn't be surprised if your strawberry or the apple, or even the waffle had some ethyl alcohol in them!

I'd give Wizard Labs a try next time! They have wonderful descriptions, complete with full ingredients disclosure for the flavorings brands they sell. They also have very smooth nic bases, too, that are less "peppery" than the MFS nic bases.

 

[Izan]

Hi Phil,
I would try a mix of unflavoured at your level (.6%).
If you are still getting the harshness, it would be the nic or the VG/PG causing the problem.

Good luck
I

ETA: .6ml of nic CAN be difficult to dispense accurately. Are you using drops or measuring by weight or a micro (1ml) syringe?

 

[PhilBrown123]

Hi Phil,
I would try a mix of unflavoured at your level (.6%).
If you are still getting the harshness, it would be the nic or the VG/PG causing the problem.

Good luck
I

ETA: .6ml of nic CAN be difficult to dispense accurately. Are you using drops or measuring by weight or a micro (1ml) syringe?

im using a micro syringe to dispense nic as well as flavorings. their site says this about their flavorings
"Our flavor concentrates are exclusive to Vapeplay. We blended vape safe flavors to create unique blends that are both safe and flavorful for use with vaporization. No other on-line store offers our blend of flavors, but they may be available in some retail outlets that we supply. We use PG as our flavor base and for e-juice calculation purposes our flavors should be calculated as 100% PG for the best results. There is no Diacetyl, Acetoin or acetyl propionyl in any of our flavors."

 

[Izan]

im using a micro syringe to dispense nic

fair play!
Give the unflavoured a try and if that isn't it, try your recipes at 1/2 flavouring strength.
Do you add any water to the mixes?
I

 

[JCinFLA]

What you posted above from their website is all good, but it would help to know if there's any ethyl alcohol, triacetin, polysorbate 20, or other ingredients in them...that you may have a problem with when you vape it.

I'd try what Izan suggested, to help you hopefully narrow down what might be causing it.

 

[PhilBrown123]

I'll give that a try thanks guys. also I ordered some TFA flavorings to hopefully avoid stuff like this.

 

[PhilBrown123]

so I think maybe I figured it out with the help of you all. I did what you suggested and tried no flavors and just with straight mixing got no harshness then I looked at my notes and my strawberry waffles and apple cheese cake I used vape play suggested recipe that comes with the kit and it suggested 20% flavoring or 2ml total and in my notes it shows I did in fact use a total of 2ml flavorings. so I added .5ml peach and .5ml bavarian cream for a total of 10% and initially after that nor harshness on my throat going to allow to steep a few days and see what happens but already tastes better then the first 2. thank god I wrote it down as I saw that somewhere here in the forums. Also apologies for putting this in the wrong subforum

 

[mcclintock]

Sounds like the flavor levels were too high already. Falvoring adds to throat hit. I have a couple high flavoring small clearo blends, but for anything higher power I top out at 8% total or 5% per flavoring, and there's also more concentrated flavorings I use at .03-.5%. But then you could be vaping harder if it's kind of bland and underflavored.

I try for flavor combinations that result in more flavor with less flavoring, just works better. Better premade juices probably do a lot of that, with little bits of additives and enhancing flavors.

I'm suspicious of "no Diacetyl, Acetoin or acetyl propionyl" flavors, especially anything creamy, because then they usually rely on butyric acid, which is an irritant, plus in higher concentrations smells like cat puke.

 

[PhilBrown123]

yeah i think im going to stick with tfa flavorings because they are known to be vape safe ordered some on friday