DIYing VS Buying

[Divine Revhenge]

Hello All
First Im new to vaping, only been at it a little over a month. Ive become frustrated with the crap with bought juices. Not enough vapor, too much TH, too little flavor, or sickly sweet flavor. Im moderately sensitive to the PG based juices and am not sure how much in a mix I can handle yet. Still experimenting. Not the mention the sometimes outrageous shipping costs and the 5 day to 2 week wait. So here goes....

Now the topic at hand.
1. what are the pros and cons for DIY juices
2. what is the cost difference between the 2
3. can a noob like me figure it out fairly easy
4. how long are the juices good for once mixed
5. what are the best ingredients to use (vendors, specific flavors, etc..)
6. what supplies do I need to get started (tool kit, or specialty items)

Im sorry if this has already been posted somewhere, but after 15-20 pages of forum posts I couldnt find anything that answered some or all of my questions.

Thanks, Divine

 

[swedishfish]

I think the pros would be lower cost- someone said it costs them about $3-4 to make 30 ml. And if your good at it, you get a juice you like.

The cons are (to me) if you think you have trouble buying a juice you like, just wait until you buy all the ingredients and make juice you don't like.

There's a whole DIY section with tons of great information and recipes.

Don't go by me though, I've yet to make a juice I like. Others do really well and make juice that they love. It is fun. I'm at the point where I have two juice I vape consistantly and might just stick with them and end the perfect juice search.

 

[Eddie.Willers]

Hello All
First Im new to vaping, only been at it a little over a month. Ive become frustrated with the crap with bought juices. Not enough vapor, too much TH, too little flavor, or sickly sweet flavor. Im moderately sensitive to the PG based juices and am not sure how much in a mix I can handle yet. Still experimenting. Not the mention the sometimes outrageous shipping costs and the 5 day to 2 week wait. So here goes....

Now the topic at hand.
1. what are the pros and cons for DIY juices
PRO: lower cost (about 17 cents/mL if you buy nic base stock on offer); greater control over flavor, PG/VG ratio and nic strength.
CONS: you may well waste a lot finding flavors you like (but see 'cost' above); commercial flavors can have 'hidden' ingredients (such as sweeteners) and are difficult/impossible to reproduce at home

2. what is the cost difference between the 2
The cheapest commercial juice I have found is around 31 cents/mL - see above for comparison.

3. can a noob like me figure it out fairly easy
Yes. E-juice calculators make it easy, necessary equipment is minimal and common-sense is the biggest requirement

4. how long are the juices good for once mixed
6 months or so?

5. what are the best ingredients to use (vendors, specific flavors, etc..)
YMMV - LorAnn, FlavorArt, Perfumers Apprentice etc - costs vary from $1.50 to $4 per dram (3.7mL) of raw flavoring

6. what supplies do I need to get started (tool kit, or specialty items)
Pipettes, graduated cylinder, bottles, unflavored PG/VG base (at whatever strength you want - most folk seem to start with 36mg), zero-nic PG and VG for dilution, flavors, - OneStop DIY is a great supplier for all thsi kind of stuff

Im sorry if this has already been posted somewhere, but after 15-20 pages of forum posts I couldnt find anything that answered some or all of my questions.

Thanks, Divine

Welcome to the wonderful world of DIY - see my comments in red above

 

[earthpig]

Sounds first off like a VG option would do you good if throat hit and lack of vapor , as well as a slight PG allergy .

I won't go into the pros/cons of mixing. I do mix together a few premixed flavors and it works great for me.

 

[the.vapyre]

1. Pros- fun, cheaper, if you come up with something good you will feel success Cons-messy, trial and error waste, can be dangerous
2. It depends on what you get, where you get it from, if it is on sale, etc. Once you get all your tools and supplies, they will last you a long time.
3. Of course. Everyone starts out as a noob. If you can do percentages you can. There are also Mixing calculators you can download.
4. The look at the expiration dates of your liquids. As I understand, nicotine juice keeps for a year, maybe longer refrigerated. I don't know what happens after a year. It may just get weaker?
5. I got my PG from a local pharmacy but you can get it free as a sample from some of the manufacturers. I got my VG from Walmart from the skin products section. Make sure it all has USP on the bottles. Some people use Everclear but I don't like how it tastes. If you go straight VG, you may want to put a very small amount of distilled water in your mix to thin it, keep it from getting the burnt taste, and carry the flavor. Perfumer's Apprentice has some great flavor concentrates. Call the phone number and talk to Linda. She has a wealth of knowledge but she is not a vaper but communicates with us alot. FlavourArt has a big selection including several flavors of different breeds of tobaccos, and some very eccentric flavors.
6. VG and/or PG, flavor concentrate, maybe distilled water, bottles with drip tops for your recipes, a syringe with a wide-enough hole for VG which is really thick, rubber gloves, a calculator is handy, a tackle box is nice for storage. You can buy kits but I preferred to hand-pick each thing I use.

Hello All
First Im new to vaping, only been at it a little over a month. Ive become frustrated with the crap with bought juices. Not enough vapor, too much TH, too little flavor, or sickly sweet flavor. Im moderately sensitive to the PG based juices and am not sure how much in a mix I can handle yet. Still experimenting. Not the mention the sometimes outrageous shipping costs and the 5 day to 2 week wait. So here goes....

Now the topic at hand.
1. what are the pros and cons for DIY juices
2. what is the cost difference between the 2
3. can a noob like me figure it out fairly easy
4. how long are the juices good for once mixed
5. what are the best ingredients to use (vendors, specific flavors, etc..)
6. what supplies do I need to get started (tool kit, or specialty items)

Im sorry if this has already been posted somewhere, but after 15-20 pages of forum posts I couldnt find anything that answered some or all of my questions.

Thanks, Divine

 

[Divine Revhenge]

Thanks for the quick replys everybody!!! Keep 'em coming

 

[markfm]

I started diy at about 2 months.
Catch sales on nic, find flavors that work for you, and good quality diy, 20 mg strength, runs about $4/30 ml.
It takes patience, care in measuring, scrupulous cleanup. Many people don't have the time/patience for diy, but once you dial in a few favorite recipes it becomes pretty quick, with consistent results.
Nic base should be stored away from children and pets, in a cool, dark, place, as should flavorings; I keep my stuff in a storage unit in the basement, no issues with anything turning bad.
I target using ingredients up over about a year. Many things may be fine longer, but I work with some non-pg organic flavorings where I don't want to push the envelope.
Several ecf regions, such as pif, have thrreads dedicated to diy recipes, and there it's a raft of information in the diy e-liquid section of ecf.

 

[Divine Revhenge]

@ the vaprye

How can it be dangerous??

 

[the.vapyre]

Try to do your mixing scientifically so you can reproduce/tweak your results. Control over the mix is a pro. One con I think of sometimes is if I get pulled over, how suspicious would a bottle of DIY be to a cop.
Don't discount buying commercial. There are some delicious juices out there you may miss. I do both.
Most vendors specialize in purity and have everything made in a lab. Just read closely and ask them questions. You may be able to get copies of lab reports from them.
There are also some great sales out there so do your shopping. Also, try to buy small samples first.

 

[the.vapyre]

Straight nicotine is very poisonous and can soak through your skin. That's why I recommend using rubber gloves.

@ the vaprye

How can it be dangerous??

 

[Stosh]

Biggest pro - I've found is the strength of the flavors is to my liking, not what someone else thinks I would like. You can make any juice stronger or weaker, and tweak it to your own taste buds.

Biggest con - You buy big bottles of nic concentrate, flavors and you have enough for 6 months to a year's supply, then a few big sales come along of some pre-mixed you were thinking of trying. And you hunt for any rationalization to make the purchase anyway.....

 

[markfm]

Commercial liquid is indeed a good thing to explore. Kickbass vapor, southern ambrosia, backwoods brew are a couple of the smaller vendors with some quite popular mixes.

 

[Olef]

Everyone is a noob at first Just be sure to read up before you start and understand the correct precautions for handling the strength of nic liquid you are using. At first it is best to use 24mg liquid, that way if you mess up your mixes you are not going to be able to make something that is dangerous to handle or vape. Later on when you are more experienced buy the high strength liquid like 52mg which must be diluted before use. Use vinyl or latex gloves. Work in a clean area away from pets and children. Buy the proper equipment, all sizes of syringes and pipettes for measuring, bottles, gloves, etc. Be precise in your measurements so you can always repeat your mixes. Document every recipe. Check and double check every ingredient you add and the quantity.

The benefits are clear. If you buy in bulk you can make liquid that costs ten percent of pre made. You can make tiny quantities to test flavours so you don't waste whole bottles of pre made liquid that you don't like the taste of - one ml syringes are your best friend here. Of course you can make up small test liquids of just pg and / or vg with flavour to test flavour mixes, you don't have to waste the more expensive nic juice on tests, so testing loads of flavours and mixes is dirt cheap. You have much more control of what actually goes into your liquid.

It's fun!

 

[lolady]

It's too soon to tell, but I think I'm probably going to compromise and tweak.

 

[Sainted_S]

Straight nicotine is very poisonous and can soak through your skin. That's why I recommend using rubber gloves.

I was never comfortable working with higher concentrations of nicotine so I would only buy strengths of 36mg-48mg. The savings weren't as big as they could have been, but I was more comfortable with mixing. For newbs I would suggest buying lower strength nic and working with that. Another pro for DIY is that you have more control over the nic content and can gradually reduce the nic if you want to. I use less than 6mg now down from 24mg, but it was pretty painless because I could just gradually add more PG/VG to my base solution to step down.

 

[swedishfish]

I'm not going to give up. I keep thinking juice flavors would be simple but mine are sorta bad. Nothing like the bought juice. If I could make a peach juice that tasted like Vapor Bombs peach, I'd be very happy!

 

[markfm]

Nic has hazards, if you are sloppy and/or don't store it properly. On the other hand, if you vape 24 or 30 mg eliquid (pretty common, particularly for newer people), limiting yourself to 24 mg nic base is an exercise in futility.

Check out the diy e-liquid subforum, there is a wealth of information, including some how-tos for beginners.

 

[AttyPops]

I handle 48 mg all the time. Meh. Since I vape 24 mg, I just cut it in 1/2 with PG and add flavor. So:

48 mg 50% PG/ 50% VG nic juice, cut in 1/2 with PG & flavor = 24 mg 75/25 flavored juice. Easy.

So all you need is 1) the nic, 2) the PG, 3) the flavoring, 4) dropper bottles to mix in.

Now with that... you can research prices and find most of your answers. I mix in small batches, and re-order supplies every month or two... so IDK how long. If you're stocking up for a zombie apocalypse vs just doing DIY it may be different. You can keep it real simple, and there's tons of flavoring options. Another plus is that you mostly know what is in the juice, except for the flavoring.

Of course, you can do the same thing with VG. Some of the flavorings are 100% vg too. You need to thin it ... a few drops of water, or alcohol, or PEG. See the DIY section.

 

[cyberwolf]

It's all been said above, but DIY can be fun and can save you money. Don't count on a whole lot of savings right off the bat, however, as you will probably find the desire to buy a bunch of different flavorings to mix. After you have a stock of ingredients the cost goes way down. The two main points I will repeat are measure carefully and take notes. Nothing is worse than vaping a mix you enjoy for a week and not being able to reproduce it.

 

[Liv2Ski]

Many good points in the posts above so I will only add ----- Get some sweetner. Most people start out and do not add this key ingredient and wonder why they can not get their juices to taste good. Pick up Cotton Candy flavor which is Ethyl Malto in solution and Sweetner flavor which is Sucralose in solution. I find the Sucralose to be better in bakery and fruit flavors and I like the Ethyl in tobacco based juices. Sweetner should be used sparingly (< 1% of total mix) but without it most juices seem "flat" to me. There are many fine calculators out there but I find this one to be the one I use all the time:
eJuice Me Up - e-Juice e-Liquid Recipe Calculator

Here is a link with more which Jed spent the time to link for everyone:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/diy-e-liquid/169390-ejuice-calculator-roundup.html

Enjoy and Happy vapes to you. DIY is really rewarding and fun. Just be careful you can easily end up with over 175 various flavors like me.