First attempt at DIY

[connorn]

so I joined this forum mainly for the DIY subforum, got my stuff in from heartland vapes today and made a couple batches...

first batch was a 10ml 50/50 mix at 4mg nic and used 8% flavoring of caramel and 4% banana cream both (TFA)

second batch was a 10ml 50/50 mix at 4mg nic and used 6% strawberry and 4% banana cream (TFA)

both came out tasting decently good with a good shake and a nice vape... im giving them a hot water bath at the moment.

they tasted kinda dull in the flavor department but idk if that's cause not enough flavoring or because they haven't been in the hot bath yet?...

any insight from you more experienced guys and girls would be great.... anything im doing right or anything I can improve on! Thanks!

 

[Dave_in_OK]

I have used Strawberry at up to 15%. welcome to the club and make sure to check out the TFA threads.

 

[EJAB]

Depending on what recipe I'm making I age my ejuices between 1 week and a month. When I first started DIY I thought that my initial mixes were good to just "shake n vape", but I soon realized that I was wrong and that time/patience are the biggest factors dictating the outcome of a recipe.

 

[JHDublin]

With the mixing I have done so far I find that it only gets full flavor after about a week depending on how much flavoring used, with more flavoring used obviously you can end up with stuff to strong so you have to dilute again, it's just trial and error.
I use a wine bottle with a screw cap as mixing container and give a good shake and then put it in a warm place for a few hours and then give it a good shake every day for a few days, usually leaving it 4 days before 1st use and if I think it's to weak I ad a little more flavor, it has worked fairly consistent so far, not a 100% bang on same flavor every time but close enough for me.
I will be upping the mixing game a bit over the next while so will keep an eye on these type threads and learn and also share own experiences.

 

[juicynoos]

Are you using established 'as good working' recipes? Your flavoring %'s really depends on the concentrations.ie which brand of flavoring you use. Inawera and TFA may need less due to concentration compared with say FW or CAP.

You can use a good calculator and use existing recipes with decent results from day ! eJuice Me Up - Best eJuice Calculator

 

[Train2]

Agree with both comments above - there IS a difference with a week or so of steeping, but it's also OK to edge up those flavor percentages.
My every day favorite is 17% total flavoring (all TFA)...

 

[JHDublin]

I didn't go with a recipe just of bit trial and error as I just got a 100ml bottle of Hangsen 18mg and diluted that with 100ml og PG and 100ml of VG to make 300ml of 6mg and then took it from there with trying adding different flavors taking some notes and quickly dialled myself in on an all day vape I liked.

 

[juicynoos]

Well if that works for you, then that is one way to go!!But if you find your results are less than pleasing ,you don't want to be wasting all that good material by making batchs that you don't like; less so with simple flavored juice but definitely becomes an issue with more complex recipe's like Custards and desserts in general where a 5 ml test batch is the way to not waste good nic solution or any other base.

 

[juicynoos]

I like the fact you're using a wine bottle but wow, you must be making a large amount in that ..No? I was just thinking you could take a look at some of the very informative threads here where many tips and tricks are shared, so as to "up your game" as you say!

By the way, Happy Saint Patrick's Day

 

[JHDublin]

Yes I can see if you are trying to replicate a special recipe you need more accuracy, I just picked a juice I already liked and then added some others I also liked, with the main being the Hangsen with Nicotine in it and the other flavors just pure concentrate.
Got a nice big order yesterday with lots of new stuff so will do it differently with that

 

[zoiDman]

so I joined this forum mainly for the DIY subforum, got my stuff in from heartland vapes today and made a couple batches...

first batch was a 10ml 50/50 mix at 4mg nic and used 8% flavoring of caramel and 4% banana cream both (TFA)

second batch was a 10ml 50/50 mix at 4mg nic and used 6% strawberry and 4% banana cream (TFA)

both came out tasting decently good with a good shake and a nice vape... im giving them a hot water bath at the moment.

they tasted kinda dull in the flavor department but idk if that's cause not enough flavoring or because they haven't been in the hot bath yet?...

any insight from you more experienced guys and girls would be great.... anything im doing right or anything I can improve on! Thanks!

Taste is Subjective.

But if I was going to do those Mixes, I would add a Drop or Two of TFA Sweetener to Both of them.

 

[juicynoos]

Yes I can see if you are trying to replicate a special recipe you need more accuracy, I just picked a juice I already liked and then added some others I also liked, with the main being the Hangsen with Nicotine in it and the other flavors just pure concentrate.
Got a nice big order yesterday with lots of new stuff so will do it differently with that

Well, best of luck to you. DIY is a fun and money saving part of it but always be aware of safety if you purchase the stronger nic solution available. It will save you even more if you use the stronger stuff in the 10% range (100mg/ml) being the strongest other than buying pure base, I prefer the 5% mark and use 48mg/ml myself in a VG base. Did you grab a kit with syringes, bottles or cylinders and the like. Many do go that route but I just get stuff from my local chemist!

 

[JHDublin]

I already have a few bits like syringes and measure bottles and for anything else I'll need there a chemist 200 meters from my house.
I got a litre of 12mg base that is 55/35/10 in pg/vg/water and a litre of pure vg, still waiting for some pg to come and a ton of flavors I haven't used before but they smell extremely good.
What I want to achieve first here is to find what pg/vg level that suits me best as I have been just going by 50/50 so far and keep sticking to 6mg and 3mg nic levels and of course in the same process learn about the new brand of flavors as I haven't used them before.

 

[juicynoos]

Starting out, I was mostly buying pre-made juices in the 70/30 PG VG and quickly discovered that the nicer juices had higher VG content. The issue of juice viscosity and flavor are separate and depend on what use to vape with. I use mostly mech mods and rda's now and so prefer higher VG juice as opposed to when I used clearo's with small wicking areas and higher ohm coils which better suit higher PG. Also, when mixing your own juice, you will note that PG carries flavor better than VG and will affect the %'s of flavoring you will be required to use. Right now I use no less than 50/50 or 60/40 but prefer the heavier vapor VG produces

 

[juicynoos]

With 55% PG in your mix, I don't see why you would need to add water or alcohol to thin it further unless you are using ego style pens. I only add water if trying for an 80% VG juice or 100% even!

 

[JHDublin]

That's pretty much confirms the direction I was going to take, idea was to experiment with 60/70/80 VG as I only use RBA at about 0.5 to 0.7 ohm ( Lemo & Lemo Drop )

 

[juicynoos]

In that case, you really are where I am at with your vaping equipment and preferred builds. Sounds like you are on the right track with your diy but as suggested, you may want to play with sweetener and flavoring ratio's to find your adv. Higher VG IMO is more satisfying and already sweetens the juice considerably.

 

[JHDublin]

Couldn't help myself yesterday so played with this a little, kept it simple by using 20ml of the 12mg 55/35/10 pg/vg/water base and added 20ml of pure vg to get it to 6mg, which in turn then is 27.5 pg & 72.5 vg (ignoring the water and pretending it's vg )
I added about 4ml of vanilla, 2ml strawberry, 2ml mulled wine to start it low, gave the bottle a good shake and put it in a bucket of hot water for 15 minutes and another good shake.
It's my first try with such high vg but must say that I'm fairly satisfied with the result, flavour is decent considering that this hasn't been steeping.
Have pg ordered as well to try with lower vg levels.

 

[EJAB]

Couldn't help myself yesterday so played with this a little, kept it simple by using 20ml of the 12mg 55/35/10 pg/vg/water base and added 20ml of pure vg to get it to 6mg, which in turn then is 27.5 pg & 72.5 vg (ignoring the water and pretending it's vg )
I added about 4ml of vanilla, 2ml strawberry, 2ml mulled wine to start it low, gave the bottle a good shake and put it in a bucket of hot water for 15 minutes and another good shake.
It's my first try with such high vg but must say that I'm fairly satisfied with the result, flavour is decent considering that this hasn't been steeping.
Have pg ordered as well to try with lower vg levels.

Looks like something that I might like. Thanks for sharing!
P.S.: ALDO wins in 2nd round by TKO/KO