Hello World! (and a newbie question)

[Cardynal]

Hi! I'm Art, and I'm looking to save some money on vape juice by making my own. My wife has been vaping for nearly 2 years now and she loves it. She tried for 53 years to quit cigarettes and couldn't do it until she started vaping. So vaping has been a real godsend to us.

Anyway, I've got my quart of VG and quart of PG, a few bottles of tobacco flavors, and a bottle of nicotine. And the nicotine is what my question is about. It says it's a 125ml bottle of 36mg. That makes no sense to me. 36mg per what volume? My wife vapes a 1.8% storebought juice. How do I calculate how much to put in a 10ml bottle?

 

[defdock]

36mg per ml, is equivalent to 3.6% by volume.

Your wife's juice is 1.8% by volume, so it equates to 18mg per ml.

I sudjest using an ejuice calculator like http://..................../create

 

[dcfluegel]

howdy, Art - and welcome

36mg nicotine is 36mg of nic per ml of liquid... if i am not mistaken, your wife is vaping an 18mg juice (1.8%) - so, you would use 5ml of the nic base in a 10ml bottle to make the same nic level juice

for mixing, i use a recipe calculator program called ejuicemeup - it's a free one

 

[suprtrkr]

+1. You have 36mg/mg bic base, and that's 3.6%. If you're wanting to make 18, then nic should be half the volume. And yes, a juice calculator is very helpful.

 

[Foggy Road]

Hi Art,
It's seems you've gotten some good answers already. I just want give you a heads up that while DIY sounds really simple it can be very frustrating in the beginning. I got off to a difficult start until I finally found some flavors that worked for me.
If you have a difficult start their are alternatives that still offer huge savings such as buying from budget online juice vendors. I did this for several months and even used my DIY supplies to dilute the juice I bought by diluting it 50% effectively doubling the amount of the already very inexpensive juice. Most commercial juices are so strongly flavored that diluting them really doesn't impair flavor nearly as much as you would expect. I was buying 120ml bottles for $20 and cutting them 50/50 with unflavored that I would mix up giving me 240ml for $20 and change.
I used VapeMoar.com juices but their highest nic content is 1.6%-16mg. I would adjust them up to my 24mg level. Another budget online vendor is OasisVape.com, very inexpensive and have 40% off on Tuesdays much better flavor selection and nic choice than the other one but I finally got my DIY going before I ever actually needed to buy from them.
I finally found some very good single ingredient concentrates at One Stop DIY shop (Google- OSDIY). Most of their house brand concentrates are good as standalone flavors.
Just some suggestions in case you hit a brick wall with your first attempts at DIY as many of us do.

Have fun and vape on.

 

[BrotherBob]

Welcome and glad you joined.
Might like to read:
dannyv45's blog | E-Cigarette Forum
Hoosier's blog | E-Cigarette Forum
DIY Resources
You will want to scroll down to Sir2fyablyNutz thread, he lists most of the places you can find recipes.
Re: First DIY Order
How hard is it to get in to DIY liqiud?
When I study and DIY will starts to make sense.

 

[Cardynal]

howdy, Art - and welcome

36mg nicotine is 36mg of nic per ml of liquid... if i am not mistaken, your wife is vaping an 18mg juice (1.8%) - so, you would use 5ml of the nic base in a 10ml bottle to make the same nic level juice

Am I reading this right? My mixture should be 50% nicotine? That seems way too high to me. Just checking to be sure I'm understanding this, because I don't want to poison my wife. lol

 

[dcfluegel]

Am I reading this right? My mixture should be 50% nicotine? That seems way too high to me. Just checking to be sure I'm understanding this, because I don't want to poison my wife. lol

your nic base is only 3.6% nicotine to start with... if, as you stated, you have a 36mg/ml nic base, that equates to a 3.6% nic base... half of that would be 1.8% (so, that is actually 50% of a 3.6% nicotine base - not the same as 50% nicotine at all...)

my best recommendation is get a mixing calculator program (like ejuicemeup, for example) or use an online one such as the one at steam-engine.org to confirm the math independently...

I personally mix with 100mg/ml nic base... and I vape a 3mg/ml juice... to mix 10ml of a 3mg/ml juice, I use .3ml of nic base - now, keep in mind, I am vaping juice that is 1/6 the nic strength as your wife's and I am mixing with a nic base that is almost 3x the strength of yours... one of the challenges you are going to have is that you are using a lower strength base (36mg/ml) to mix a higher strength juice (18mg/ml) - depending on the PG/VG ratio of your nic base and the PG/VG ratio your wife prefers, you may not have much room in the mix for flavors, as most flavors are PG based (and a common flavoring ratio is about 15-20% depending on the type of flavorings you are using/ concentration)

 

[zoiDman]

Am I reading this right? My mixture should be 50% nicotine? That seems way too high to me. Just checking to be sure I'm understanding this, because I don't want to poison my wife. lol

Always Good to Check. And then Double Check. Even Triple check when you are New.

If you have 36mg/ml Nicotine Base, then Yes, to make 18mg/ml finished e-Liquid you would add 50% Nicotine Base. The other 50% will be made up of PG and or VG and or Flavoring(s).

But you have Not told use Two Key Parts of the Puzzle.

What is the PG|VG Ratio of your 36mg/ml Nicotine Base?
What is the PG|VG Ratio you would like to end up with for your Finished 18mg/ml e-Liquid?

 

[Grimwald]

36mg per mil is what ya got...you want 18mg per mil.

So 36/2 = 18

Cut your 36mg liquid with an equal amount of 0mg liquid.

So say you want 30 mil of 18mg. Start with 15 mil of your 36mg nic juice. Add 15 mil of pg/vg/flavors. I'll leave it to you to decide the pg/vg ratio.

 

[Cardynal]

The Nicotine base is 50/50. I want my finished product (at least to start out with) to be 50/50.

Thanks much for the replies. I am very surprised that my 125ml bottle will only end up making 250ml of juice. But hey, I'd much rather know starting out than have my wife complain "I can't get anything off of this, so go buy it at the store again."

 

[zoiDman]

The Nicotine base is 50/50. I want my finished product (at least to start out with) to be 50/50.

Thanks much for the replies. I am very surprised that my 125ml bottle will only end up making 250ml of juice. But hey, I'd much rather know starting out than have my wife complain "I can't get anything off of this, so go buy it at the store again."

Yeah... Better to Start with Smaller Quantities when you are New to DIY.

So you have 36mg/ml Nicotine base which is 50%PG|50%VG. And you want to end up with 18mg/ml 50|50. Give it a Good Shake for about 1 Minute.

What I would do is Measure out 10ml of the Nicotine Base and put it in a 30ml Bottle. Then add 5ml of Pure PG and add 5ml of Pure VG.

You should Now have 20ml of 18mg/ml Unflavored. Now test it and see what it Taste like.

 

[Cardynal]

I'm reading that I should steep the finished mixture "for a while". Is it like steeping tea? Just cover it and let it sit a while?

 

[zoiDman]

I'm reading that I should steep the finished mixture "for a while". Is it like steeping tea? Just cover it and let it sit a while?

Steeping is Needed/Recommended when you add Flavorings to a Mix.

I would Suggest that you do a Small Test Batch at 18mg/ml that is Unflavored. No Steeping Needed. Just Mix, Shake and then Taste Test.

You kinda have to know that your Nicotine Base tastes OK before you try doing Flavored Mixes.

 

[Cardynal]

So I made up 4 10ml bottles yesterday. I had 3 flavors. The fourth one is a blend of two. Evelyn was impatient and wanted to try them even though they've only been mixed up about 24 hours. She loves them! Yay! Thanks so much for helping me get started. You guys rock!

 

[Foggy Road]

So I made up 4 10ml bottles yesterday. I had 3 flavors. The fourth one is a blend of two. Evelyn was impatient and wanted to try them even though they've only been mixed up about 24 hours. She loves them! Yay! Thanks so much for helping me get started. You guys rock!

Congrats on your success.

 

[dcfluegel]

So I made up 4 10ml bottles yesterday. I had 3 flavors. The fourth one is a blend of two. Evelyn was impatient and wanted to try them even though they've only been mixed up about 24 hours. She loves them! Yay! Thanks so much for helping me get started. You guys rock!

WOOT! yah, DIY has been a huge game changer for me - my only issue has been when my friends try it, they seem to like it too...

 

[Foggy Road]

WOOT! yah, DIY has been a huge game changer for me - my only issue has been when my friends try it, they seem to like it too...

LOL! Fortunately I ain't got none O dem friend critters hangin round ta pester me.