Help me choose a DIY base liquid...

[mvr]

I am a new vapor, so far a little over 3 weeks off analogs.

I really want to start mixing my own juice. Being new to the whole vaping experience I'm looking for some guidance as to what I should be using as a base. I plan to buy a base with 36mg/ml nic, and thin down as required, and then add flavour.

So what base should I go with? From the supplier I've looked at they offer 100% VG, PG and PEG400 bases, a 50:50 - VGG base, and a 50:50 VGEG400 base. All available with 0 - 60mg nic levels. I plan to order probably 500ml of base at 36mg nic, and then 300ml with a 0 nic level to thin to a 24mg strength, and hopefully draw down from there with time.

Was looking at a chinese supplier, cost for 50:50 VG/PG would be about 20$ for 500ml @ 36mg, and $7.50 for 300ml @ 0mg nic, + shipping, (roughly 25$ from what I understand). Open to other alternatives as well, but haven't seen anything close to that. Normally wouldn't mind a few extra bucks, but things are tough right now.

I've been using juice from my local supplier, house blend mostly, he's sells juicy clear, and suspect that is what he's using to make it, or having them mix it for him. If that's the case the base is 73% PG:27% Vg, so wondering if I should just go with the 50:50 base for everything, or order the 36mg nic in PG, and then thin with 0 nic VG? Or maybe something completly different?

Also any tips on any critical tools that will be needed for mixing, and where to get them would be appreciated as well.

If it has any bearing I'm vaping off a joyetech ego-t...

Thanks guys...​

 

[bamsbbq]

my first bottle, i would go with PG based unless you are PG sensitive...

now seeing as your canadian as i am...go to the canadian part of the forum...you will get suppliers by PM only there..as far as what strength nic, you should find out which is cheaper by the ML and then choose from there.

HC made it illegal i believe for liquid nic so you may have to go check for more info in the Canada section

 

[Tona Aspsusa]

Whatever base you settle on (I'm still a long way from working through my first 80ml bottle of 36mg/ml PG that I got around Dec 15th - but I still smoke too, and my preferred vape is around 10-14mg/ml), I would recommend that you buy zero nic both PG and VG.

Having the option of experimenting with different ratios is IMO very valuable, because flavours come out differently depending on PG/VG.

If I had unlimited funds to pour into this hobby what I would get (knowing what I know from all of 3 weeks of vaping and mixing; no I've never been good about keeping quiet until I really really know my stuff ) is:

- PG with nic
- VG with nic
- Some "neutral base" with nic (usually these are PG/VG mixes, sometimes with a little bit of flavouring added to neutralize or enhance the flavour of the nic itself - Inawera has some interesting stuff)

- Plain PG
- Plain VG
- Plain PEG

When I made my first liquid order I was miffed that the supplier I had chosen didn't carry stronger than 36mg/ml or bigger bottles than 80ml. My initial idea had been to buy a lot of as strong a nic that I could find.
I am now quite glad that it wasn't practical to do what I wanted (half a litre of 100mg or something like that), because a) working with 36mg/ml happens to suit me well, and b) as I have tasted and read about how nic influences flavours, I now know I will want to try several different suppliers. I'm quite pleased with what I've got, but if I had half a litre of it I would probably not feel justified in ordering something else in several years, and that would be very boring.

Oh, one thing when starting out: You can not have too many small bottles. Order what you think you will need, and then double it before clicking checkout. Seriously.

 

[GrannyM]

Hey mvr,
Welcome to the wonderful world of vaping & DIY!
Good advice from the other posters, but 1 more thing:
If you want your final mixture at 24 mg, you'll probably want to get at least 48 mg base. Mixing down from 36 to 24 doesn't leave you much room for other ingredients. Outside of the flavoring percentage, you may discover after a while that you prefer a different PG/VG ratio & the higher nic base will give you a little more flexibility.
Just my

 

[bamsbbq]

thought about this for a bit... your VG you could probably buy at Shopper's Drug Mart and they do have Tractor Supply in parts of Canada for your PG

 

[dandelionwings]

Whatever base you settle on (I'm still a long way from working through my first 80ml bottle of 36mg/ml PG that I got around Dec 15th - but I still smoke too, and my preferred vape is around 10-14mg/ml), I would recommend that you buy zero nic both PG and VG.

Having the option of experimenting with different ratios is IMO very valuable, because flavours come out differently depending on PG/VG.

If I had unlimited funds to pour into this hobby what I would get (knowing what I know from all of 3 weeks of vaping and mixing; no I've never been good about keeping quiet until I really really know my stuff ) is:

- PG with nic
- VG with nic
- Some "neutral base" with nic (usually these are PG/VG mixes, sometimes with a little bit of flavouring added to neutralize or enhance the flavour of the nic itself - Inawera has some interesting stuff)

- Plain PG
- Plain VG
- Plain PEG

When I made my first liquid order I was miffed that the supplier I had chosen didn't carry stronger than 36mg/ml or bigger bottles than 80ml. My initial idea had been to buy a lot of as strong a nic that I could find.
I am now quite glad that it wasn't practical to do what I wanted (half a litre of 100mg or something like that), because a) working with 36mg/ml happens to suit me well, and b) as I have tasted and read about how nic influences flavours, I now know I will want to try several different suppliers. I'm quite pleased with what I've got, but if I had half a litre of it I would probably not feel justified in ordering something else in several years, and that would be very boring.

Oh, one thing when starting out: You can not have too many small bottles. Order what you think you will need, and then double it before clicking checkout. Seriously.

Thank you---it hadn't dawned on me that base ratio would/could effect the flavors.

 

[mvr]

Thanks....

I do have a couple of TSC stores close by. Would I just ask for Propylene Glycol? or is it sold as something else? Assuming this is food grade PG??

 

[bamsbbq]

tsc made by Ideal...its in the cow section

if you cant find it there...Zellars,Rexall,Shoppers pharmacy will order it for you but its kind of expensive compared to buying a gallon of it.


Ideal Animal Health Propylene Glyco, 1 gal. - 2209731 | Tractor Supply Company

Thanks....

I do have a couple of TSC stores close by. Would I just ask for Propylene Glycol? or is it sold as something else? Assuming this is food grade PG??

 

[brokepainter]

PG from tractor supply is safe for human consumption?

 

[Iffy]

PG from tractor supply is safe for human consumption?

Yes, as long as it has the USP 'stamp'.

 

[brokepainter]

Do they have VG also?

 

[bamsbbq]

Do they have VG also?

no but walmart,rite aid does

 

[mvr]

Should be able to find that in most pharmacys..... not 1 gallon quantity's though!!

 

[Brazilleon]

Just order your nic juice and USP PG from myfreedomsmokes.com.
They have good prices, fast delivery and high quality. I buy 48mg nic juice and cut it in half with PG.

 

[brokepainter]

I will go to Tractor Supply next time and then buy my VG nic online. That should save me a few bucks. Thanks

 

[mvr]

Ok, assuming I can get PG, and VG from my local pharmacy or TSC store, would the nic juice at a 50/50 mix at 48 mg be a good base to order? Im not sure what ratio i'm going to like, would like to get a pretty strong nic amount. I find that 24 is a little weak for me at the time..... That being said I'd like to mellow out the throat hit as well for some blends... Currently not bad, but for the first couple of hours after waking in the morning, it is really harsh. I wake up looking for a good nic fix, but can barely take a puff. That being said by the end of the day, I feel almost no TH at all...

 

[Tona Aspsusa]

I think it is hard to answer that question, mwr, whether 48mg/ml in 50/50 would be a good base for *you*.

For me, if I wanted a strength of 24-28mg/ml, it would probably be good.
But I see from reading other's recipes and whatnots, that I am content with very little flavouring - if you are the type of vaper that wants loads of flavour (and if I've understood correctly high-VG needs a bit more flavouring than PG to achieve the same strength of taste), like 10-20+ % in your juice, 48mg/ml might be a bit on the weak side.

Let's say you want to mix 26mg/ml, you want high VG, and a good amount of flavour (let's say 20%, which for many people isn't even a lot), for this example you are mixing 10ml juice. You will need:
5.42 ml of your nic base
2ml of flavourings (which will most likely be PG, though some may be PGA)

That leaves you with 10ml-7.42ml = 2.58ml to work with wrt adjusting the PG/VG ratio and possibly the viscosity.
Your 7.42ml of baseliquid+flavours now has a PG/VG ratio of 4.71/2.71, so ~63/37. If you add 2.58 undiluted VG, you'll end up at ~47/53 PG/VG.
Which might be exactly what you want, but might also be too low in VG for your taste. OR too low in flavour, and adding more flavour will most likely further push the VG content down.

As of now *I* am very content with just my 36mg/ml PG-base, but if I wanted to mix something at a strength of 20+ mg/ml, AND try some VG-dominated mixes I would either need a way stronger nic-base, OR two different nic-bases, one PG and one VG.

As you say your preference wrt TH varies through the day (mine does too, but my nic-preference varies even more), I think you would probably be better off investing in both a PG and a VG nic straight away. Gives you much more latitude in mixing without having to deal with needlessly strong nic-bases.