Help necessary for someone who just cannot grasp the DIY thing

[the ob]

Let me start by saying that I have read and re-read just about every DIY post on this site at least 3 dozen times.

Also, a important piece of information is that I have (found out in the last year) that I have ADHD. The reason this is important is that the way I process information is different than a person who does not have this. I have a tendency to scan tremendous amounts of information well, but often cannot focus in on smaller details. Adding to this issue is that I am a procedural learner. I work well when I can see something happen rather than trying to learn from reading it. Lastly, the fact that I have this condition, makes me less patient than some. What this means is that I might get more frustrated than most when it comes to making, remaking and messing up mixtures while muddling my way through this process. The reason I bring this up is that it has a great influence on this whole process for me. I view percentages and calculations the same way someone trying to learn a foreign language for the first time might view that. It just looks like numbers on a page.

I am probably someone who should not try to do DIY. It is not something that I was wired to do. That being said, I am determined to figure this thing out (tenacity is also a trait of someone who has this).

I have e-juice calculators and can grasp them mostly. My main issue is in the testing of juices and trying to figure out what works.

Questions:

Is there anywhere where one can find really great videos on how to test juice?
Is there anywhere where one can then find great videos on how to make them?
How does one deal with cleaning the supplies while making the juices and after as well?
Drops vs ML's and that sort of thing makes my head spin.

I need super simple methods for doing all of this. Imagine you were trying to teach this to a small child (which obviously I do not condone ) It would be the same for me.

I also want to apologize in advance. I am going to frustrate a lot of you with my need for simple answers and you will find that I will probably ask the same stupid questions over and over. I am really hoping to find some videos that I can watch as this seems to work better for me. I have googled and cannot seem to find what I need.

I do appreciate anyone who takes the time to help me. As I said, I am going to be a very frustrating case for you. Trust me when I say that I am equally frustrated with myself. I literally bought what I guess is all the needed supplies last week and every night come home and just stare at them too afraid to get started.

Thanks for listening. You are cheaper than a psychiatrist.

 

[canoeist]

Are you going to test your juice in an atty or a carto?

What mg nic do you have in what type of base?

Do you have plain PG & VG also?

What mixture (vg/pg)% do you want at what mg strength?

Do you have a method of measuring and a container to mix into?

 

[the ob]

Are you going to test your juice in an atty or a carto?

What mg nic do you have in what type of base?

Do you have plain PG & VG also?

What mixture (vg/pg)% do you want at what mg strength?

Do you have a method of measuring and a container to mix into?

I will use a atty to test.
I have 36mg nic (PG based)
I have plain VG and PG
I will want 70/30 PG/VG
I have a bunch of syringes. No mixing glasses of anything like that. I can get some.

Thanks for replying!

 

[canoeist]

How strong do you want your juice to be (12mg, 18mg,etc) ?

Do you have some empty dripper bottles? What size?

 

[Shilo]

Th ejuicemeup calculator and this calculator DIY E-Liquid (E-Juice) Mixing Station! are very helpful in making the calculation for you.

 

[Los Marauder]

Man I hear yah. I have partial complex seizure disorder, with pugilistic dementia from being a boxer. I am so lucky to be at 0% nic right now for DIY. (yeh I finally got to 0) The nic is what realy is hard to figure out. I won't even try to help you because there ARE people hear that do such a great job of talking in laymans terms, and I kinda have a launguage all my own. Takes me like forever to type stuff like this. That being said I appreciate how how you brought yourself to the table in so politely expalnibg your situation. My wife gets tired of the over the top niceness I use, but she doesn't have to deal with people that can't understand me, and understadably think Im being a ... when it is absolutely the opposite of what I am trying so hard to comunicate. I will continue to bump this thread for you to keep it fresh for people to see and help.

"Str8v8ping" is like this amazing person that has sooooo much DIY expieriance. I truely couldn't be doing DIY without them. I am oldschool, and not techy at all and don't even know how to contact people directly here. Try and find str8v8ping and ask for resorces in your adventure.

Oh yeh "hairball" is another person that is so helpfull and knows all the little nooks and cranies of info on vaping that we just could never find. Try hairball also.

I wish you the best. Know how your feeling. ECF will get you there just like it did me. Keep asking questions.

 

[Los Marauder]

I would also like to thank conoeist, and shilohcalista. For folks like, the ob, and myself, just geting a responce is wonderfull. It meens we did somthing right Please keep the info comming. The ob will never forget you.

 

[Hoosier]

Great videos on mixing? Not sure about great, but there is a number of them at Blueberry Muffin. Everything from DeMulta's almost-kinda-not-really-measures method to using a separate syringe for everything that comes closer to my method. (Note, the %'s given in the text of the DeMulta's Sweet Tart recipe that I saw there does not match with the %'s I got from reverse engineering his video and recreating it.)

Clean, yeah, I use syringes and have a cup of water at the side of my mixing area. When I'm done with a syringe, I place it in the cup and draw water up into it. Usually fill it up with 1ml syringes by the time I call it quits for a session. I use 1ml syringes for flavoring and the Walgreen's oral syringe for my bases.

I like this one in particular because the brush that comes with it will also fit the 1ml syringe. (That makes it unsuitable for cleaning the Walgreens syringe, but I use one of the oral syringes in my nic and another in my PG/VG pre-mixed bottles, so I have 2 cleaning brushes for cleaning up after mixing.)

As mentioned in my DIY mixing blog and elsewhere in this sub, notes are going to be your friend. I had to force myself to keep notes as it does not come naturally to me, nor did I ever really need to through schooling. Mixing is the first time, outside of doing research at work, that I've had to make notes. (I'm now to the point where I wish I had started my note taking on the computer to enable search functions.) My notes start out with what flavor I'm attempting to make and a record of everything I put in. If it works, I go back and add all the little numbers of the same component up and rewrite it in a recipe format.

You didn't say what types of flavors you wanted to attempt first...

 

[micksf]

I've compiled some of the best tricks from the pros,

www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/diy...echniques-determining-flavor-percentages.html

 

[Traver]

Have you tried simple one flavor mixes?
What flavors do you like?
Whose flavors do you use?

 

[GoodDog]

I agree, starting with a single flavor mix is the best way to go for new DIYers. Here's a thread I started awhile back that might be helpful. http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/diy-e-liquid/264968-single-flavor-diy-beginners.html You'll find a lot of patient people here so don't worry about asking as many questions as you need.

 

[the ob]

First,
I want to thank everyone who is taking the time to respond. It is very much appreciated by both myself and perhaps others who are struggling with this as well.

To answer a couple of the asked questions.

I normally vape 9mg which is a strange amount.
I have a TON of flavors that I purchased but seem to be hooked on Waffle and Razz berry currently. I would like to start with those to make things simple.

thanks again!

 

[Traver]

I normally vape 9mg which is a strange amount.

Do you have a bottle of unflavored base juice mixed up?
In other words a large bottle of unflavored juice at 9mg and at the pg/vg ratio that you like to vape at. That should be the first thing to do.

I have a TON of flavors that I purchased but seem to be hooked on Waffle and Razz berry currently.

Is the waffle a concentrated flavor or a ready to vape juice you got from a vender?

If it is a flavor take 1 ml needle and fill it with your base and empty the one ml into a bottle.
Next add add one ml of waffle to the bottle. Empty it into the middle of the base liquid instead of just squirting it on top.
Before removing the needle fill and empty it a few time in the base liquid that you just added flavor to. This will get all the flavor out and help to stir it up.
Now you have a ten percent waffle juice.

You can shake it up and try it but you may have to let it steep for a few days or more.

The you can add more flavor to make it stronger or more base to dilute it till you get a flavor you like.

This may be over simplifying things but I am trying to figure out where you are.

Don't count on liking any particular flavor that you mix. One out of five isn't bad.

 

[AzPlumber]

Best thing to do imo is get yourself a couple of waffle flavors and a couple of raspberry flavors. Mix each up and work with them as a single flavor until you get one of each that you like. You can then mix the two single flavor liquids together at varying ratios until you get it to your liking. Just keep notes and you will be able to recreate it. If you start with multi flavor mixes, you never get an idea of what each flavor has to offer.

 

[Randyrtx]

My best advice is to use eJuice Me Up, then print the recipe card to use for mixing and for handwritten notes on your results. For any changes you make to the recipe, go back to the calculator, enter your changes, and save it.

You can also use the card to "check off" as you go, so you don't forget any ingredients (or add some twice!).

Syringes are great for small quantities (3ml, 12ml, and 30ml sizes are good), but I prefer to use graduated cylinders mostly.

 

[vicsan]

In your ejuice me up calculator you will enter 100% PG nic at 36mg

That's what's you're starting with and that is at the top and the first thing you enter

Then it asks Target Nicotine strength.

You will enter 9%

Amount to make? 10ml? 30ml? 60ml? 120ml? Enter the size bottle you have.

Next is the water, Vodka or Pure Grain Alcohol. Leave at zero if you aren't using any them.

Next is your flavoring. Most flavorings are PG based, so enter 100% under PG. Write in the name of the flavoring. Enter the % you want added to the juice. I like FLAVOR so I mix mine at 10-15%. You're going to have to guess at this one, ob. If it's not strong enough, you can always add more flavor later, so you may want to start weak...maybe 5%? I really don't know the best strength for mixing waffle or Raspberry. Someone else will though.

Next is the nicotine juice percentages. Enter 70 PG and 30 VG.

Go to the bottom of the screen and hit "calculate" and up pops everything you need in "ml" or "drops."

It tells you how many ml PG/VG to use and how many ml/drops of flavor to use.

Just use your syringes to measure out what the recipe says.

I keep a big mason jar half full of Vodka for rinsing my syringes in between flavors/PG/VG/nic (nic gets it's own syringe though).

I also use a big cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil with paper towel on top for the mixing. As I mix, I close each bottle after use so it doesn't get spilled and move it OFF the tray because I already used it and don't need it again for this recipe. As I measure, after each flavor, the syringe goes into the Vodka and gets cleaned before going to the next ingredient.

COVER THE PRINT ON YOUR SYRINGES WITH SCOTCH TAPE so it doesn't come off.

Everything gets washed in the sink with dish soap when I'm finished and air dried.

on edit: I also print out the recipe card (top of the ejuice me up page) and if I make any changes, I add that to the recipe card...just write at the bottom of the sheet what you added to the recipe. Next time you want to make it, it will be there and it will taste the same as before. Just add whatever changes you made and then hit "file">save. Keep the recipe card if you want. I keep mine so I can just use that next time instead of taking my laptop to the work area (kitchen).

 

[GoodDog]

Great post vicsan! You should add this to the expert mixing thread. I'll go get the link for you. brb

Here ya' go. http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/diy-e-liquid/268759-diy-masters-techniques-mixing-flavors.html

 

[vicsan]

Great post vicsan! You should add this to the expert mixing thread. I'll go get the link for you. brb

Here ya' go. http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/diy-e-liquid/268759-diy-masters-techniques-mixing-flavors.html

Thank you! But I'm NOT an expert mixer! I just started mixing 3 weeks ago.

ob's my buddy. I was just trying to help him.

I'll go add it to the thread if you think I should. To help others who have a hard time doing this stuff.

 

[AzPlumber]

Thank you! But I'm NOT an expert mixer! I just started mixing 3 weeks ago.

ob's my buddy. I was just trying to help him.

I'll go add it to the thread if you think I should. To help others who have a hard time doing this stuff.

That was a really good post vicsan and no need to state your level of expertise. A better testament to your level of expertise would be how much vodka is left in your half full mason jar after your mixing session.

 

[vicsan]

That was a really good post vicsan and no need to state your level of expertise. A better testament to your level of expertise would be how much vodka is left in your half full mason jar after your mixing session.

Thank you.

What Vodka?