How much to buy?

[fiddleshe]

I am looking at my first order. Other than flavorings I can't figure out how much of each to order. I don't want to order too much in case I'm a complete failure at this or I hate it but I want to balance that out with cost savings. I don't have a clue how much say a liter of Nic makes and how much glycerine and the other stuff I need to match that much nicotine. Right now i plan on making 24 mg batches. Ideally I would like to order enough to last me 2-3 months then I can decide after that if I want to keep doing it. As far as flavorings I need to decide on a couple good recipes.

I hope I am making sense.

 

[Cool_Breeze]

There should be 100,000mg of nicotine in a liter of 100mg per ml nicotine base...

 

[dannyv45]

The best way to get started is to read the following blog.

What you need to know as as far as supplies and safety for the first time juicer. | E-Cigarette Forum

Then the following

My blogs will give insight into all aspects of DYI, from steeping to what supplies to have on hand to a basic walk through mixing your first E-juice.

E-Cigarette Forum - dannyv45 - Blogs

Then read hoosier's blogs. These blogs concentrate on fine tuning your mix and give insight on additives.

E-Cigarette Forum - Hoosier - Blogs

Then read Boletus's blog's. These blogs concentrate on formulation of nicotine bases regarding proper calculations methods for figuring Nicotine concentration as well as safety.

E-Cigarette Forum - Boletus - Blogs

Then read Ginger's book "E-Cigarettes 102: DIY E-Liquid". It is a book which I've contributed to that delivers an in depth easy to follow guide in the art of DYI.

E-Cigarettes 102: DIY E-Liquid

I recommend viewing VPLive Vape Team Episode #82: DIY Safety and bookmark it for future reference. It explains safety in all aspects of DYI.

VPLive Vape Team Episode #82: DIY Safety

then read the stickies at the top of the page.

this will explain a lot of the how's and why's.

 

[BrotherBob]

Might go with : DIY Kits - Vape Your Own eLiquid

 

[SteveS45]

@fiddleshe
Just go to Liquid Barn and get the DIY Starter Kit which gives you everything to make 1,400 ML's of e-Liquids and labware for about $60 or so with a coupon code. If you don't find that DIY e-Liquids is as easy as mixing a drink your only out the price of a couple of bottles if you bought them at a store.

 

[Wackyjak]

If you want to try DIY you can order nicotine base with the mg's and percentages of vg/pg to your liking already mixed then add your flavors. IMO a great way to start, learn and experiment with mixes.

 

[JCinFLA]

When I first started DIY, I wanted to get enough of the ingredients needed to let me find out if I was going to like DIY or not and get comfortable working with lower mg nic. Wanted to do that for sure, before I ordered in larger quantities and/or got 100mg nic base.

So I ordered 120mL of PG and 120mL of 24mg nic base in 100% VG, from Wizard Labs. I also ordered about 18 of the 8mL vials of flavorings from them, too, at the same time. Before ordering...I'd found 5 recipes I wanted to make, and then ordered the 14 flavorings I needed to make them + 4 others that I'd read were really good to have on hand. I'd already found and bought a 167mL bottle of VG at Walmart for about $3.65. If I hadn't though, I'd have ordered it from WL, too, with the other stuff.

Using just those ingredients...I found out I loved DIY! So from then on I've ordered PG & VG by the gallon and gotten liters of 100mg/mL nic base in 100% VG. Flavorings are usually ordered now in the 30mL and 120mL bottles.

It never hurts to start out with whatever you're comfortable with at first, as far as quantities to buy, companies to use, what mg of nic base to get, how much to spend, etc.. It's all an individual choice, and no matter how you choose to start...it can still result in you being able to make great eliquids!

 

[fiddleshe]

Well after doing a ton of reading what makes sense to me is mixing by weight. Everything else seems complicated. I suck at math so it's the easiest method for me. I don't want to buy a diy kit that's going to give me mix by volume supplies I will never use.

 

[zoiDman]

I am looking at my first order. Other than flavorings I can't figure out how much of each to order. I don't want to order too much in case I'm a complete failure at this or I hate it but I want to balance that out with cost savings. I don't have a clue how much say a liter of Nic makes and how much glycerine and the other stuff I need to match that much nicotine. Right now i plan on making 24 mg batches. Ideally I would like to order enough to last me 2-3 months then I can decide after that if I want to keep doing it. As far as flavorings I need to decide on a couple good recipes.

I hope I am making sense.

I think the Chances of things being a Complete Failure are Low. But I agree on buying Smaller quantities of Nicotine on your 1st Order.

To give you a Rough Idea of how much nicotine you need, take the amount of mg's you like to vape at and then Multiply it by the number of Milliliters you vape per day. This tells you how many Total mg's of Nicotine you use per day. Then Multiply your Total mg's by the Number of days you want your 1st Order to last.

Another way to think about it is a 120ml Bottle of 100mg/ml Nicotine Base has Total of 12,000mg's of Nicotine in it. (120 x 100 = 12,000)

If I take 12,000 and divide it by 24 (you mentioned you want to make use 24mg/ml Finished e-Liquid) I get 500. Now if I divide 500 by 90 (roughly 3 Months) I get about 5.5.

So this tells me that a 120ml Bottle of 100mg/ml Nicotine Base will last 90 Days if I vape 5.5ml per day (or less) of 24mg/ml Finished e-Liquid.

 

[zoiDman]

BTW - Before you buy ANY Nicotine Base, you should consider what you Finished e-Liquids PG to VG Ratio will be.

Because if you want to vape say 24mg/ml @ 20%PG | 80%VG, you Can't get there using 100mg/ml Nicotine Base that is 100% PG

 

[fiddleshe]

I want to get 24 mg nicotine at 50/50 or 70/30 pg to vg. I think the vg is bothering me. I can't experiment with vg/pg ratios once I get the stuff?

 

[mhertz]

Well after doing a ton of reading what makes sense to me is mixing by weight. Everything else seems complicated. I suck at math so it's the easiest method for me. I don't want to buy a diy kit that's going to give me mix by volume supplies I will never use.

While I personally am a big advocate of utilizing scales for DIY, then it's not really any less math-intensive than volume-based measuring, both methods just needs you to make a few clicks on a DIY calc and have practically no math involved unless you want to However, if you're sure that you're gonna go the scale-route already for other reasons, then I agree in that it would be better starting out with that from the getgo.

I already knew I was going to go the DIY way the minute I learned it was a possibility and did some calculations on how much money is saved. The same was true for me with regards to using RBAs and building/wicking your own coils. What's not to love about total control of everything while saving money additionally. It's not a hard thing to do and is just like e.g. cooking or making a drink/coctail.

 

[zoiDman]

I want to get 24 mg nicotine at 50/50 or 70/30 pg to vg. I think the vg is bothering me. I can't experiment with vg/pg ratios once I get the stuff?

Let's stop for one second. Because Maybe I'm not clear where you want to go? Because I thought you wanted to make 24mg/ml at some PG to VG ratio.

What type of Finished e-Liquid(s) do you want to make (mg/ml and approximate PG to VG ratio)?

 

[dobroeutro]

Might want to have a look @ these threads: Mixing By Weight: Basics 101 / Recipes for Dummies if you haven't already...

 

[fiddleshe]

Let's stop for one second. Because Maybe I'm not clear where you want to go? Because I thought you wanted to make 24mg/ml at some PG to VG ratio.

What type of Finished e-Liquid(s) do you want to make (mg/ml and approximate PG to VG ratio)?

24mg/ml and either 50/50 or 70/30 pg/vg.

 

[fiddleshe]

Might want to have a look @ these threads: Mixing By Weight: Basics 101 / Recipes for Dummies if you haven't already...

Already read the first one. In holding off on finding recipes yet. I pretty much know what I want. I just need the recipes. I have no desire to come up with my own recipes as I'm a terrible cook with bad taste buds.

 

[dobroeutro]

Already read the first one. In holding off on finding recipes yet. I pretty much know what I want. I just need the recipes. I have no desire to come up with my own recipes as I'm a terrible cook with bad taste buds.

Cool, good luck...

 

[zoiDman]

24mg/ml and either 50/50 or 70/30 pg/vg.

OK Cool.

You can get to either 50PG/50VG or 70PG/30VG using 100% VG Nicotine Base. But it would be a Little Tight on the 70PG/30VG.

So I would Recommend going with 120ml of 100mg/ml Nicotine Base that is 50PG/50VG. That seems to give you a Lot of room to adjust your PG/VG ratio. As well as to Lower you mg/ml if you want to.

You will also need some Pure PG and some Pure VG. Maybe a 250ml Bottle of each to start with.

BTW - Here is a relatively Easy to use DIY Calculator where you can plug in "What If" scenarios to see what you would need.

DIY E-liquid

 

[JCinFLA]

In holding off on finding recipes yet. I pretty much know what I want. I just need the recipes. I have no desire to come up with my own recipes as I'm a terrible cook with bad taste buds.

Many newbies to DIY pick out & buy a bunch of flavorings just because they "sound" good to them, or they like that particular fruit, or dessert, etc. in foods. So they think they'll like it in eliquids, too, and all they need is that 1 flavoring to get that taste. But, they end up coming on here to ask for recipes they can make with those flavorings then. Many times, they'll find that a recipe requires not only the primary flavoring they bought, but also some "blenders" or secondary flavorings, some accents, maybe some sweetener of 1 type or another, etc., etc. So they're stuck needing to order the additional flavorings they need.

That's why most will stand a better chance of DIY success from the beginning, and have less frustration...if they'll find recipes they want to make first, and then buy the flavorings needed to make them. Saves on having to place another order, pay more S/H, wait for the ones needed to arrive, etc.

 

[fiddleshe]

Yeah I've already looked at recipes. I just haven't found the ones I want to know which flavorings I need. Like strawberry cheesecake, vanilla ice cream or cake, and chocolate mint. I'm also interested in grants vanilla custard and mothers milk clones because they seem to get good reviews. But I have no idea what they taste like.