Is DIY juice really cheaper?

[shawnw1561]

I've been tossing around the idea to start making my own juice, mainly to dial in on what I want to vape, and be a little more hands on. But I've seen a lot of info saying its really not any cheaper- so between the time spent making it and the cost, is it worth it?

Sent from my SCH-S968C using Tapatalk

 

[Jim_ MDP]

Time spent is really not that much, initial supplies don't need to be extravagant and a general consensus puts final cost around $1.60 for 30ml... very complex recipes slightly more.
And that's without large bulk PG/VG purchases.

Yeah... it's cheaper. A lot cheaper.

 

[mhertz]

I can promise you that it is cheaper for sure and not a little but way cheaper.

I vape 20 ml's a day after i've begun dripping, and the cost is neglible...

The only thing people mean when they say that they do not really save money on DIY, is that it becomes a big hobby for them, meaning that they always think about new recipes and stuff to blend together and hence orders a bunch of new flavors all the time and that of course adds up, but you do not have to take it that far at all and even if you do, then it about comes out as event up cost wise anyways...

It's important though to look around a little if wanting to save the biggest amounts and buying in bulk for pg and vg, buying 100mg nic in liter bottles and getting flavors at the cheapest places... It's not mandatory though, but it can really shave the cost down to the bare minimum!

As an example e.g. buy vg and pg, one gallon each with free shipping can often be gotten for very good prices as Essential Depot. Good nic can be gotten from 60 bucks a liter of 100mg and down from e.g. nicotine-river or vape clarity. There's also cheaper ones from e.g. Vapers Tek which is cheap for it's throat-hit version, or e.g. can be gotten from mfs or ecx cheaply(the last three are under 50 bucks each, and vaper tek's throat-hit is 25 bucks right now I believe!). Inawera flavors can be gotten very cheaply in 100ml bottles from e-aromashop.com, allthough it's from poland but who cares if it saves you some bucks...

In the beginning, you can start out small to see if it's for you or not and what you like specifically, and then later on taking advantage of the greater bulk offerings...

 

[Jdurand]

The retail cost of the juice I've made so far would be about $350.00. Total cost to make it was about $70.00. As with anything, start up supplies are the biggest up front expense. As with mods, the gear is reusable, now you're down to VG/PG, nic and flavors. A gallon of VG is $34.00. I can't even imagine what a gallon of quality ejuice would cost! lol

 

[mattymatt82]

I think it is a lot cheaper in the long run.

 

[nyiddle]

It's way cheaper.

Since I don't use much flavoring, and I have a crapton of VG/PG/nic, I'm making juice for about 7 cents per mL, compared to ~40 cents per mL from even the cheapest vendors at the largest possible quantities.

 

[shawnw1561]

Wow, thats crazy. I didn't think it was that drastic. I'm convinced!
Where do you guys buy your liquids/supplies from?

Sent from my SCH-S968C using Tapatalk

 

[Jim_ MDP]

Ok... now you've asked an actual difficult question.

 

[Capt.shay]

DIY juice is much cheaper. The hobby is much more expensive.



Oh, and I'm going to beat him to the punch and say "Go read Danny's Blogs".

 

[Hans Wermhat]

My Freedom Smokes . com
1L PG $18
1L VG $18
1L 100 mg/ml nic $50 (or $40 when they run a sale), 2 year supply for me (3mg/ml and 20+ ml/day)
Unflavored base from this, roughly $2 for 100 ml batch.
Flavors are cheap as well. 10ml sample sizes can be found for $3 - $4 everywhere. 4oz bottles (120ml) are usually about $10. My all day dripping juice is 15% flavor and costs me about $3.25/100 ml. My all day tootle puffing juice is a little closer to $4/100 ml. I use slightly more expensive tobacco flavors and I'm still under $5.

 

[Jdurand]

I buy my VG and PG from essentials depot and my flavors and nic from MFS, just like Hans.

 

[shawnw1561]

What is the shelf of of the flavors and nic? If the liter of nic is a 2 year supply, will it go bad or lose potency by then?

Sent from my SCH-S968C using Tapatalk

 

[Hans Wermhat]

I actually buy my flavors from Bull City and OSDIY shop. (OSDIY Blue Raspberry Slushy is AWESOME!!! 15% flavor, no steep needed. High VG favoring, great for clouds) But PG, VG, and Nic all from MFS. Nic can be stored in the freezer to prolong it's life. You will want to break down a 1L bottle into smaller bottles and keep them frozen. Every time you opena bottle and let air in, you allow it to oxidize. I break the liter down into 3 - 250 ml amber glassbottles and 2 - 125 ml bottles. Only one 125ml bottle thawed at a time. Fill them as ful as you can get them so there is no room for air in the bottles before you freeze them. I hear nic will keep for somewhere between 2 and 763 years depending on who you talk to. Lol! General consensus is at least 2 - 5 years though. Favors stored at room temp should last a couple of years at least.

 

[sofarsogood]

I paid $50 for a 1 liter bottle of 100mg nic from myfreedomsmokes. It's fine, it's in the freezer, and should last 3-4 years. At 6 ml per day my mixing calculator says a year supply of DIY will cost $50. That's about 12-15 cents a day, $3.60 a month. Is that cheap enough for you? 240 ml bottles of premix via mail order were costing me about $300 a year. I used to spend $3,000 a year smoking a carton a week. Vaping isn't cheap, it's free.

 

[jacob bonilla]

yup you spend what $20 on a 30ml bottle when you can make 30ml for a few cents probably. I bought pg and vg alone for $18 500ml bottles nic for I think $12? flavors $11 each rarely even made a dent in the flavor bottles I'm sure they can easily make 50 30ml bottles each. the ONLY problems I get with DIY is finding good flavors/recipes I make as I do single flavorings and the first 3 I bought suck or are more likely used as hinted flavors and steeping if needed in which some juices do need steeping other don't really need it. breathing I can handle a whole 12 hours. other then that definetly cheaper and I HIGHLY suggest you buy flavors for pre made recipes before you do what I did which was go my own way and buy bleh flavorings. I think the flavor bottles are 4oz's I didn't think it would be a lot but damn it is a LOT.

 

[AzPlumber]

Depends on how obsessive you are. One can spend much more on diy and supplies then they ever did on pre-made.

 

[Alter]

Its not the fact of being cheaper but after vaping commercial juices for a couple years then begin to make your own the difference between is unbelievable, no more crap shooting hard earned bucks for a YUK juice with a nifty name. I drink a fraction of the water I use to with commercial juice since my juices don't have added sweetener in them IMO some of the cause of becoming parched. I can run my DIY Hangsen tobaccos bogarting more than 10mls a day in a 1.2ohm RBA subtank mini and have the rayon coil last almost 3 weeks before pooping out.
I have yet to come across any cons to making your own juice. Some have problems but most are user error trying to create rocket science mixes before they know what to expect out of the flavors, their ratios and how to use them to create a fine tasting juice.
I saved plenty from not smoking ciggys already so with rebuilding coils and DIY juice I'm totally self sufficient and can splurge on the better PV's that only enhance my wife's and I's already great vape experience.

 

[dc99]

Essential depot for VG/PG. Gallon of each is 40 bucks shipped. Liter of 100mg from MFS is 50 plus shipping. RTS has good deals for new members, especially if you buy 3 at a time. RTS has a great flavor selection also. If you buy in bulk(4oz or larger) you can buy direct from TFA.
MFS has a pretty good starter DIY kit.
Store the nic in the freezer. It will stay clean. I break my VG down into 500ml bottles.

 

[flclouds]

If you buy pg and vg and nic in bulk it is cheaper in the long run. A small bottle of flavoring lasts a long time. If you're a minimalist that's all you really need.

I was paying $25 for 100ml of juice before DIY and it barely lasted a month. I spend way less than that on VG and nicotine now.

 

[Dixie1954]

My All Day Vape costs me $4.85 for 100ml. I use Essential Depot PG and VG and Nude Nicotine's nic. I could not stand any of the ready made juices so I had to start making my own juice or quit vaping.