It is definitely time

[jdanderson1449]

So, I went down to the local B&M to load up on some supplies. I picked up 50 mL of juice, assorted flavors of course but 3 tried and true ones that I can't put down. I also got a couple of coil heads. Total spent, $35.

So, when I got home, I sat down and loaded a shopping cart/ wish list on myfreedomsmokes.com with enough supplies to make better than 500 mL of liquid including nic juice and a few flavors to make what I know I currently like. The total before throwing in any bottles (I've been rinsing and saving the used ones for DIYing) about $40.

Talked to my wife (who is not a vaper or smoker) and she was all for it. The total cost per mL of the stuff I get from the local store is about sixty cents.

I'm pretty stoked about the whole process, it's another way for me to express my inner mad scientist and, it brings my juice cost down to about eight cents per mL, pre flavor of course. I'm also pretty certain I can get everything I need locally in a pinch but the B&M is literally blocks away from my house so I can always go there in a pinch.

I'm so happy that there is a good resource like ECF otherwise, I'd never have been willing to give it a shot. Next up, wrapping new coils and wicks for my clearomizers!

 

[Wingsfan0310]

Good luck with you DIY adventure. Make sure you read the stickies at the top of the page and follow all the safety precautions (not sure how strong of a Nic concentration you got). My only other advice would be to start light on the flavoring and taste your juice, you can always add more but can't take it out! Happy Vaping

Cheers,
Steve

 

[jdanderson1449]

I've been reading and rereading and researching everywhere I can. I've been sucking in every bit of knowledge I can and settled on a 48 mg/mL mix of nic juice as I've read that levels higher than that can be quite dangerous. Other than that, I'm gonna start pretty simple with flavors that I know I like. Small doses of flavor and 50/50 mixes. I'm pretty confident that I will be able to concoct some really tasty juices.

Got my recipe book ready and my notebook handy and I think I'm ready to go!

I'll let you know how they turn out!

 

[Chris850]

Several of the other DIY site have recipes too, most of them are using flavors that are all on there site so you dont have to use several diff sites for one flavor

 

[jdanderson1449]

I do have a strange question regarding flavoring if anyone has any input.

Has anyone out there had any luck using grocery store extracts like from McCormick's? I understand that using oil based flavors is probably not a good idea in terms of life of atomizers and I'm not wild about the idea of vaping it to begin with. That being said, I'd be willing to use them at a fraction of the cost of some of the others like FlavourArt or LorAnn flavors.

 

[HeadInClouds]

Has anyone out there had any luck using grocery store extracts like from McCormick's? I understand that using oil based flavors is probably not a good idea in terms of life of atomizers and I'm not wild about the idea of vaping it to begin with. That being said, I'd be willing to use them at a fraction of the cost of some of the others like FlavourArt or LorAnn flavors.

Ohhh, I'd try to talk you out of that for a couple of reasons. You won't find a lot of recipes for McCormicks, you don't know all the ingredients in them, you'll have no idea what % to use when mixing so you'll likely waste time/money/supplies figuring it out yourself, I could go on...

I don't know LorAnn well, but I can tell you most FlavourArt are used at about 5%, quite a few 3-5%, tobaccos usually 1-3%. 10ml bottles at rtsvapes.com run about $3.50. Mixing at 5% then, a $3.50 10ml bottle of flavoring can make 200ml of juice. I don't imagine McCormicks would really save much over that! FlavorWest and Capellas might cost less per ml, but are usually used at 10% or more, so it tends to even out the cost over time.

I really recommend you decide what flavors you prefer first, without lots of concern over a buck or two price difference. #1 goal is to make something you like and will use. Even the most expensive flavorings are a far sight cheaper than cigs you used to buy. Right?

 

[WillyZee]

avoid using grocery store extracts like McCormick's ... if they were safe and worked well for DIY ... you would see people talking about them here on ECF.

stick with the tried and true flavour concentrates ... and congrats for jumping into the world of DIY.

Cheers

 

[partyannimal]

Sounds like you're off to a great start on a fun (and at times frustrating) adventure! I have to agree with the other comments. I've tried using McCormick's and it wasn't a good experience at all. I had to add a lot of it, and even after lots of steeping it was horrid. That was the only time I've had to dump juice and start over! The suppliers seen around here are popular for a reason, and many DIY'ers on here have most likely tried almost everything already at some point lol. I trust their word, and have learned from experience that there aren't many cheaper shortcuts out there that are worth trying.

 

[jdanderson1449]

Good to know. I was just kinda concerned about being able to do things in a pinch.

Never ever was I in question of methods or ingredients already described in some of these posts, it was merely good for thought. I will definitely do some digging to see if I can find the more reputable flavor makers locally purely for "just in case" instances.

I'm pretty set on juice for the time being but I would like to get rolling on my DIY simply to get the practice and to give things time to steep before I'm in a position to need juice.


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[dannyv45]

I do have a strange question regarding flavoring if anyone has any input.

Has anyone out there had any luck using grocery store extracts like from McCormick's? I understand that using oil based flavors is probably not a good idea in terms of life of atomizers and I'm not wild about the idea of vaping it to begin with. That being said, I'd be willing to use them at a fraction of the cost of some of the others like FlavourArt or LorAnn flavors.

I would stay away from the off the shelf supermarket flavors. Those are made for cooking and not for vaping. There are other additives, chemicals and preservitives that are not ment for vaping or have not been studied for use as a vaping flavor. There are to many unknowns and not worth the possible health risks. No flavor has really been tested for long term effects but at least the vaping shops and vaping web sites have had wide use and specialize in there use. So stay with the know and popular sources for your vaping supplies.

 

[jdanderson1449]

I would imagine that since all of the flavorings that are used in the e-liquid industry, or at least the ones that I have come in contact with including LorAnns, FlavourArt and TFA were all designed with baking and candy making in mind. I'm not saying that any one is better than the other. Bear in mind that, if knowledge serves me, McCormick's are mostly alcohol based flavors and could potentially work in a pinch for any DIYer.

I really don't have enough experience with making juice to make a really educated opinion but I think that the higher concentrated flavorings from all of the more reputable makers will be what I use, especially since most of them are available at my local hobby store in the baking section.

Like I said in an earlier post, food for thought considering everything we're vaping is in fact made to be eaten and not inhaled.

 

[jdanderson1449]

Side note, I did a bunch of digging around today, and keep in mind that I do live in a city of about 250,000 so there are plenty of places to go for a lot of these things.

Just to throw it out there, my local Hobby Lobby keeps a large assortment of LorAnn flavorings, they also keep the Sugar and Cream 100% cotton yarn for making wicks. CVS or Wal-Mart for VG, and of course Tractor Supply for PG. The only items that I can foresee needing to purchase in any quantity online or at the local vape shop are kanthal wire and nic juice.

That being said, my DIY projects just got a lot easier to piece together and to keep all the ingredients fresh.

 

[Cookster]

Do you have a Whole Foods? They have Frontier extracts, and some of them look to be potentially ok for use.

Ingredients

 

[jdanderson1449]

Oddly enough, whole foods just opened up about a week ago. I think any of the flavoring a that are intended for candy making will probably do well in this application a long as they are not oil based and their ingredients list isn't too "chemical" heavy.

No sense in inhaling anything too outlandish.


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