Leaving syringes in bottles/other thoughts on sanitary procedure

[Shawn Putnam]

I often wonder if some of the lengths people go to in the name of sanitation are unnecessary. That said, I do use a laminar flow hood when I mix, but that's just because I happened to already own one and it can't hurt. I force my syringes through the plastic dropper caps on my concentrate bottles for easier dispensing. What I'm wondering, is that if I plan to use a number of the same concentrates over a period of a few days, would it really be that unsafe to simply leave the syringes in their respective bottles for that period? Maybe even put a box or something over them to prevent dust in the air from making contact? It would save a lot of time and cleaning. Not too worried about air getting into the bottles either, as the syringes do sit perfectly flush with the droppers. I don't know how to mix by weight. I'm not that great with math and it makes my head spin, so for now, this is how I roll. Anyway, just wondering how others might weigh in.

 

[BrotherBob]

My guess is no. A few hours and something is going to settle within/on a liquid. By the time you see it, after it multiplies, it's too late. Microbes will multiply in a great many solutions whether clean rooms or under lam flo hoods etc. Dark moist environments promote bacterial growth in general.
IMO the gamble is not worth the risk of losing not one, but multiple contaminated flavors.

 

[rgerber]

Remember.... Cleanliness is next to Vapelyness .... Keep episode you gear squared away. You never know when the Gunny is gonna show up..... Grin.

 

[Ryedan]

I often wonder if some of the lengths people go to in the name of sanitation are unnecessary. That said, I do use a laminar flow hood when I mix, but that's just because I happened to already own one and it can't hurt. I force my syringes through the plastic dropper caps on my concentrate bottles for easier dispensing. What I'm wondering, is that if I plan to use a number of the same concentrates over a period of a few days, would it really be that unsafe to simply leave the syringes in their respective bottles for that period? Maybe even put a box or something over them to prevent dust in the air from making contact? It would save a lot of time and cleaning. Not too worried about air getting into the bottles either, as the syringes do sit perfectly flush with the droppers. I don't know how to mix by weight. I'm not that great with math and it makes my head spin, so for now, this is how I roll. Anyway, just wondering how others might weigh in.

IMO you will be just fine doing that as far as cleanliness in concerned. Very little is going to get past the syringes into the bottles and each time you insert a needle into one you introduce microbes anyway. Not that that will hurt anything as flavorings are generally PG and/or alcohol based and both have antimicrobial properties. I'm not suggesting you toss in a few million microbes just for fun, just that flavorings are not that sensitive to this and as long as you are reasonably clean you won't have any issues.

 

[Bunnykiller]

a little bit of dirt wont hurt ya.... as many times people touch things everyday and transfer all sorts of bugz to ourselves and to other things... it really wont matter... pretty much like worrying about getting your hands dirty as you are standing waist deep in "organic bovine fertilizer"

 

[bigrf85]

i wouldn't think it to be an issue unless you were a supplier selling juice then it may be frowned upon. i usually mix big batches 200+ ml at a time then dish out into smaller bottles for use for myself so it gets used then cleaned and put away for a while but for personal use if your ok with them staying out then go for it.

 

[Alien Traveler]

I see nothing wrong with your setup. Some people go .... with antimicrobial "safety". They should know better: most flavorings are PG based, and PG is antimicrobial. The rest of flavors is based on VG and alcohol - biostatic/antimicrobial. I would not expect any microbial growth in flavors and juice. And your setup is much more "sterile" that mine (I do not wash my nicotine/VG/PG dispersing syringe for months).

EDIT: have to mention that I see your setup as a better one than that that uses frequent washes - you can put much more dirt in your syringe buy washing it than (like in your case) just keeping needle clean and reuse syringe for the same liquid.

EDIT 2: After second look at your picture... I thought you used rubber bottle cups like these ones:
http://www.bottlecn.com/ls2.asp?ox2=Pharma Medical Package&boardname=Rubber Stoppers

So, my question is how tight your needles are in bottles caps? I am afraid that if they are not tight enough then air (read: oxygen) will be circulating in your bottles and it may oxidize flavorings.

 

[Kaezziel]

I don't see any problem with the way you are doing things, either. It wouldn't work for me because I have three cats in the house and there's no good place to do that without them getting into stuff. But I'm of the same opinion that Ryedan and Bunnykiller are... it's next to impossible to be 100% 'clean' in a home environment, and natural immunity will handle most of what you do expose yourself to.

On another note, I don't particularly like the 'mix by weight' school of thought anyway. Universal measurement of liquids is by volume... I see no reason to over-complicate things by using a different measurement. Others disagree with me, and that's fine... whatever works best for you is what's best for you.

 

[bwh79]

My guess is no. A few hours and something is going to settle within/on a liquid. By the time you see it, after it multiplies, it's too late. Microbes will multiply in a great many solutions whether clean rooms or under lam flo hoods etc. Dark moist environments promote bacterial growth in general.

But PG is anti-microbial, not much is able to grow in it, and alcohol will actively kill just about anything it comes in contact with. What two liquids are most commonly used as carrier base for flavor concentrates?

 

[Ryedan]

EDIT 2: After second look at your picture... I thought you used rubber bottle cups like these ones:
http://www.bottlecn.com/ls2.asp?ox2=Pharma Medical Package&boardname=Rubber Stoppers

So, my question is how tight your needles are in bottles caps? I am afraid that if they are not tight enough then air (read: oxygen) will be circulating in your bottles and it may oxidize flavorings.

AT, IMO once there is air in a bottle you've got oxygen in there. I don't think the oxygen level is going to go down appreciably due to oxidation. Is there any reason to keep more exposure to a minimum?

 

[AzPlumber]

No issues with it being sanitary but the concern I would have is not flushing the syringe as some flavorings can break down the materials used in syringes and leach them into your flavorings.

 

[Alien Traveler]

AT, IMO once there is air in a bottle you've got oxygen in there. I don't think the oxygen level is going to go down appreciably due to oxidation. Is there any reason to keep more exposure to a minimum?

I definitely know next to nothing about oxidation of flavorings. If oxygen leve is not going down in closed bottle, then I think oxidation is not a problem. There are special journals devoted "flavor science", but I do not want to read them and continue to be uneducated in that field. My advice is rather to follow "good laboratory practice" and keep all bottles closed. But if a bottle is expected to be empty in two-three (may be more?) months, I personally would not worry.

Now I see I am a bit ambivalent on an issue of how tight bottles with flavorings should be closed...

 

[OldSalt]

Consider mixing by weight, not volume, and using fine tipped dropper bottles.
I measured the specific gravity of my fluids with a 10ml class A graduated cylinder and 0.01 gm scale.
I convert volume to weight for mixing.
I easily get accuracy to 0.05 gm so I get consistent batches.
I dilute my concentrates so that the total flavourings are 40% to 60% of my final volume.
All bottles are tightly capped when I'm not actually pouring from them.
I mix from 1ml to 100 ml batches. One to 10 ml are trial mixes, and 30 to 100 ml are my usual vapes.

 

[Shawn Putnam]

I see nothing wrong with your setup. Some people go .... with antimicrobial "safety". They should know better: most flavorings are PG based, and PG is antimicrobial. The rest of flavors is based on VG and alcohol - biostatic/antimicrobial. I would not expect any microbial growth in flavors and juice. And your setup is much more "sterile" that mine (I do not wash my nicotine/VG/PG dispersing syringe for months).

EDIT: have to mention that I see your setup as a better one than that that uses frequent washes - you can put much more dirt in your syringe buy washing it than (like in your case) just keeping needle clean and reuse syringe for the same liquid.

EDIT 2: After second look at your picture... I thought you used rubber bottle cups like these ones:
http://www.bottlecn.com/ls2.asp?ox2=Pharma Medical Package&boardname=Rubber Stoppers

So, my question is how tight your needles are in bottles caps? I am afraid that if they are not tight enough then air (read: oxygen) will be circulating in your bottles and it may oxidize flavorings.

I just push the needles through the dropper spouts that come on the concentrates. They are very snug that way. So much so that a tug is needed to remove them. Tried to take a better pic, but the camera on my iPad isn't great.