Looking into DIY Options

[ranjen617]

@Cobra Kai
Thank you. I'm sure I'll come up with something good. I'm going to make sure I write down what I've done as I go along.

If I'm anything like what I am in the kitchen it should come up pretty decent. Let's hope so anyways! I'm just wanting more of a punch here and there with flavors that I'm just not getting anywhere else. I have great setups so that's not my issue, it's the juice in general. I'll like a juice but it will have just something missing from it. Then I can probably help out a few full bottles just sitting here as well. Or try to bring them to flavor.

This will help with my flavor ruts too. I won't have to buy in large quantities to just get burned out of a flavor after this. Make some, vape, then make it again if I want or leave it alone.

I'll certainly post what works! I'm sure there could be someone like myself that would like a recipe!

 

[rosesense]

Lots of good info, this thread alone could be overwhelming lol.

I will just add that Nic River has a small kit which is great for starting out. Cheapest prices to try flavors that I have found is gremlin DIY, on their sale page. Flavors and brands rotate so just keep checking. RF brands are usually 1.00 for 30 ml of flavoring. Some of their flavors become muted with steeping but still a good place to start.

Most important...just dive in and have fun. Except for possible upfront costs, it is going to be way cheaper even if some don't work out.

 

[DeloresRose]

When I was doing around 50/50 I got my nic 50/50. I like max vg too though, and a few percentages in between. So I buy them all, 100% vg and 100% pg and 50/50. Just makes it easy for me.

I wouldn’t try starting with tons of flavors. Find 3-4 recipes and get what you need for those.

And you don’t need bulk amounts to start with. You can go that route later when you feel more confident. I was scared to waste a lot of money before I knew I could diy well. Now, I know there’s really no waste for me.

 

[Pokeroo]

Forgive my German English. I am stuck between Sauerkraut and Weissbier.

Hey @ArminF no problems at all with your English which is better than most native English speakers. I was laughing about this situation that puts horse guy and buying vaping supplies together! Goofy and awesome at the same time. I love that you've found a unique solution that works for you.

Ken

 

[raqball]

@SupplyDaddy @raqball
Thank you for the suggestions. I'm not sure what I need to order on the nic. Do I run with the PG or VG blend on that? Or would it be easier starting out to just run a premix then just blend the flavors?

The easy way would be buy the unflavored base in the nic level you want and then add the recipe flavorings. I vape the unflavored base and don't add flavorings.... The only downside to getting the premixed base if you have limited option for vg/pg mix amounts and limited nic levels to choose from.

If you want to be exact on the pg/vg mix levels and have an exact and specific nic level then probably best to buy vg, pg and nic separately and mix yourself..

Me? I am lazy and if I were to ever make flavored juice I'd do a pre-mix base of 70/30 and 3mg of nic and then just add the flavorings but like I said, I am lazy..

Good luck!

 

[ArminF]

Hey @ArminF no problems at all with your English which is better than most native English speakers. I was laughing about this situation that puts horse guy and buying vaping supplies together! Goofy and awesome at the same time. I love that you've found a unique solution that works for you.

Ken

Easy... no problem. i am who i am...
About the Horse Guy .... I think 75% of German Vaper buy their VG/PG there. As VG and PG existes long before the first vape stick came out. There is no need to buy it in a vape store at all. Its in food, drinks and medicine since hundred years. Found in 1779 (VG).

 

[Baditude]

Just wanted to add that I get most of my measuring utensils and flavorings from Bull City Flavors. They have a review section that customers can use to choose which brand of flavors to use for different recipes. For example, one brand of pineapple flavor may be better for a pineapple candy result, while another brand of pineapple tends to be better for a pineapple fruit result. So taking advantage of experienced customers' knowledge who have used different brands can help you choose which brand to choose from depending upon your recipe.

 

[Letitia]

BCF is a great vendor. Since you are going to be mixing max vg adding distilled water or PEG400 to the mix will make them more coil friendly. I recommend tasting your testers in the same type of atty you regularly use until you get a feel for the percentages you prefer with each flavor. You might try one of the community bundles at BCF, Bull City Flavors. The flavor bottles will have enough for the recipe and plenty left over for experimenting with. Code VU6 is worth 6% off the cart. I use LNW, Liquid Nicotine Wholesalers for nic and salts, code ELRECIPES is worth 15% off I believe.
Community Recipe Packs - Full Recipe (Discounted) - Page 1 - Bull City Flavors

 

[Letitia]

Forgot to expand on the dw, distilled water, and PEG400. I have a minor pg intolerance so I use max vg/6%dw. My nic is pg base but I use high concentration nic so a very minor pg amount along with mostly pg base flavors is in the mix. If my overall flavor percentage is low then I add some PEG400. This is a pg substitute. Instead of the P400 you can up the dw to 10%, anything over that will vape fine but your coil will crackle and pop. For example if I am only using 3-5% flavor total I would enter the recipe like this 85vg+15pg (p400)+6dw. For a higher flavor percentage I would enter max vg+6%dw. I like the calculator on the elr recipes site, easy to use and they have handy tools on site. Free to join.

 

[ArminF]

Vodka... why does no one talks about Vodka...
Can be used instead of distilled water and it delivers a bit of Kick to your Throat.
Or even caffeine.

 

[uthinkofsomething]

Since you are going to be mixing max vg adding distilled water or PEG400 to the mix will make them more coil friendly

Great thing to point out Letitia.
@ranjen617 there are alternatives to propylene glycol. 100 vg can be an issue on coils and wicking because it is so thick but you can thin it with distilled water, very small amounts, a few drops per bottle I believe. There is also PEG400 which is similar to pg but does not mess with your system the same way. I personally know virtually nothing about using distilled water or peg400...
There are also flavorings out there in vg base, but most are in pg.

 

[Letitia]

Great thing to point out Letitia.
@ranjen617 there are alternatives to propylene glycol. 100 vg can be an issue on coils and wicking because it is so thick but you can thin it with distilled water, very small amounts, a few drops per bottle I believe. There is also PEG400 which is similar to pg but does not mess with your system the same way. I personally know virtually nothing about using distilled water or peg400...

Both work well. If you are impatient I would go with 20-30% P400 instead of dw. Like pg it does seem to speed up the steeping process. I personally only use P400 occasionally for a snv, shake and vape or a vg heavy mix like a sft, single flavor tester. Thinking about trying more ultra concentrates down the road so may end up using it more.

 

[classwife]

Moved to DIY E-Liquid from General E-Liquid Discussion

 

[JCinFLA]

Volume measuring to me is a pain in the but, you need a different syringe for every flavoring, and you are still eyeballing what is there. Measuring by weight is the most accurate and repeatable, and has less cleanup.

Assuming your starting with nothing but empty bottles, you'll need 6 things to start mixing by weight (more accurate & repeatable than mixing by volume, and you need less stuff)

GEEZ! It just never stops. More of the same, parroted, opinions... presented to DIY newbies as if they're facts.

Contrary to what many "by weight" people apparently believe...there ARE many who successfully measure ingredients for their DIY by other methods, and have been doing so for years. (By weight isn't THE only way, or the BEST way...for everyone who does DIY). Lots of us have no problems with accuracy nor being able to repeat our recipes, and we use minimal supplies to do it, with only very minor clean-up at most (1-2 minutes maybe)..when finished.

It's always the by weight mixers who seem to feel the need to "convince" newbies that their method is better than the others. It's a personal choice! Whatever happened to letting newbies find out about all methods...and then choosing the one he/she feels the most comfortable with, or that they can more easily afford, etc.?

 

[uthinkofsomething]

GEEZ! It just never stops. More of the same, parroted, opinions... presented to DIY newbies as if they're facts.

Contrary to what many "by weight" people apparently believe...there ARE many who successfully measure ingredients for their DIY by other methods, and have been doing so for years. (By weight isn't THE only way, or the BEST way...for everyone who does DIY). Lots of us have no problems with accuracy nor being able to repeat our recipes, and we use minimal supplies to do it, with only very minor clean-up at most (1-2 minutes maybe)..when finished.

It's always the by weight mixers who seem to feel the need to "convince" newbies that their method is better than the others. It's a personal choice! Whatever happened to letting newbies find out about all methods...and then choosing the one he/she feels the most comfortable with, or that they can more easily afford, etc.?

You misunderstand me and to be clear I'm not trying to convince anyone to do a specific thing, and I also stated that many mix by volume "and do just fine" by which I mean make reliable consistent liquid. The way I described it all was really meant as my reason for my choices.
A lot of people probably don't want to invest in a scale, and I'm sure there are other reasons you and others prefer volume.

 

[ranjen617]

@rosesense
Thank you for letting me know about the flavors. I was unsure about a good starting out price on flavors. Makes complete sense about trying out a few ones then make the plunge.

The heads up on losing the flavor is great since I wouldn't know any better from one to the next and just think it was me.

I used to have a huge flavor profile but lately I haven't gone way out of what I've bought simply because some of the names of juices can be misleading and I've just stayed close to what I know.

I agree about the upfront costs and the overall savings. I'm sure the first time I buy will still be cheaper than buying premade juices at my rate. I average about $75-$90 a month on just juice. This is a combination of juice I get tired of as well. Then some that come flat to the taste and stay there. ....That's the biggest issue of why I want to start making my own.
Thank you for your help!

 

[ranjen617]

@DeloresRose
I totally agree with you on buying in bulk. I have that lingering what if in the back of my head. I'm sure I'll be fine but the first try is just that, the first try.
I understand about you saying to start with just a few recipes as many could easily be overwhelming to begin with. Maybe a good base then a few highnotes to satisfy me. I'll still have extra juice on hand starting out so my taste buds will be ok.
My blend will more than likely be above 50/50 unfortunately. I did like the blend before but that's what made me itch so bad. 70/30 still does but I've found myself adding some VG (small bottle) to dilute it some. That gives me a little relief. The 50/50 had me at taking huge doses of benadryl and still itching. Then I gave up, just got back into this with the 70/30+my add. It's crazy how I went 2.5 years before that reaction, but it happened. Ugh.

This whole thread is going to be golden to me come later next week! Awesome info!

 

[denali_41]

echoing "bull city vapors" for flavoring , a lot of their flavorings are marked if they have the undesirable stuff in them ie diketones and such

 

[ranjen617]

@raqball
I see where you're coming from. I'm pretty stable on the 12mg and the 6mg, well I'm an insomniac no matter what. Was thinking to reduce it in the later part of the night to slow myself down. Lol.

The premix does look tempting. Really does especially starting out but in the issue of me adding more VG as it is, the separate mixes look just as good. I have zero clue of what the % mine ends up when I add. I just add a little on top and it's trial and error to my itching from there. I don't mix much so I'm sure it isn't a 90/10 whenever I'm done, I know that much. The nic in the blend is a little confusing, guess is better to be on the VG nic blend? I don't want to lose the throat hit nor do I know the ins and outs of how it changes the mix in general. So I'm thinking just buy it if I can pure.

There's so much to learn but I'm sure all this will become simple once I get started. I look at it as this is not my advanced science class in school, just a basic one if that.

 

[ranjen617]

@Baditude
That's great advice. Thank you. I saw where there's alot of acronyms behind the flavors and was first wondering which was which. So that will truly help me out knowing what flavor is good for what I'm aiming at. I'll look onto the page as well. All the acronyms had me lost, well I figured out what a few meant like "Full concentrate" but what they went with and what the flavor actually would be good in, well I got lost there. So many to choose from and I'm glad others have shared their experience. Helps the newbies learn!
Thank you for sharing!