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My propylene glycol purchasing experience.

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dahlialady

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Nov 2, 2013
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Wow! So I go to my local pharmacy and ask the pharmacist, "Do you carry propylene glycol?"
"WHAT??!!. C'est quoi ca?"
I spell it out for them.
They have to look it up. Most people behind the counter don't have a clue what it is. (These are pharmacists and pharmaceutical technicians.) So they show me a large bottle of Propyl somethingorother. Not PEG-400. Not Propylene Glycol.
This should have been my first clue to go elsewhere.
I ask them to check on their computer.
Sure enough! They have it! And they will sell me a bottle, but they need to order it in.
"What do you need it for?"
"I need it for my cigar humidors. I mix it 50% / 50% with distilled water." They will call on Tuesday.
Fast forward to today. I get the phone call, and head off to the local pharmacy. Again they ask me what it is for (different people behind the counter) "I need it for my cigar humidors. I mix it 50% / 50% with distilled water." "Cubans?" he asks with a smile. "Yes. Cohibas, and El Rey del Mundos." I reply with a smile. I pay the pharmacist (the one who called me twice to pick it up) thank him and leave. In no way do I look like a crack addict.
One hour later the pharmacist calls. He is frantic. He needs the bottle back....starts blabbing about the lot number....he is totally freaking out.
Now I am in my P.J.'s and getting set to watch the hockey game. I really don't want to head out. But he needs it back tonight!!! I ask him if there is a problem. "No, No, YES!!!!"
"Do you have a pencil? I can tell you the lot number." I tell him. I think the bottle which by the way was sealed expired in 2018. I read him the lot number.
"Is this a bad batch?" I ask.
He is panicked.
"No! There is nothing wrong with the batch!!!!"
"Okay, so what's the problem?"
He asks me if I speak French. (His English was great a few minutes earlier.)
Ok, so I tell him in French that I will bring it in tomorrow. He asks me to bring it in on Thursday because he is off tomorrow. Ok....so I'll bring it in on Thursday.
My gf asks me what that was about as she could hear the panic in his voice. I tell her, and explain it is weird because PG is legal, and why would he sell it to me if it wasn't? Her french is much better than mine, so she phones him and asks for an explanation.
He was panicked like nobody's business. She talked to him for about 15 minutes, and he told her that he had lost sleep over selling me the PG for the last two days. He could not give her a reason. We pointed out again and again that it is legal. Nothing wrong was done.
He is freaking out because he doesn't want to do anything illegal and loose his job over this.
To make a long story short, I ended up getting dressed, going to the pharmacy and returning the bottle. I don't want him to loose more sleep over it!
The head pharmacist will call me tomorrow.
Yippee Yay. What a day.
 
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BDUAres

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Nov 27, 2012
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I am sure they have something similar there, but in the southern USA there are farm/vetrinary/livestock companies, like Tractor Supply Company, which sell PG in 1 gallon plastic bottles for $20.

Meanwhile Wal-Mart sells USP VG in the Pharmacy on the same shelf with Calamine Lotion and other skin remedies, as "Humco Glycerin Skin Protectant" for $3.88 per 6 oz bottle. CVS carries the same exact VG, made by the same manufacturer, with a CVS label for $5.
 

WillyZee

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the guy is tripping on something ... I walked into SDM and asked the pharmacist the same thing "Do you carry propylene glycol?" ... she said No ... I ask "do you know where I can buy some?" ... she says, why do you want it? ... I go, making soap ... she says, we can order it in ... it will be here tomorrow.

Next day I stopped by and picked up the 500ml bottle she ordered for 8 bucks.

PGUSP.jpg
 

WillyZee

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I also can't find VEGETABLE Glycerine in the pharmacies. It's just marked Glycerine USP. I'm assuming it is vegetable?

When I bought the PG, I also picked up that Glycerine USP ... however I returned it because I could not confirm it was vegetable VG and had read somewhere it may be animal based.

I just ended up buying two 120 ml bottles of VG from Canvape.

Had my sister in Chicago order me a gallon each of PG and VG ... she is bringing it up at Christmas.

Maybe try to find a tractor supply company local that carries it.

Good luck ... I hope you find some.


Sent via iPhone
 

Notorious C.I.G.

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Nov 30, 2013
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Technically? Vegetable glycerine and animal glycerine are completely, one hundred percent chemically identical--and USP means it's pure pharmacy grade, so there's nothing in there that will hurt you.

But I can understand not wishing to use animal-derived products if you're uncomfortable with that.

Per the PG, that's funny. It's used in soap-making, so I go through some of it there. It's in your toothpaste. It's completely legal to buy and sell the stuff willy-nilly as it has no nefarious uses that I know of.
 

Zurd

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Feb 10, 2010
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people have come up with so many different funny and weird story in pharmacy for getting PG in all those years, alas I still have nothing to tell, I just call so they can order some and go pick it up 1-2 days later, no question asked

and like rems said, the pharmacist should already know PG because they use it daily to mix with other products to dilute them and I know because I've asked them personally
 

Vaslovik

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Jul 5, 2013
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Sure enough! They have it! And they will sell me a bottle, but they need to order it in.
"What do you need it for?"
"I need it for my cigar humidors. I mix it 50% / 50% with distilled water."

I ask "do you know where I can buy some?" ... she says, why do you want it? ... I go, making soap ... she says, we can order it in ... it will be here tomorrow.

Okay, what bothers me is them asking why do you want it, what do you want it for? It's none of their business! It's a legal product to buy and do anything you want with! Why do they have to know what you want it for before they sell it to you? I really really don't like that!
 
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Glenn_K

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Sep 29, 2013
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That's funny, maybe the guy has been getting a little too friendly with some of the other products behind the counter of his pharmacy.

Wow! So I go to my local pharmacy and ask the pharmacist, "Do you carry propylene glycol?"
"WHAT??!!. C'est quoi ca?"
I spell it out for them. ...(snip)
 
Well, you had better luck than I did anyways ... my dumb*** pharmacists doesn't even know what PG is ... nor bothered to look it up in his computer. He just told me he didn't know what it was, and that he didn't have any.

But yeah, the whole asking why? and what you're using it for? F right the hell off! Getting treated like a damn terrorist in a drug store? You're paying for the stuff ... if he doesn't know if it's legal to sell over the counter, he shouldn't be asking his customers to confirm this, nor be behind the counter himself.
 

Wolffy

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Sep 20, 2013
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Hehe pharmacists are so nosey... always asking what we want it for...

I get it, it's their job to be nosey... still, I find it funny for something like PG. Like your answer will somehow affect the sale like the soup Nazi on Seinfeld.

Ecigs??? NO PG FOR YOU!

Don't knock it, Health Canada might be the soup Nazi behind the fear.
 
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