Nicotine base strength for new DIYer

[FrankRice]

Hey guys,

I'm thinking of starting out DIYing by buying a 36mg 100% PG nicotine base, since I like higher PG e-liquids, and then adding the VG from there.

I have my eye on 36mg for safety reasons (accidental contact with skin, etc.). Am I going overboard with safety concerns? I know that it will be more cost effective to buy a higher nicotine strength base, but is this a good way to start for a beginner, just until I get the hang of it?

On a related note, anyone have any accidents with higher strength nicotine base, and did you feel any ill effects?

Thanks!

Ps. forgot to mention that my desired strength for the finished product will be 6mg.

 

[B2L]

Good morning Frank

I buy only 100 mg/ml as I am stockpiling and it is a) cheaper per ml of nic and b) takes up 1/3 the storage space of 36 mg/ml.

Nicotine is dangerous at higher concentrations but with common sense precautions it is no more dangerous than many household chemicals you have lying around already, I would go so far to say (even at 100 mg/ml strength) that it is far less dangerous.

You would of course want to keep it out of the reach of any children and pets as you would with anything else. As far as contact, in my experience, as long as you rinse the contacted skin off within a reasonable amount of time, there are no ill effects. I certainly wouldn't bathe in it but as far as getting a little on you, I don't worry about it at all. If it is a concern, nitrile gloves are cheap.

One area you really do want to take precaution with is your eyes, although I don't believe it would cause long term damage, any contact with your eye is going to be less than pleasant for awhile.

Nude nicotine has their armor V2.0 line of nicotine meant for long term storage which have a luer lock needle valve which you can use to extract your nic without even opening the bottle, it even includes the syringe and blunt needle Nude Armor v2.0 Nicotine Base - EXTENDED SHELF LIFE - Nude Nicotine
This is what I've been stocking up with, long term viability, safety and very clean/clear nicotine all rolled up in one.

I'm sure others will chime in but that's my thoughts. Welcome to ECF and the wonderful world of DIY, enjoy the journey!

 

[stylemessiah]

Always good to be safety conscious!

There are pros and cons for buying both lower and higher concentrations

Some people find lower concentrations easier to dilute when it comes to mixing, easier to figure out ratios...

But higher concentrations are more cost effective, especially if you live somewhere where you have to import nicotine base in, like i do here in Australia.

I started off with 1lt of 100mg 100% PG (believed to last longer than VG based nic) base (on special mind you), simply because of the cost, the nic itself cost USD$50 and the postage was USD$31.55 - Total USD$81.55 - Cost in AUD$115.00

I havent had an issue with working with the 100mg nic, been using it since day one and for nearly 10 months now, if you take precautions its safe. Wear gloves, work in a ventilated room etc (kitchen is best - use the sink), in other words use the same safety practices you would using somethig caustic, like oven cleaner and you will be fine. Have a ever gotten 100mg nic on my skin, yes once or twice. Do you have to panic? No, as i was using the sink a thorough wash under the tap and theres no need to call the poisons info line or the CDC It would have to be a decent amount on your skin for more than a minute to even risk possible ill effects. Get all your gear out and set up before opening the nic, i leave it to last to add into the mix too, so its only opened while i am using it and so that any stray nic liquid isnt on my gloves during the entire process and possibly gettign transferred to all my other bottles and equipment.

Also with the higher concentration of nic, youre going to use less of it, so you have to think of storage, usually people will buy say a 1lt bottle and then break that down into smaller bottles (sometimes as low as 100ml bottles) for storage in the freezer. With lower concentrated nic, youre going to be cracking it open way more often so breaking it down into really smaller bottle batches probably wont be needed, but freezer storage for the unused bottles would still be a good idea. The bottle you work from staying in the fridge.

Also to make life easier (especially if youre maths deficient like me) you can grab a juice calculator to help work out the dark arts of mixing

Heres 2 common ones (For PC):

eJuice Me Up - Best eJuice Calculator

And from a member here

New Calculator to try

There also a number of online ones

First up steam engine, which also has the coil wrapping calc as well

DIY e-juice | Steam Engine | free vaping calculators

E-Liquid Calculator - Make My Vape

eJuice Recipe Calculator

I personally like the PC based ones as i can locally store my mixes/recipes

 

[FrankRice]

@B2L Thank you so much for your reply! It makes me feel a lot better about things. I'm going to read as much as I can about safety precautions, but I guess I won't have to buy a hazmat suit. Haha. Thanks again.

 

[B2L]

@B2L Thank you so much for your reply! It makes me feel a lot better about things. I'm going to read as much as I can about safety precautions, but I guess I won't have to buy a hazmat suit. Haha. Thanks again.

Nah, no hazmat suit necessary

The DIY stickys on ECF are invaluable, I highly recommend that anyone getting into DIY read them thoroughly.

 

[Firestorm]

When I first got into DIY I purchased 36mg of nicotine and I'm almost done with my second 250ml bottle. Since then I have purchased 100mg of nicotine (I'm waiting for my order of Nude Armor v2.0 Nicotine Base to arrive). As it has been stated above, 100mg is cheaper and takes up less space. I don't think that adults have to worry much about accidental contact with skin, but caution is always advisable.

 

[Alien Traveler]

For me the main precautions (for 100 mg nic) are:
1. Keep out of reach of children and pets.
2. Do not work with it in a carpeted room (have no idea how to remove a spill).

I wore glasses anyway, so for me additional eye protection is not needed.
I wore gloves only when dispersing 1L of nic in smaller bottles (on deck or in sink); I am too lazy to use funnels, so I may have some minor spills.

 

[dannyv45]

I've gotten 100ml NIC on my hands many times and I just wash it off. I've never had any ill effects from it. But minimum precautions are always good for the new user.

1. wear gloves
2. Wear eye protection.
3. clean spills right away
4. keep out of reach of children and pets

Many do go over board and in my opinion you don't need a quarantined lab set up and hazmat on speed dial or dress up like the CDC going into an infectious area..