What was you initial DIY start up cost.

[Nivek13]

I know every person is going to be a bit different here, but im sick of spending 10$ on 15ml, and 20+$ on 30ml of premium liquid from a B&M. Im also sick of taking a chance with some of the online juice sites that are cheaper just to be disappointing when i get the juices and throwing money down the drain. At least with DIY if i mix some nasty juice at least i know its my fault and i wont do that again. I just spent my vape budget this month only everything i need to start getting into rda so im just trying to get an idea of about how much im going to need to save up to start DIY, and what im going to need.

What was your initial start up cost and what did you have to get you going with DIY...
Also after the inital cost, how much do you think you spend a month trying to create new flavors?


I know this is a tough question with a wide range of awnsers, but any help helps lol

Thanks

 

[herb]

I will post what one member sent me , i think it's excellent . I didn't buy have the stuff he told me to buy though, never needed it . I spent about $40.00 for everything i needed to DIY , i had bottles and mixing cups already , of course i didn't buy every flavor , i just bought the flavors i know i liked and bought 99% of my flavors from FlavorArt since they have been tested to be free of the bad stuff (most).

Supplies Needed:
A. Bottles - 10ml(x10),30ml(x5), (x1)say 250ml or 1 liter bottle to hold your finished base mix...this should be enough to get going until you make some winning mixes.

B. Syringes - (x1) - 20ml or CC and two 3 inch 14 gauge blunt tip needles for VG & Base Mix.
" - (x1) - 5ml or CC and two 2 inch 18 gauge blunt tip needles for flavors & Nic.
TIP- "paint your Syringe increment's with clear fingernail polish so they don't rub off"

C. Small Pipette or glass dropper for dripping drops
D. Distilled Water and or Isopropyl Alcohol for rinsing out syringes, droppers & bottles.
E. Napkins or something for clean-up.

......BE CAREFULL WHEN HANDLING RAW LIQUID NICOTINE, KEEP AWAY FROM CHILDREN & PETS.....
if you spill any on you wash the area immediatly, keep a moist washcloth handy while handling and wash your hands rite after handling and don't rub your eyes....this stuff will lite your head on fire if it absorbs into your skin.

1. Nicotine - for starting out i would recommend to buy double mg the Nic you are currently using @ 100% PG.
Wizard Labs has very good prices and they mix your purchase after you order, so it's very fresh.
2. Either buy your VG in bulk or get smaller amounts at Wally-World, but buy at least the same amount as the Nic you bought.
3. Mix the 100% PG Nicotine base 50/50 with the VG...and you have cut your Nic base down to your original Nic preference.....now your mix is ready.

4. Flavors - whatever you prefer.
5. Supplements - "Ethyl Malto" in liquid form is the easiest to work with; it enhances & mildly sweetens Fruit, Desert and Candy type Flavors it's a must for these type flavors @ 2 to 3 drops per 10ml.
you can also buy liquid sweetner at the grocery like Splendia or Steveia i got some stuff called "Skinny Girl" it works well @ 2 drops per 10ml

"Acytel Pyrazine", needed for RY4 Tobacco Flavor it enhances this type flavor and it's called for in many recipes used very sparingly, 1 drop per 10ml.

when first starting out it's best to stay with a single Flavor mix.

write down everything you do while mixing (amounts) in a note-book or something for future reference, this is a must and you'll find out why down the road.

Make small batches in 10ml amounts, then Label/Date/Nic-mg the Bottles and store in a dark room temp but not hot place for at least 10 days, shaking vigorously daily...enjoy.....discard the bad & keep the good and now you can make bigger batches with the keepers.

each persons taste is different so you will have to figure out your preferred % of Flavor per mix, i would suggest to start with at least 20 % flavor and that would be 2ml of Flavor per 10 ml of finished Juice....so that would be 2ml of Flavor and 8ml of Nic base mix = 10ml of finished Juice ready to store

general rule of thumb - on the % of flavor you might want more or less depending on your taste, if it tastes overpowering to ya back it off, if ya have to wonder what it is increase it.

all items you need can be found at these places (flavors/supplies), i have shopped & compared prices elsewhere....get your Nic at Wizard Labs....

DIY E-Liquid, Electronic Cigarettes and Wholesale Nicotine & E-Cig Juice | EcigExpress

One Stop DIY Shop, LLC

Concentrated Flavorings|Sugar Free Drink | Flavor Drops

Wizard Labs

Glycerin | Bulk Apothecary

Propylene Glycol | Bulk Apothecary

i use these bigger bottles for my storage and Nic base mix
Evenflo SimplyMilk 5-oz Breast Milk Storage Bottles, BPA-Free - Walmart.com

here are some help-full things:
http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/s...lavor-profiles-that-pair-well-in-recipes.html

eJuice Recipe Calculator

a more advanced calculator for down the road
eJuice Me Up - Best eJuice Calculator

Clone Recipes | E-Cigarette Forum

E-Liquid Recipes | Planet of the Vapes

E-Liquid Recipes | DIY E-Juice | e cig Liquids

some of these recipes are good and some are not, this should be a good start

 

[Girod]

If I had known then what I know now, I would spend around $100, which would result in about 600 ml of juice. That would be a scale, PG, VG, nic, pipettes and an assortment of flavors (10 or so of 15ml) from TPA/TFA.

On-going cost is roughly $.60-$1.00 per 30 ml. Find the flavors you like and buy the 4oz sizes (120 ml).

 

[Nivek13]

Thank you thats a good starting point!

 

[herb]

I have bought one large bottle of a favorite flavor and never again , it's still almost full and it will go bad way before i even get to put a dent in it . The small sample bottles have lasted me a year and a half and they are still half full , no joke.

Granted i only make juice for myself but have made a ton , couple hundred ml and still have all my flavors with plenty left .

 

[dannyv45]

I would not recommend spending more then $75.00 for an initial investment until your sure this is for you. Start with small bottles of PG/VG and NIC and buy a few flavors. Experiment with those until your sure it's for you. Once you make that determination you can go for the big bucks. Read my blog on supplies for the new comer.

What you need to know as as far as supplies and safety for the first time juicer. | E-Cigarette Forum

Then do some research starting here:

Recommended research for the first time DYI'r | E-Cigarette Forum

 

[bloodless2010]

I got off pretty cheap making my own DIY. Picked up a bottle of 200ml VG from Boots for around £1.50, bought Skittles flavouring on eBay (30ml for about £3 or so). But I didn't add nicotine to the mix so that would've boosted up the cost a little bit. My flavouring was a PG base so I used that as my PG, I like very high VG liquid

 

[Tmebs]

I think my first go around was about 80 bucks, Nic and flavors and PG/VG.
Bought syringes from Rural King (vet supply aisle) and walgreens and used old/washed b&m juice bottles.
Some of those original flavors 18 months later have still never been used!

My best suggestion would be to search for clone recipes of juices that you know you love. Buy those ingredients first and just start with small test batches and go from there. Really doesn't take specialty equipement to make vapable juices, just patience and consistency and keep good notes.

Use a calculator (e-juicemeup) and go for it....if you make it and like it, you want to be able to duplicate it.

These days I make less juice, use disposable pipettes and have bought Humco VG from walmart and ordered PG thru Walgreens pharmacy, cost more per ml but I don't have any shipping charges.
Have not bought any b&m juice for three vapers in my house since Feb.
Good luck!

 

[Caro123]

I agree very much with suggestions to start small. all that is needed is vg and pg and nic a few 30 ml bottles a couple of 1 cc syringes and four or five flavours.
read everything you can also check out the online juice calculators that can be very helpful

 

[Nivek13]

Thank you guys, i definitely think DIY is for me, just gunna have to keep doing research and work on learning my RDA first, one step at a time lol! Its just insane how much this juice costs even online, i started vaping to save money and not smell bad lol

 

[baseballmom]

I think I spent under $50 for initial purchase, chose 3 recipes I thought sounded good an got to try out...then well sort of got hooked....it's really a lot of fun, good luck!

I also buy smalls for new flavors to sample before i commit to larger sizes, bull city vapor and wizard labs are my two main diy suppliers-variety and smalls

 

[Robert Cromwell]

I know every person is going to be a bit different here, but im sick of spending 10$ on 15ml, and 20+$ on 30ml of premium liquid from a B&M. Im also sick of taking a chance with some of the online juice sites that are cheaper just to be disappointing when i get the juices and throwing money down the drain. At least with DIY if i mix some nasty juice at least i know its my fault and i wont do that again. I just spent my vape budget this month only everything i need to start getting into RDA so im just trying to get an idea of about how much im going to need to save up to start DIY, and what im going to need.

What was your initial start up cost and what did you have to get you going with DIY...
Also after the inital cost, how much do you think you spend a month trying to create new flavors?


I know this is a tough question with a wide range of awnsers, but any help helps lol

Thanks

First question is what types of juice are you planning on making? Complex ones or simple ones? If you like fruit flavors or simpole custards and such it is cheap and easy.
For instance I discovered I really like 10% Capella Vanilla Custard with 1% stevia sweetner in a 40/60 PG/VG base with .5 mg nic/ml. Simple as you can get.
I recommend starting out simple and getting more complex later. I try and add 3-4 flavors each month. I now have about 14 different mixes I vape. About 5 of those I vape a LOT.

For the base basics of the tools you will need a couple of 3-10 ML blunt tip syringes for measuting flavorings and nic. I got a couple of medicine syringes from Krogers for 1.49 each that are 10 ml and great for measuting PG/VG. Put clear tape over the numbers on the syringe or they leave you.
Start out with at least 125 ml of PG and VG.
A small dropper bottle of 100mg nic. a 15 ml bottle will last me over a month. I do .5 mg/ml strength.
You will need several small bottles for the juice. I hope you have not been throwing yours away. I wash and reuse all of my bottles. You will also need some little lables and a sharpie marker for labelliing the bottles.
On the flavoring do not buy over 10 ml unless you know you will love it. Some are god awful and I throw them away. Does not feel nearly as bad if they only cost $3 or so.

 

[Alien Traveler]

I have found out I do not use 10 ml bottles at all. At least 30 ml, better - 50 ml, even if I made only 10 ml. It's easier to mix by shaking in half-full bottles.

 

[Robert Cromwell]

I have found out I do not use 10 ml bottles at all. At least 30 ml, better - 50 ml, even if I made only 10 ml. It's easier to mix by shaking in half-full bottles.

yep I mix my 10ml batches in 15 ml bottles. And I use 30ml bottles for my flavors I vape a lot.
2 bottles for each flavor, one to use and one aging in the Vape Cellar.

I am currently supplying 3 other vapers that I converted... Gotta wean em sometime.... Maybe at least get them to buy me some supplies...

 

[Racehorse]

I didn't go crazy. I'm not a mad scientist and was able to make good ejuice with 1 or 2 flavors w/out going overboard w/measuring, but my tastes are simple, given that I want to SAVE MONEY.

I bought about 10 flavorings, a plastic meauring collander/cup/tube, some VG/PG nic solution, and some pipettes and some extra VG/PG w/out nic because for experimenting, you do NOT want to use your nic base.

To be honest, now I just pre-dilute my nic base to the mg I want, and use the "2 drop, 1 drop" method for my flavorings, because I know what I like to vape. Easy peasy for me LOL My main vape is a spearmint + non-diketone cream mix which only involves 2 flavors. My other main vape is banana nut bread (diketone free flavoring from TPA) and put a little sweetner in both. *again, just using a drop). I can mix up my juice for the week in less than 10 minutes.

Something like basic gummy bear or cotton candy or bubblegum is super simple. Just one flavoring, and some sweetner *if* you need it, but I do not. These are 3 of my stand-bys.

for those wanting to really experiment and *create* recipes, etc. and use 3-6 flavorings, your situation will be more involved. LOL

I'd say $40-$100 to get started? I already had bottles and syringes

 

[Robert Cromwell]

Yep Horsey I think about 40 would be the minimum but closer to 100 for a halfway decent startup set. Of course you would have enough supplies to make a months worth of juice.
I am currently set up for about 6-9 months worth of juice with maybe buying a few more flavors and restocking a couple of my high use flavors.
Since I started I have put around $200 in my DIY stuff, made my own for 6 months and have enough for 6-9 months more. So for around $200 I get a years worth of juice

Now just like vaping equipment the sky is the limit. You can get ultrasonic cleaners/mixers. Magnetic stirrers. lab glassware, digital scales and on and on...

then there is your lab wardrobe.... A special desk/cabinet....

One thing though DO keep the stuff in a safe place if you have small children!!!
This is the most important rule of DIY!!!!!!
I keep mine in several little plastic tubs that fit into a larger plastic tub with lid and up high for when the grandkids come over.

 

[Racehorse]

Tobacco juices I don't do, but those are a bit harder and also need a lot of steeping time. I've done some fruits with mint. Spearmint + 1 fruit...again......too easy!

I only use Flavour Art and TFA/TPA (I read all Linda's notes).

 

[Robert Cromwell]

I use mostly CAP and Flavor Concentrates flavorings. Some Flavor Apprentice. NF Organic and even some Watkins cherry flavoring. it is pretty good if you pour it into a small bowl and nuke it gently until it stops bubbling wildly. That removes the alcohol very quickly. just a few seconds. The alc nukes out long before it reaches boiling temp for water.

Just ordered my first tobacco flavoring. I had been cheating on that by buying Clayton tobacco flavored ejuice 3.16 for 10 ml 1.2 mg nic. I cut it with 10 ml of 50/50 and add 3 drops of butterscotch for my tobacco vape. will also likely try extracting my own this fall as I live in tobacco country and can get lots of free cured tobacco.
I have made up a 3 gallon vacuum vat......Can run down to near full vacuum....
Still working on the details though.

 

[motordude]

AWESOME thread!!!!!!
Been thinking about diy myself. I like to keep it simple so you have given me some encouragement.
Thanks!

 

[Robert Cromwell]

I love the little medicine syringes I got at Krogers. !.49 and they come with a little bottle stopper thingy that the syringe plugs into. They fit my 120 ml bottles nicely. I keep my mixed PG/vg in 120 ml bottles for ease of handling and now with the stopper syringe thingy it is wonderful. Just invert the bottle and fill up the syringe no spilling tipping the bottle to get the syringe to the fluid, etc.
No greasy syringe from sticking it down in the bottle. And they suck up VG just great. When mixing I just leave the syringe stuck in the stopper so no mess. With it stuck in the stopper thing it is sealed and sanitary as well.

In case you did not get it I do Recommend those for DIY types.
Looks like they work with any bottle opening up to around 3/4 inch.