As I move beyond my starter kit, I am realizing that continuing this is going to have a lot of common, cheap lab equipment that I will need. If you happen to know somebody who works in a laboratory environment (old teacher, guy you went to school with, etc...) talk to them about where to get lab gear. Go to the nearest high school (the more money in an area, the more lab equipment they'll order).
Then, I realized in a bit of horror that in the DIY beginner's guide, it tells people to use paper towels. While this is fine for cleanup, don't use it to wipe transfer pipettes or rest anything on to avoid making the table messy, or just, in general, anything that's going to be touching your ingredients. You're going to get a lot of 'paper fuzz' in your juices, and you won't even realize it.
Seriously, do yourself a favor, spend $5 and get a 280 ct box of kimtech wipes. They're what is used in labs for a reason. No fuzz, no contamination.
Edit: It seems people think I'm fear mongering or don't see the harm in just using paper towels. I'll explain a bit.
It's not desireable more than anything. Paper towels are made to pick up dirt and dust, they have static used to hold the roll together, embossings to give more nooks and crannies for particulate to hide in, etc. Any of that paper fuzz gets on your coils and you're basically smoking wood; more importantly, you've got all the dust and dirt a paper towel will contribute, even if it's just picking it up from the air. Those particles can actually dissolve in the juice and be picked up by the wick. Plus, you've got all of the unnatural ingredients in paper towels, such as bleach for whitening, and they are not made sterile.
If you mix only for personal use, you're not going to get clean room purity, but why wouldn't you do as much as you can to get the most pure juice you can? You don't want to spend the $5 for a box of kimwipes, that's your choice. I am, I'd recommend others do, and I wouldn't buy juice from somebody using paper towels on their tools. I just didn't think many people here realize it's a thing, so I thought I'd share.
Sorry to all the UK people for the price of those kimwipes. I am unsure what other options there would be for you; go to somewhere that has a lab environment and see what they use or talk to somebody in the field.
Take it as you will. I can't make up your mind for you, but I can put the information out there for you to decide for yourself.
Nude Nicotine approves this message <3
Unsolicited plug...
This is an excellent starter kit from NN.
Don't forget to add the nicotine sample if it's your first order.
Sweet baby Jesus we need to add Kimwipes in starter kits now.
Getting on this ASAP
:D
<3
Really? I honestly dont think paper towel dust would harm anyone.
At a minimum you might dick up your flavor. Or your coils. Or maybe even lungs.
Better safe than popcorn lungs, as my pappy used to say.
You heard it here first! Vaping paper towel gives you "popcorn lungs"!
First, popcorn lungs have been attributed to vaping juice with diacetyl. But maybe you're new and didn't know that.
Second, I didn't say it WILL cause. Said it might. And really, there's simply no need to take the risk. The community gets enough flak as is, no need to give the tabloids yet another BS thing to harp on.
It's not desireable more than anything. Paper towels are made to pick up dirt and dust, they have static used to hold towels together, embossings to give more nooks and crannies for particulate to hide in, etc. Any of that paper fuzz gets on your coils and you're basically smoking wood; more importantly, you've got all the dust and dirt a paper towel roll will contribute. Those can actually dissolve in the juice and be picked up by the wick.
You don't want to spend the $5 for a box of kimwipes, that's your choice. I am, I'd recommend others do, and I wouldn't buy juice from somebody using paper towels. I just don't think many people here realize that it's a thing, so I thought I'd share.
Every single point you mentioned is the same for rayon fibers, which is pure cellulose. AKA wood. Also, I highly doubt everyone washes their hands before they wick their devices. A lot more dirt will come from that than the static electricity factor of paper towel dust...
But that part is not done in the juice making process. Some people want to make as pure of juice as they can outside of a clean room. Some are considering selling this whether it's just to friends to recoup costs or as a business. If this isn't you, then ignore this.
If you don't care, but you're selling it, then you can't complain when the industry gets regulated out of existence.
In the concentrations used in flavorings, diacetyl probably isn't going to kill you or give you that rare lung disease. Yet, there was/is huge controversy in the use of it in juices and flavorings.
You're working with concentrated ingredients that will have tools touch it frequently and be used to make a much larger volume of juice. Though a small, unnoticeable amount of impurity is deposited each time, it accrues. It's the concept of 'poisoning the well'. This is why it's important to me to do all I can to follow proper procedure. You taint any of your concentrated ingredients and you contaminate anything made with it.
I am just providing information and my recommendation. This is proper equipment that isn't expensive, I recommend everyone use these rather than paper towels for anything that will touch your concentrated ingredients the same way I recommend people clean their work space before and after use.
You can think for yourself and decide if you want to take the precaution or not. For those that are like me and want to do everything they can, but haven't worked in a lab, this might be something they want to know. For others, they are at least informed. If it blows up in their faces, they can't blame ignorance.
Funnily enough you can buy the exact same box of Kimtech Delicate Wipers from the UK Amazon - There it costs $177 for one box.
Could you chuck me a message here if you find something similar for a more reasonable price? I just looked and indeed, I would rather not fork out 200 quid for them.
I'd just do a search on lint free wipes - There are 100% lint free wipes for nail stuff - maybe that's ok - you can get 900 for £2 - There are probably other stuff in those search results as well :)
I know exactly what you're talking about. Good thing someone is saying something.
Thanks OP, I got my kimtech wipes yesterday and mixed up a batch of juice and they really do a good job. My biggest peeve when I mix is that we have those large paper towels, not the "select your size" shit. I would end up utilizing 3-4 of those, sometimes I would rip them, but by the end of making a few different juices I'd end up with a bunch of them laying around. So much waste. And you're right, they just don't pick up like the kimtech wipes.
Thanks for pointing this out! Will grab a box.
It's a minor thing. It's not something you'll notice in your juices with fresh tools and flavorings, but over time it accrues and you'll start getting particulate that you can see in those flavorings and big bottles of ingredients. Plus, you're putting enough heat in vaporizing to give some throat irritation from a paper product.
Why does every smart-ass feel the need to make a ridiculous PSA on this sub? Also, no. Don't tell me what to do. I will use as much paper towel as I want, for whatever I want to use it for.
Maybe the same reason you felt the need to post that comment.
So they make these PSAs because they're tired of seeing such stupid drivel junking up their front page? Doesn't make much sense.