OK new mixers, this is your thread to ask any questions you want of the DIY eJuice community. All posts are allowed, but we still encourage you to use the sidebar and search features before asking any questions.
- Placing your first DIY order and want to make sure you have all you need?
- Not sure about how to mix your first bottle?
- Want to get started but aren't sure how?
- Any other questions? ... then this is the thread for you. FWIW, the answers to the first three questions will eventually be found in the wiki (still in development); link at the top of the page.
Ask away!
When mixing, what usually goes first; the VG, PG, or flavors?
Does the amount of PG and VG differ when the flavors are put in? Say I have 5% flavor, does that mean a juice that's 70 VG/30 PG is really 67.5 VG/27.5 PG?
Is it better to aerate or shake your juice? I've heard a lot of debate about this one.
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I do flavors first then pg then vg then nic, but there is no specific order you need to follow. It's all going in the bottle regardless.
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Most flavors are in pg so, if you want 5% flavoring and a 70vg/30pg ratio then you will add 5% flavoring and then 25% pg to equal 30%. If your nicotine is pg based then you will subtract that from your end pg percentage as well. Does that make sense? Download a recipe calculator and all the math will be done for you.
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Shake
I do flavors, then nic, then PG, then VG. I figure pouring in the flavs and nic first will get the mixing started earlier. Buy ya, as goldfish said, doesn't matter much as long as you shake the ever living shit out of it after.
> I figure pouring in the flavs and nic first will get the mixing started earlier.
By like a few seconds? lol
Hey, I see totally where /u/T_Mace is coming from. Some of us are impatient steepers, every few seconds helps!
I am the opposite of you guys though, PG first, then VG, cheaper flavors, more expensive flavors, then last nic. My reasoning is in case of spills. Least precious ingredients first, most precious ingredients spending the least time being spill-able.
Ok so I'm new to reddit as well as diy. I keep seeing ppl say check the sidebar. What is the sidebar and how do I find it?
The sidebar is the list of rules, FAQs, guides, and all sorts of other amazing information that constantly gets asked on this sub. There's also a handy search bar that you can use as well. It's on the right side of the screen if you're on a computer.
If you are using an app to see reddit, google instructions on how to see the sidebar with that particular app. OR use your native browser.
It is chock full of info that everyone needs to read, like "beginner guide" and "all about nicotine". Almost all the important and relevant things that anyone just starting out needs to know can be found there. Once you have read over it all, you should have a lot better understanding of how this all works.
Welcome!
If youre on your regular internet browser (no mobile) it's the thing on the right side with all the hotlinks to pages/wikis/other subs etc
Literally the bar on the right side of the page.
Hey guys. So, a few months ago I purchased the diy starter kit from The Flavor Barn. Not bad, but I was finding that most of my flavors had to be mixed at 20-25% to get a decent taste (most of them were recommended by TLB to be mixed at 5-8%). So, for my next go round, I tried The Flavor Apprentice, as i've read many good things about them. I ordered their "Top 12 Most Popular Flavor" pack. I realized, however, after I placed the order, that bottles were only 4ml (The Liquid Barn's were 15ml). That said, I guess I'm wondering if anyone knows if these Flavor Apprentice extracts are pretty strong, or am I going to blow through them in a week? I just whipped up a batch of green apple from the liquid barn, and I had to use 7.5 mL of flavor for a 30 mL bottle. Obviously, considering my new bottles are only 4 ml, a mix like this wouldn't be possible.
That's all. Sorry for being long-winded, and hopefully I'm posting in the right place. I don't do a whole ton of Redditing. Thanks.
I just looked at what you ordered, You won't need to go over 5% with any of those, and some I don't go over 2%. Regular Strawberry and Juicy Peach mix together at 2-3% each, and you'll see what I mean. Unless you mix max VG, in which case I would tell you to pick up some pg:)
I just wanted to say thank you - for all of the information here. I finally made an order last week, got a handful of flavorings and made my first blend this morning. I think I accidentally cloned one of my favorite juices! Which either makes me exceptionally lucky, or it really can be THAT easy... Like you all have been saying all this time.
(Edit - Because I can't words, and it caused major confusion.)
FYI 100mg/mL is NOT pure nicotine
Oh I know, I just have a particularly curious and extremely sneaky cat, so even filling a tank, we have to be extremely careful. :)
My First Mix (Based off the Blue Ballz Clone)
I did my first mix last week, and I'm getting a bit of a perfume taste that I would like to mellow out. Right now I'm looking at:
- Blueberry Wild (TFA) 8%
- DX Banana Cream (TFA) 1%
- Cotton Candy (EM) (TFA) 1.5%
I'd like to tweak it so it's a bit more creamy sweet then sweet (sugar) and get rid of the perfume. I was thinking of adding (FA) Bilberry @ .5%, bump up the banana cream, and maybe substitute Cotton Candy with Marshmallow to make it a bit more creamy/sweet?
I'm open to suggestions, part of the fun is experimenting.
I just got my first order in from Wizard Labs and wanted to ask about more temporary nicotine storage. I received 120ml of 100mg/ml nic base that I plan to split up into 4 separate 30ml amber glass bottles for freezer storage. I want to have small amounts on hand to mix with and was planning on keeping 10ml in an LDPE dropper bottle. Is that a small enough amount that I don't have to worry about light and heat damaging the nic base before I get around to using it all? Should I be using a glass bottle instead of LDPE?
I keep my ldpe mixing bottle in the fridge. Prob wouldnt hurt to leave in a dark closet or desk drawer tho.
Sweet. I got home from work and went to transfer it to the 4 separate glass bottles and it had gotten too thick to work with while sitting in the freezer all day so I'm waiting while it warms up in a water bath. I think I'm gonna keep 30ml in LDPE bottles, 1 in my desk and two in the freezer, I didn't know VG gets so viscous in the freezer.
I just switched from vg based nic to PG based and the 4oz ldpe squeeze bottle I have just lets it pour out too easily.
Given that it's ldpe I'm sure it would be ok to put it in an unused 30ml ldpe bottle. My question is: could there be any negative reaction with the cap?
Not that I have noticed over the last year or so. But for some reason I like to use a new bottle every 60ml. I guess thats my OCD:)
Anyone ever tried Maple Pancake Syrup by CAP? I just got some and I don't see any recipes that use it.
Also, basic question, but "steep" just means let it sit right? Nothing else to it?
No experience with Maple Pancake Syrup, but you'll find some some strange ways of "speed steeping" with heat. I don't recommend them, but yes, steeping ultimately is throwing it in the cupboard for a week or 2 and then vaping it. Generally beneficial more for bakeries and custards and some heavier creams. Fruits are typically pretty good right away/next morning and fade over time due to having smaller molecules.
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Pretty much, yeah.
Is vg based or pg based nic better to use?
PG for sure. It oxidizes slower plus less likely to seperate. I cant link from work, but "all about nicotine" in the sidebar is a great read. Follow the storage practices listed and it will keep for years.
~~... VG oxidizes slower. PG is just easier to work with and get into solution. That being said, it falls out of solution easier because it's so much thinner.~~
#nope.
Hopefully last question for a bit. I found a site that has some good prices. Is Nicotine River a good site to use?
Never used them, but prices look comparable to all the other sites. No idea if they ship their flavors in dropper bottles either, which is pretty much a necessity for mixing by weight.
Also, the smallest size I saw is 60mL and in my opinion that's too much for beginners and for flavors that you've never tried before. You will waste a lot.
I agree with not buying 60ml of something you've never tried. However their prices on FA are far better than anywhere else I've seen. And they do come in bottles with twist tops, for relatively easy dripping. I basically just use them for restocking FA flavors.
That's kind of what I was thinking as far as the prices. Bcv sells in 30ml for 4oz. The 2oz btls for tfa were like $2 more than the 30ml at bcv. Picked 4 recipes that matched my profiles and had good reviews and only got the flavors from the recipies. Most of the flavors were ones in many of the recipies I looked at
I think they do a great job and have placed 3 orders with them so far. They have fast shipping with FedEx (once USPS). Once they ran out of Chocolate Deutsch FA and called to let me know. They offered a refund or they would ship it once their stock was received free of charge. It came a week later.
Hey guys, first of all I would like to thank you all for the great information provided here. I am new to DIY and after tearing through this reddit for a week or two I decided I was finally ready to place my first order.
I received my order from BCV (huge shoutout to these guys, could not have asked for faster shipping and everything was perfect when it got here). Now here's my problem, my order came in the mail yesterday around 12:30 PM. I got home from being out of town this afternoon so I was able to grab it from the mailbox then. I live in Florida so it's quite hot and the box & liquids were warm, as the package had been sitting out in the heat yesterday and this morning.
Is this anything to be worried about? I guess I'm paranoid that now my flavors will be off, anyone have experience with this?
I appreciate the input!
I know what shisha is, but what is the defining common characteristic of Inawera's Shisha line of concentrates? Do they literally contain some tobacco flavor?
They don't contain any tobacco flavoring. I guess they are supposed to mimic the flavors added to the hookah tobaccos. I've heard a few of them described as somewhat "syrupy" so maybe that's supposed to be the common characteristic.
Ok so this might be an odd question but how do you guys store your supplies. I know that your bases, nic, and flavorings must be kept in a cool, dry, dark spot. My problem is I don't have a dedicated place for a mixing station where I can keep it all. I guess I'm asking do you keep it in a toolbox, tackle box, tote ect. I just got my first order and realized I don't have a place to keep it other than the box it came from.
Check this out https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/comments/4ou4vt/need_diy_organizational_help_can_anyone_recommend/
I said nail polish in that one but after looking at my set up when I got home I realized it was actually lipstick. But there are a lot of other suggestions in that thread as well that don't involve any kind of cosmetics.
Just made my first juice. It's a clone of Ace of Vapez Yoda Snot made by mrpathetic...Found it on vape underground
*Lemon lime -cap-9%
*key lime-tfa-5%
*champagne -tfa-1%
Key lime really shines through. Kind of reminds me of the filling to a key lime bar without the powdered sugar. Tastes so much cleaner than anything iv bought premade:)
Congratulations?
I was gonna say something, but "safe space" so I left it alone.
/u/togiraikonoka0618 I know you're new, but this is post has no question in it.
I'm happy with it for a shake and vape. I know it's not my own creation but it tastes good. I'm probably going to try messing with adding some crust and maybe some creams to turn it into more of a key lime pie. I don't have a lot of flavors yet. Any suggestions on what to buy to work out the crust and creams?
I'm happy for you! Seriously, congratulations on your first tasty juice. Who cares it isn't your recipe, you made it yourself, that's awesome. It's just this thread is for questions and I didn't know if maybe you had a question and forgot to include it, or what. But you just wanted to share, and it's not your own creation so it's not monthly thread material, if you made your own post it would just be clutter, so this might as well be the place for it. Carry on!
P.S. If you're looking for ideas about for how to turn it into key lime pie, TFA Cheesecake (Graham Crust) is probably one of the flavors you'll want to try. It's more crust than cheesecake, but does have a little creaminess to it.
This may be bad mixing practice, and I'm hoping to get some input on this.
I mix for friends and friends-of-friends, and I sell them 50ml bottles for $20 a pop. They get juice, and I get feedback. They like ~70% VG in their juice, the more the better. I have PG diluted flavors and nic. When I mix, I do not add any extra PG for that reason - they like as much VG as I can provide.
So, I mix directly into the 50ml bottles I sell. First, I add all my flavors (I keep it simple, all my juices are 2-4 flavors). Then, I add the nic (48mg, WL). Knowing that 50ml is right upto the lip on my bottles, I then just pour VG into the bottle until I hit that 50ml line. As far as I know, that is a close approximation to the correct amount of VG needed for the bottle - and saves me 10 minutes trying to put in the exact amount of 36ml or so of VG, using a syringe.
So, in short: After adding everything except for VG, is it okay for me to just fill the rest of the bottle with VG if that's my goal? It should be a close approximation to the correct amount.
Yeah that's fine to do as long as it tastes good to you. I've done this a couple times when lazy, but I normally always pour exact amounts.
Also, you must be a decent salesman because I wouldn't even buy 120mL "premium" liquid for $48.
Well I work in customer service anyways, so I know how to sell overpriced garbage no one in their right mind would want to buy for our ridiculously overpriced goods.
I argue that they can either go to a gas station and pay $10 for a 15ml bottle, or come to me and pay $20 for over 3 times more juice. Plus, I've got the friendly-ness to make buying through me a good experience. My customer-service for eJuice is on point.
And, if they're willing to pay that price - that's only more profit for me.
If it's my first order should 32oz of VG and 16oz of PG be enough as far as bases go for testing the waters of DIY?
I was looking for recipes and came across a thred where someone said "bad news about FW yellow cake". I tried researching this on my own but can only surmise there fructose in it. Is this bad? I love yellow cake but try to vape as healthy as possible. Still got me some diketones like custard v1 and such but I want to know - what happened with FW Yellow Cake and is it safe to vape?