Hey guys, a couple of weeks ago I started making my own e-liquid, after spending a whole day reading all the contents of this sub and various forums. I just wanted to make a first thoughts post, mainly for people like myself but two-weeks back.
TL;DR I love it, if you are having second thoughts about it, just do it!
So, despite vaping for a couple of years now, I was satisfied with my sub-ohm tank and a MTL tank. They served me well, and I am not even thinking about smoking.
Recently, I thought it's time to finally try making some coils, getting an Avocado24, new mod etc.. Just getting the next level, since the whole thing was becoming a bit boring to me. Around that time, I also realised that I am spending too much money on e-liquids, and getting an RDTA would only make that worst.
So, from that realisation, 24 hours later I went from not even knowing DYI liquid is a thing, to making my first order, and also buying a scale.
Until my orders arrive, and until I try making my liquid, I was feeling pretty nervous if I did the right thing or if I just spent close to 100$ for nothing. A couple of posts here like this, made me overthink if I really wanted to get into this or not.
And this is my only critique to this sub. Most posts on the sidebar, make this whole thing appear mystifying, like a new adventure, where you are going to need a lot of knowledge, time, and trial & error. Having a desk used only for mixing, be precise, wear gloves etc. While all of these might be true (and helpful), you have to understand how they appear to someone not into it at all. It's just an overwhelming feeling of "aahh why bother?"
In reality, my order arrived, I spent a couple of hours making a couple of juices and they are both amazing. First, a simple Strawberry Cheesecake, and then a clone of my favourite MTL Five Pawns Queenside. Well, both were amazing, (especially the Five Pawns is truly spot on) and I can't help but wonder why I even hesitated for a second. I have made 4-5 more liquids since, and they are all really tasty.
My point in closing (sorry about the book), is that everyone should be doing this, there's nothing mystifying or challenging about it. I personally find the coil building-wicking much more challenging and yet so much more people do it. Ofcourse, if you want to get deep, you have to do trial&error, explore flavours, store carefully etc. But for the average person, it just requires a day of research and 0 investment.
And I want to stress that 0 investment, because I gave around 100$ and I already made 150ml (real value would be 120$) Queenside and another 200ml of Strawberry creamy stuff. It's just like buying a lot of liquid in advance, except really cheap, and you also have around a litre remaining to chose how to flavour.
So, to people reading this and thinking whether to give it a go. Do it. Just spend a day or two of research, and don't be scared (or stupid). In reality premium e-liquids are just basic e-liquids that just don't suck, and you can definitely achieve this quality from day 1. After that, my guess is that it only gets better.
Thanks a lot to this sub, and I am sorry for the critique. I just feel that every vaper should be doing this, and there's no point in making it seem harder than it is.
You should help with the new Beginner's Guide that /u/Skiddlzninja is putting together. I disagree with your "critique" somewhat but totally agree with your overall premise that "every vaper should be doing this, and there's no point in making it seem harder than it is." It seems like most of the people who have volunteered to help with the guide are experienced DIY ejuice mixers who might have forgotten what it's like to be new at this. A fresh perspective and an eye for making sure the guide isn't making it seem harder than it is could be an extremely valuable contribution.
https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/comments/51uih5/its_time_for_a_new_beginners_guide_see_here_for/
I doubt I could be of any help, since as I said I haven't been doing this even for a month. My knowledge is really limited, but I just wanted to make a post because I see many people contemplating whether to start, and I felt like that very recently. My critique to this sub was that it just has a vibe of "Hey, this is serious! Think if you are really up for it".
As someone who has never DIY'd juice, I would say that your limited knowledge makes you perfect for helping out with the beginner's guide.
Well then, I could help if they want me to. It's not that what they write is wrong, and everything is really helpful. But it's also overwhelming, I don't think you need to know all that from day 1. You just need to know a few basic principles and a disclaimer like "don't drink or do massage with the nicotine"
I'd be interested in helping. I'm not exactly a noob but I'm no expert either. When I was first getting started I found the wealth of information rather intimidating and convoluted at the time. Now that I sort of know what I'm doing I think I have a pretty good sense of how to organize and present the information in order to ease new mixers into it as painlessly as possible. It's basically what I do for work, writing patents.
For me personally, I think the beginner needs to understand up front that the hard part is in creating your own recipes. If you are just making juice from someone else's recipe, it is simple.
I just wish someone had mentioned this when I started going through the wealth of information. If I took it slow, recreated other people's juices, I would get the feel for what I would like to do on my own.
I agree with everyone else who said it can be very intimidating when you first start to dig in.
Just my .2¢...
Yeah as a new mixer as well I agree with you, as echoed in my beginner question [here] (https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/comments/53h7h5/weekly_new_mixers_questions_thread_week_of/d7xf3nm/). It's definitely a lot more intimidating than it actually is and requires a lot less stuff than the guide lead me to believe.
One of the reasons I put it off because I used to homebrew beer and that is a royal pain in the arse. Sterilising everything, cleaning and drying all the equipment, temperature control etc. But DIY eliquid is a breeze, it's on a much smaller scale and the process is far simpler. Individually you are all extremely helpful, but the guide is a lot more complicated than it needs to be.
EDIT: Though I admittedly use the Recipe Calculator in the sidebar and that does do a lot of the leg work for me.
Yeah man, exactly. I don't blame the people that contributed, on the contrary, without them I would still be buying Five Pawns for 25pounds. It's just a bit too much. From all the knowledge I absorbed prior to trying, I feel ready to start an e-liquid brand.
Let's do it bud. We'll call it 'massaging with nicotine.'
But seriously, it just feels a bit disjointed. We've probably come at a good time, where measuring by weight is the norm, but I think maybe some parts of the guide are a bit antiquated. But yeah, don't mean any criticism to those who created it, probably just looking at it with fresh eyes.
haha, i felt the same way at one point... then when i looked into it, i relized the market for it at this point is so congested it would be nearly impossible to get it off the ground, and now that regulations are coming into play it would be even more difficult... though, finding a couple vapors you know can come to you and buy juice for a good deal (120ml for the price of 30ml for example) is enough to supply your new hobby...
One main frustration I had when I was starting out was a lack of concrete examples. There's a ton of information on this sub but a lack of ELI5 organization/consolidation of it. A newbie has to do a lot of their own research, which is mentally taxing when they have no base foundation of knowledge and are just stumbling along in the dark. It's like trying to learn to ride a bike without a teacher or training wheels. Just tell me exactly what to do to progress from zero - I'll learn on my own as I get more experience, but I need a strong starting point.
IMO this is a pretty decent beginner guide, for example
http://forum.e-liquid-recipes.com/t/a-beginners-guide-to-making-the-most-highly-rated-recipes/83612
Gotta say I agree. I got into DIY very recently, and I found it hard as hell to bite the bullet and place an order to get started. I was under the impression from the wealth of information I'd gone through that this was difficult enough that it wasn't for everybody.
85 bucks later, I had 2 recipes good enough to ADV and 1 more on the go within 24 hours. Was really (pleasantly) surprised by how easy it is to start once you actually have the stuff and a couple recipes.
This sub has been an amazing resource and really does contain everything you need to get started, and improve. That said, it also can give a noob the impression that it isn't that easy.
To anyone considering trying DIY... DO IT. At a basic level (which is where I am currently, and loving it btw) it is only marginally more complicated than making a mixed drink.
If I had known how simple it was... I would have started months ago :D
My first DIY investment was only 30$... 100$ was honestly a little bit on the steep side lol...IICR i got 500ml of PG/PG, a 30ml bottle of nicotine, some syringes, a couple flavorings, a couple bottles and i was rolling away at it...i figured if it didnt work out, then nothing really is lost, but it did work out lol... i made plain jane blueberry, Blueberrys n Cream, Peaches n Cream and Grape Jolly Ranchers...after i relized how much i enjoyed doing it, i then went into the deep end... now i have about 20 bottles at any given time in my cupboard steeping... good stuff OP keep it up
Yeah I know, I went all the way, 1L VG, 1L PG, scales, bottles, the whole thing. I thought since I am doing it I am doing it. But you know, l already made all this liquid and besides a couple of concentrates my stash still looks full. Also, it's UK, so everything is a bit more pricey here.
I think a lot of the intimidating part (besides all the info in the sidebar) is just the math involved with weighing, percentages, fractions, etc. If you toy around with a juice calculator to gain a little understanding of what you're doing before you actually mix, that part isn't that bad either. Everyone here started with basically zero knowledge, but through reading and trial/error gained useful experience and become more confident in what they were doing.
You are correct though, it isn't hard, or a science really, but researching before you start is very helpful and can save you some money or pain and suffering. Plus, it really eases the learning curve once you get into it too.
Yep, I was a bit worried about the math too. But with e-juice-recipies calculator you can adapt and tweak something really easily.
I feel like it should be stressed that it requires zero math by the mixer themselves.
When I first started I came here primarily for some starting recipes and reviews of flavours. I stayed for warnings of some flavours probably not being suitable for inhalation.
There was a period of discussing volatiles and some sciency fancy stuff, which as a casual mixer I found really beyond my scope of interest... sure, it was some fun reading but really what the heck can you do about it if you're someone who's still buying from TFA, CAP, INA, etc.
Glad that period was over, to be honest.
> And this is my only critique to this sub. Most posts on the sidebar, make this whole thing appear mystifying, like a new adventure, where you are going to need a lot of knowledge, time, and trial & error. Having a desk used only for mixing, be precise, wear gloves etc. While all of these might be true (and helpful), you have to understand how they appear to someone not into it at all. It's just an overwhelming feeling of "aahh why bother?"
You're absolutely right. I remember when I came into this sub. And I was browsing through all the different nicotine levels, there were warnings everywhere, cautioning to use gloves, it seemed very overwhelming and I almost didn't want to do it. Thankfully, I put up with it. I asked the stupid questions. I put up with the hazing that's commonplace in this sub. And it made me a much better mixer.
tl;dr: this sub-reddit is a fuckin awesome resource to learn from. The people here are all extremely talented. But it's a very roll up sleeves and get shit done environment. Not everyone will take to that kindly but it will only make you better.
> I just feel that every vaper should be doing this, and there's no point in making it seem harder than it is.
That is 100% your opinion.
Some people are fine with vaping mustard milk all day every day.
Some people get tired of recipes much faster then others.
Time is money. Some people are willing to pay for the time others have put into developing a multi-concentrate recipe. Especially if it ends up being their all day vape.
I have spent at least a grand on flavors alone this year. I have also spent countless hours working on multiple concentrate recipes.
Has it been worth the money? Probably, but only because the market is flooded with juice that hasn't had time and effort put into it. That means I could spend all day tasting bad recipes.
Lets compare it to eating. I can cook my own meals, but I also enjoy going out to fancy restaurants. Sometimes the food is good sometimes bad. Sometimes it is food you can make at home and you just don't want to spend the time hunting and testing recipes. Sometimes you could spend years trying to copy a recipe and only get close.
For some people getting close is not good enough. For some people most juice out there is not good enough because they have learned what they like in flavors and they mix according to what they like.
Since I opened by business I have found that it is very hard to find time to sit down and research recipes and flavor combinations.
I guess what I want to get across is that Ejuice is not just the learning curve of how to put ingredients into a bottle unless you can be satisfied by recipes you decide to mix.
It is a lot of trial and error and sometimes paying for a bottle of good juice is sometimes much less frustrating then deciding to go home and clone it.
I would rather pay for a bottle if it is a nice mix that I know will take weeks to clone. Time is money and knowledge takes time.
As far as the sidebar, I think that if someone isn't willing to read the sidebar and study some, then they should not be mixing. There are some precautions to take and if they aren't willing to take a little time, then they will probably mix bad juice anyway.
On the flip side, I see people vaping what I consider to be bad juice. All day every day.
This is definitely my opinion, I did not suggest to express the absolute truth.
And you are right, some people prefer to give more money than bother at all. Other people do make their own juice but occasionally treat themselves with a flavour they really like. I am planning to do that too.
I am not trying to express a total truth about how vapers should go about consuming their juice, my point is that if people understood how easy it actually is, we would see much more people doing it, and much lower prices on premium e-liquids.
There is a lot of people doing it. Have you ever asked a store owner how many calls they usually get or how many samples come in? lol
Everyone and their mama is trying to sell it. I can only assume that DIY must be much more then that. I didn't make a DIY post for a year and a half. Yet some people come in and start posting recipes after two days.
DIY is pretty big. Reddit is only one scene. If people don't know they can DIY easily then they just need top open their eyes and look at how many juice brands there are.
Much more brands then tobacco cigs.
Let me say, and I'm sure a lot of people who disagree, but a lot of shake & vapes, I find severely agitate my throat. Basically any mix I make rips up the top of bottom of my tongue for the first week of steeping, almost like a chemical burn sorta feeling.
I never see it mentioned on here. Figured I would throw that out there.
Happy mixing!
Also basically every juice really improves in flavor after about a week and a half of steeping.
Personally, the first recipe that I made (Strawberry Cheesecake) was much better as a shake and vape rather than now (15 days later). On the other hand, the Queenside had initially that feeling that you describe, but now it's perfect. So I guess it depends on the recipe.
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