Me & ID10-T were talking about making a "READ HERE FIRST BEFORE POSTING" thread permenantly sticky'd to the frontpage. This is to help new users quicker and get them the information that they need.
Full Discussion is Here
**In summary the thread will have only the list of places to find answers to specific questions with nothing additional. It is no order of what question gets asked most frequently. Here's the list we're working with.: **
Questions
- How to Make New Recipes - link
- How to Mix eJuice from a Recipe - link
- How to Use Non-Flavor Ingredients - link
- How to Store Nicotine - link
- What Concentrates Should I get? - link
- Steeping Juices - link
- Where to Purchase Equipment/Concentrates - link
- Cloning Commercial eJuice - link
- If you STILL don't have your question answered, go here > Weekly New Mixer's Questions Thread <
derived from here
We're looking for discussion/help with filling out/finding threads that already have this information. Thank you for any help!
Please reply to the categories below. And after about a week (ish) I'll go through and collect the information together and try to make a nice little faq for everyone.
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I feel like we'll need some work done on the AutoMod as well.
> "Please take a moment to read through the sub rules... ...Failure to do so may result in a ban."
doesn't need to say that. Especially when the majority of new users seeing it would be the ones who don't know where to read the rules.
Please include a video section for those who are visual learners. New Amsterdam Vape is my go to for new mixers who like to watch.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWk48WC-L4IKb5HJDiJl1q22-f7DhCc_d
Thank you so much for this!
I love this video. It was literally the only video I ever needed on the actual mixing of ejuice.
I believe that might actually be the only thing required for "How to Mix eJuice from a Recipe"
https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/wiki/index/monthlyrecipes
^ This link is too deep, I have to click twice to get there and every once in a while I completely forget where it is.
Seems like it should at least be straight in the sidebar or in your stickied post.
Looking for Recipes would be a good one. Could have a link to currently monthly post and full page listing.
One line.
Can't be certain, as it's been awhile since I looked at it (mostly use Bacon Reader on mobile), but isn't a whole lot of this in the sidebar? Just take the links to the guides there and use those for some of it.
Otherwise, do you guys need help writing new material for some of these? Number 4 I feel should be simply something like "Proper Nicotine Care and Usage". Definitely want to cover the whole nicotine spectrum in a new mixers FAQ... Don't want a repeat of last year's "Pure Nic" debacle.
That's actually exactly the problem. Most new users use their phone to get to reddit and the app/mobile site both remove all that information.
We're looking for threads that have already been created or new material to be written.
Possibly just a curration and compilation of old information (it doesn't tend to change) all summed up into consistently formatted information. No discussion on it. Just the thread, the mods lock it, and we link to it.
You can get to the sidebar on mobile regardless of what you are using, be it an app (sidebar is accessible in all apps) or the browser. Just FYI. Anyone who says they can't is not even attempting to try.
I totally wasn't aware it was there, I eventually found it under "Community Information"
Seems like the only users who would be able to find that information are people who know the sidebar exists and has that information.
It would be a very good idea to have instructions on how to access the sidebar within the Read Here First Topic. And say theirs a slew of useful information there.
To be fair it isn't a sidebar, if it isn't on the side. If you are on mobile you have to already know that a subreddit might have rules or links that are required reading, i.e. you're an experienced Redditor and have enough time and forethought to remember to click that extra button or two on your phone. Is it any wonder that a significant percentage of people don't do this before posting on this, or any sub?
https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/comments/4g2agd/welcome_new_members_of_the_diy_community/
Cokecan covered some good stuff in this thread. Thought I'd throw it your way. Looking through for ya.
PG/VG
4 gallons, 1PG 3VG (I mix in range of 60/40 - 80/20) best price I've found...
http://www.essentialdepot.com/product/CUBE-1PG3VG.html
NICOTINE
Best price on nicotine 1 liter (1000ml) 100% PG base is what I use since I don't aim for max VG.(not as thick and easier to deal with IMO) best I've found is with...
www.myfreedomsmokes.com/liquid-nicotine-eliquid-vapes-unflavored.html?___store=default&nosto=nosto-page-category1
FLAVORINGS
ONLY BUY A SMALL BIT OF FLAVORINGS AFTER FINDING A RECIPE!
After testing and finding recipes are good for your liking. BUY IN BULK! 120ml flavoring 6-13 bucks. Just a couple sites out of 1000's I'm sure.
http://wizardlabs.us/index.php?route=checkout/cart
http://www.bullcityflavors.com
Www.flavorplace.com
ADDITIVES / SWEETENERS
Here is a detailed site of how these work and how to use them.
http://www.vapemeup.com/2011/10/diy-liquids-with-kick-more-mouth.html?m=1
MAKE WHAT YOU CAN! The powders can be found on. www.amazon.com
RECIPE SITES
http://www.lediypourlesnuls.com
http://e-liquid-recipes.com
https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/wiki/index/monthlyrecipes
Www.alltheflavors.com
Www.dot1ml.com
Pretty nice scale
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01EHT6YF4/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?qid=1463284442&sr=8-7&refinements=p_97%3A11292772011&dd=D8omzudUQpa0XmOASWqIRQ,,&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=digital+liquid+scale&dpPl=1&dpID=4115ZNYndzL&ref=plSrch
IF YOU USE SYRINGES GO TO PHARMACIES AND GET THEM FREE! JUST ASK THEM! MINE CARRY 1, 3, 5, AND 10ML.
BUY THESE...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00FGDNVO8/ref=mp_s_a_1_3_a_it?qid=1463284706&sr=8-3&keywords=50ml+syringe&pi=SX200_QL40
BOTTLES
Can be found on many of the site's I've already listed, I buy direct from a local Vape shop in my hometown so don't really have the best answer in prices.
There you are... DIY in a nutshell, I sure wish I had all this data before I started lol. Let me know if there is any other questions.
VAPE ON MY FRIENDS!
Holy shit I had no idea pharmacies give out free syringes?! Lol
Luckily I have a plethora of them since we have a baby who takes lots and lots of medicine…
As a very new DIY-er (waiting on my orders of all equipment now) it would have been good to have some more info about UK suppliers!
I found this thread very useful: https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/comments/5cjvva/best_place_to_buy_diy_supplies_in_the_uk/
In the end I bought PG, VG, nicotine, pipettes, gloves and plastic dropper bottles from vapable.co.uk and some scales and glass dropper bottles from ebay.
I know there are plenty more good suppliers in the UK/EU but (as a very poor student) I found Vapable to be the best value.
Unfortunately, rules on nicotine concentrations (probably including nicotine for DIY) will be changing soon under the TPD, so it might be worth including some info on that. There's a lot of conflicting information on TPD so I'm not 100% sure what the best source would be for information, but from what I've read consumers won't be able to buy juices with a higher concentration than 20% (possibly including nicotine to be used for DIY mixing, so no more 78%, but this seems unsure at the moment). You also won't be able to buy tanks with higher than 2ml capacity.
Hope this is helpful from the perspective of a UK noob, I would have liked to have had all of this in one place so it's a great job you're doing!
Feel free to copy this and then edit it to got the UK /EU crowd. I'm not familiar with anything in that area since I live in the US. Rules and regulations will vary country to country. Glad you enjoyed the read as I researched all this information I kept a log of what I felt was important for starting out.
Per /u/Widner7 's suggestion I'm going to try making a list of UK suppliers. As I mentioned in the comment above I'm VERY new (waiting on my first order) so this will be limited but I'll use another thread I found for ideas.
When ordering I only used 2 websites to avoid loads of shipping costs, so there may be other sites with better prices. Same applies to buying in bulk, I went for very small amounts to start.
Some of the suggestions on the thread I found weren't under particular categories so I included some good general sites (especially if you like to buy everything in one go). Personally, I used vapable.co.uk as it seemed to have a good price for nicotine (£5.99 for 50ml 48mg/ml) and free shipping over £10, then I used ebay for some glass bottles and scales. All other suggestions are taken from this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/comments/5cjvva/best_place_to_buy_diy_supplies_in_the_uk/
If you're in the UK please comment with suggestions and I'll continue to add/edit this.
GENERAL (PG/VG/nicotine/flavours/accessories)
www.thee-cigshop.co.uk
www.vapable.co.uk
PG/VG
www.lubrisolve.com
www.lucemill.com/chemical (looks good for bulk buying)
NICOTINE
www.darkstarvapour.co.uk
www.everythingliquid.co.uk
www.lucemill.com/chemical
FLAVORINGS
www.chefsflavours.co.uk
www.thechosenfew.eu
www.vapourdepot.com
www.rainbowvapes.co.uk
ADDITIVES / SWEETENERS
Haven't bought so please suggest!
GENERAL ACCESSORIES
www.vampirevape.co.uk
SYRINGES
I have no idea if you can get them free in pharmacies in the UK but let me know if you can! Also I didn't buy syringes so let me know good sites. (They are sold on many of the sites listed above anyway).
BOTTLES
Having bought some bottles on Vapable and Ebay I found this website which sells loads of glass and plastic bottles designed for aromatherapy but which would be great for DIY.
www.naturallythinking.com/bottles-jars.html
SCALES
I bought these from ebay which are quite likely to be terrible, so link some others if you have a good pair!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152301558931?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
RECIPE SITES (same as US for obvious reasons!)
http://www.lediypourlesnuls.com
http://e-liquid-recipes.com
https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/wiki/index/monthlyrecipes
www.alltheflavors.com
www.dot1ml.com
FINALLY - TPD IS SH*T BUT WORTH KNOWING ABOUT
There seems to be a lot of confusion surround the Tobacco Products Directive but here are two useful links:
- This link is from gov.uk so definitely accurate but very wordy and aimed at producers/businesses rather than consumers. Also includes a link to the actual legal document if you fancy being bored senseless: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/e-cigarettes-regulations-for-consumer-products
- TPD explained in a ~fun~ way with a slightly irritating infographic: https://www.vapemate.co.uk/tpd/
As far as I can tell the biggest impact on DIY-ers will be that we can no longer buy anything with more than 20mg/ml nicotine and in nothing bigger than 10ml. Even though obviously none of us would actually vape 78mg/ml.
A lot of websites related to vaping in the UK now have a dedicated TPD section which explains the impact on their business, so those are always worth looking at.
#How to Make New Recipes
> Please reply with links of FAQs/Threads/Guides that fit this description. Thanks.
How do I determine how much flavor to use
Using All The Flavors
- Goto https://alltheflavors.com/flavors and search the flavor.
- Under "AVG" column, use as starting point. [ ~~Under "Recipes" column.... (/u/queuetue , glitch? IE 11, column names are offset by one horizontally)~~ ]
- For more detail click into the flavor and choose the bell of the curve to determine the starting percent.
Using DIY eJuice Flavor Wiki
- Go Here (In Sidebar)
- Find the Flavor in the list
- Use recommended starting percent or best judgement from review.
Using DIY_eJuice Search
- Go Here Replace FLAVORNAMEHERE with desired flavor.
- Do manual research to find information on what others have used the flavor at.
Using best Judgement
- Each individual flavor has it's own range of percents useful to them, but most companies have a rough starting point for most flavorings that will get you close. This is general range, if you feel the flavor is tasting muted it probably has too high of a percent.
Symbol | Manufacturer | Percent Range :--|:-------------|:--------------: TFA (tpa) | The Flavor Apprentice | 2.00 - 9.00% CAP | Capella | 0.50 - 7.00% INW | INW | 0.10 - 3.00% FA | Flavor Arts | 0.10 - 3.00% FLV |Flavorah |??? - ??? LB |Liquid Barn | ??? - ??? PUR | Purlium | ??? - ??? RF | Real Flavors | ??? - ???
Not every flavor for each manufacturer will fall under these percent ranges. Just most. Use best judgement.
#How to Mix eJuice from a Recipe
> Please reply with links of FAQs/Threads/Guides that fit this description. Thanks.
- Logical Increments of DIY gear (alpha) link
Looks like it has all the information, but too much. Seems like it would do the trick.
#How to Use Non-Flavor Ingredients
> Please reply with links of FAQs/Threads/Guides that fit this description. Thanks.
Sweeteners
- Sucralose
- Etyl Maltol
- Erythritol
- Monkfruit
- Reb A (Stevia)
- Sacrachan
- Maltol
Cooling/Heating
- Menthyl Methyl Lactate (Koolada)
- Menthol
- TFA Kentucky Bourbon
Flavor Adjustments
- Triacetin
- Citric Acid
- Malic Acid (Sour)
- INW Dirty Neutral Base
PG Aternatives (not too good on these)
- Polyprioniol
- Zemea
Other
- Triethyl citrate (TFA Dragonfruit) - Emulsifier
- FA Joy
#What Concentrates Should I get?
> Please reply with links of FAQs/Threads/Guides that fit this description. Thanks.
#How to Steep Recipes
> Please reply with links of FAQs/Threads/Guides that fit this description. Thanks.
Typical Steeping
- Shake
- No light,
- no oxygen,
- no opening the bottle,
- glass better than plastic,
- let it rest.
Alternative "Quick" Steeping Methods
Heat Steeping
- What it is. Why not to do it. How to do it.
Venting
- What it is. Why not to do it. How to do it.
Other Concepts
Zero Steep (or Shake n Vape)
- For recipes that are more simple. The more different interacting ingredients the more longer the minimum steep time is necessary. My own personal rule of thumb is minimum for harshness is 2-3 days. Minimum for taste on fruits 0-2 days. Minimum for bakeries 4-12 days. Minimum for creams 9 days+
Phased steeping (Nicotine or Flavorings)
- When making juice originally omit nicotine. Blah blah, add nicotine later on if using lower quality nicotine so the nicotine doesn't degrade as quick. Good for bigger batches.
Ultra Sonic Stirring
- Direct to shaking/stirring section in "How to mix eJuice" // Maybe?
Stirring
- Direct to shaking/stirring section in "How to mix eJuice" // Maybe?
#Where to Purchase Equipment/Concentrates
> Please reply with links of FAQs/Threads/Guides that fit this description. Thanks.
mb it worth to add some info about nicotine salts? when i tried to search for that found not too many helpful information.
one of things worth mention about is nic salts can give nicotine satisfaction faster compared to free-base.
one of questions i was not sure about - "should i use the same amount of nic salts as i mixed using free-base nicotine". answer was yes.
another question was about colour of nic salts. from what i understand yellow colour of nic salts can be ok because of some complicated things involved in making it.
will be good to read more information how it affects on health (vs free-base nicotine, written in non-scientific language)
Although I agree all that information is important, it's definitely new and not fully shaken out yet.
In addition not too many new users are worried about, or even know what Nicotine Salts are.
This project is purely to answer the majority of new user's questions before they have to waste their time opening a countless-ly answered question.
Of course this set of questions might change as time goes on, so the documents/questions might change down the line, but I wouldn't say till probably next year or possibly sooner who knows!
"Logical Increments of DIY" tends to be the #1 thing I link to.
Where do you think it'd fit in on the list?
also, the alpha version is in the sidebar but has since been updated/completed here.
Should we have information on "How to Share My Recipe?"
Share on DIY_eJuice
- If educational post frontpage with x, y, & z.
- Else, Monthly Recipe Thread
Share on ELR/ATF
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