Hi, I am about to purchase some PG 100mg/ml nicotine base for the first time. Most of it will be a liter from Carolina Xtracts. I am going to be breaking it down into 30ml bottles but am getting confused on if I need to shake it before decanting.
Is shaking it up once and pouring some into a glass Pyrex measuring cup with a spout then using that to pour through a funnel that goes into the 30ml bottle an appropriate way to do this? Will it pour without spilling if I pour from the original bottle it came in instead of using the Pyrex measuring cup? Is it ok to shake more than once after breaking the seal of the original bottle?
If anyone has any insight on this it would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
I have done this exact thing. 1L of 100mg/mL nicotine in PG from Carolina Xtracts. I’ve been buying from Carolina for years now and have never encountered any quality issues from them, and usually accept it out of hand. I broke it down into 120 mL bottles, and then wrapped each in paper towel and aluminum foil to further block light and provide some shock absorption so the glass doesn’t break. Then double wrapped them in some gallon sized Ziplock freezer bags and threw them into my deep freezer. I keep the active bottle I’m mixing from wrapped up in the back of my refrigerator.
When I pour anything into bottles, I use a method similar to this. I use either a plastic pipette or the dropper from one of my 120 mL glass dropper bottles from when I bought commercial juice. I haven’t had any spills yet. I can work quickly and efficiently, and the liquid flows along the rod in a predictable fashion. Really helps with the drips.
Before decanting, I always shake the bottle to try and even out any hot spots. It doesn’t really “separate” (as in oil and water) as much as over time higher concentrations might build up based upon varying densities of the liquid. Just looking to even it back out. I’d resist the urge to shake vigorously, but slowly swirling for a few minutes should do it.
Hope this helps.
Stirring rod is neat. I don’t think I’d go out and buy one but I may give it a shot with a plastic chop stick or something
I bought these like 3 years ago and still have a ton of them.
Thanks for the detailed reply, did you break it down right away? I'm not going to need to start using it until sometime next year or maybe a bit later so I'm contemplating to just freeze it as is and not expose it to any oxygen until I need it because I will also have 120ml of another bottle to get through first before I get to the liter.
Eh... it was a couple of days. It’s relatively shelf stable... I mean, it takes a couple of days to ship, and god knows how long it sits on the shelf at the manufacturer before it ships. You should be fine for quite a while. Another user mentioned that it should be good to store for a while. I understand your reluctance to wait too long so you can check to make sure it’s good, but as long as you get to it in a few days I wouldn’t do more than throw it in the fridge.
If you don’t get to it until next year then definitely toss it in the freezer. You might even contemplate wrapping it in some foil or something to block all light out.
If you're storing it for long term and don't need to open it, Carolina already packs their juice great for long term storage.
That was my original plan because it will be stored long term but I heard that I should open it up and make sure that the nicotine isn't spoiled and test a small sample of unflavored juice to also confirm.
shake it once vigorously, then pour away. it wont seperate if at all until atleast a couple of days.
if you spill some, wipe it up. If some gets on you, wash it off. If you're super worried about that kind of thing, wear some gloves.
you should be all set my dude your plan is sound.
If the liter is your whole supply and your going to be using it soon, I would break it down now into 30ml bottles. If it's a secondary bottle, I wouldn't open it and just store it as is in the freezer.
All the nicotine I get probably won't be used until later next year, I am only buying now because of the upcoming PMTA to make sure I am ok. Do you think not checking and opening a bottle from Carolina Xtract right away for quality is alright? I like the concept of leaving it as is for now but I feel that it may be best to check that it isn't spoiled.
Carolina is one of the few companies I trust. Every batch I get is as clear as water and has no scent. It's a tough call and I get what you mean though. If you really want to know for 100% clarity, you could test the 1L. Either way eventually you will need to break it down into workable bottles and it'll last as long as you properly seal and store them. Fill almost to the top. There's argon but be careful adding it because pressure splashes the nic out. There's also bottle shrink bands you can use to seal the cap back up with as well. Basically back to original seal.
Thanks for responding, yeah I'll have to think on it but I do hear they are very reliable and that they don't expose any oxygen to the nicotine while packaging it. I don't think I will use argon any longer, I can now see it splashing on me and coming out from the force of the spray especially in small 30ml bottles, just going to fill to the brim and cap whenever I break it down.
Just to tag on here, this article is worth a quick read if it's your first time working with nicotine.
You don't need to measure anything to decant into smaller bottles.
I know but I thought that the spout on the measuring cup would make it easier to pour the nicotine base through the funnel when it goes into the 30ml bottles compared to pouring straight from the original bottle it came in.
You could do that if you think you can’t hold a liter bottle of liquid with one hand. You could pour what you can up to the neck in all your bottles then use a dropper cap to top off your bottles