So I read someone's advice about not just stocking up on juice because we would run out in a a year and then be stuck with tobacco and menthol only. If I had to vape tobacco, I'm afraid I'd start smoking again. I quit after smoking about a pack to pack and half a day of cigarettes for 15 years. I quit in May 2013. I've been vaping ever since I quit and I have no interest in ever quitting vaping, I just don't ever want to smoke again. I've been stocking up on juice, rebuildables, and don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to wicking, etc. But I can learn from this website. I'm pretty shy, so I usually just read. I ordered from Vapecraft from the vendor list and they would ship to Arkansas. I couldn't find a kit, so I don't have nearly what i need. I only ordered what most of the list said: liter of PG, 500 mL of PG, two 100, mL of nicotine PG base 100 mg/mL, graduated cylinder and beakers. I know I still need the scale, ?from Amazon or walmart? idk and gloves and what kind of bottles? size and glass or plastic and pipettes. I have no flavor, I didn't know what to get? and from where is the best place so I won't have so many shipping charges. I feel I should order more nicotine while I still can, I can't believe I found someone who will ship to my state, Arkansas. Can someone help me with the rest of these decisions? I like glazed donut, sad boy butter coookie, strawberry flavors. Thanks so much~~:)
Get nicotine, that's your main priority. You can buy in bulk, break it into multiple smaller containers, and stick them in the freezer, leaving one out to use right now. They keep allot longer there.
You are going to measure by either weight or volume, not both. So you'd need either the beakers and such or a scale, not both. I would recommend mixing by weight, it's faster and easier. Mixing by volume used to be the thing to do back in the day.
If you've got your nicotine and you're good on mods and atomizers, then you should be set. You will always be able to get batteries, cotton, wire, PG, VG, bottles and flavors; these items will always be available because they are used in allot more than vaping.
Your scale, you'll want to make sure it measures down to 0.01 grams. It is often called a jewelers scale. I got mine from a local head shop, it works just as good for eliquid as it does for more illicit items, lol.
I almost always get my VG, PG, and flavors from BullCityFlavors. I think they're out of North Carolina if I remember correctly. They don't sell nicotine anymore, but they have the other items listed, and often have bottles too. Otherwise I usually just get my bottles from Amazon.
For eliquid recipes, checkout my two favorite sites: ATF and ELR. Not only do they have recipes, but they have a calculator that once you put in your specs (bottle size, nicotine strength, VG/PG ratio, etc.) It'll break it down to tell you exactly how much of each ingredient you need to add in weight (recommend) or volume.
My thumbs are getting tired (on mobile), lol. I think I covered allot, but if you have any other questions don't be afraid to ask.
Thanks so much and also for the websites!
Thanks so much, everyone. I finally found the bottles I needed on Amazon! I ordered the LB-501 scale mentioned in the video in getting started. I ordered more nicotine from the same place, VapeCraft, but that's not nearly enough after using the nicotine calculator! I need to order some every chance I get before it gets where I can't. I have a lot of recipes to look through. Thanks so much for all the help and the how to pages that are here! I'll let you know when I startt getting my stuff. My first order was shipped, so getting excited!
Which bottles did you get? A lot of the ones on Amazon are crap. I just recently picked up a bunch of 120ml plastic squeeze bottles from there and the opening is too small for viscous fluids. Which means it takes an incredible amount of time to fill the bottles.
Hi, I cancelled the Amazon order for bottles in time. They were brown amber, with droppers but they were the wrong size. What kind and size do I need? Is Bull City a good website to get them from, they had a lot of different kinds. The place I got the nicotine from was out of stock of about all.
you should get amber bottles with polycone caps for your concentrated nicotine. the polycone caps keep air from getting in. fill them all the way to the top and stick them in the freezer. i bought a 1.1 cu ft freezer just for my nicotine. for your ejuice, you don't need the glass bottles. i use gorilla bottles. get some 15ml gorilla bottles for new mixes. it's a really good idea to test out your mixes in small batches so you don't accidentally make 100ml of juice that you hate. i am stubborn and have learned this the hard way.. I've had to hate vape way too much juice.
First of breath, you got this. All you need to mix is flavours, of,vg,nic bottles and a scale. Your scale needs to measure grams to .01. go to recipe sites and find a few you like that have been rated. E-liquid reciepesAll the flavors
Then some shopping
Your off to the races
Oh no, already ordered now. My son can use them for his science stuff, lol
The most important purchase right now is getting your nicotine while there are still vendors available no heavy taxes have been passed into law. Here's a nicotine calculator to figure oit how much you'll need.
Depending on what ratio you vape ie 50/50 or 70/30 you'll need a gallon of vg and 1000mls or so pg or greater to get started.
Before you go crazy buying flavors, head to alltheflavors and find some recipes that interest you. Look for recipes that utilize the same flavors so you can make more recipes with your first order. Just don't buy flavors randomly because they sound good. Watch flavor reviews on Noted episodes and definitely read the sidebar here on getting started and first flavor buying.
Bottles are a personal preference. You could use chubby gorilla bottles or hdpe or ldpe dropper bottles or even glass bottles with droppers. You can mix right into your bottles on a scale so no need for beakers or anything else unless your mixing large batches.
Like the others have mentioned. Nicotine is your priority right now. Use the nicotine calculator to see how much you need to order. Also Maybe consider using rebuildable atomisers.
For flavors, if your still not into making your own juice, try using one shot concentrates. Flavor jungle has some decent flavors although I haven't compared prices with other vendors.
Thanks! I've been looking for one shot concentrates in case I can't figure everything out and probably taste better than what I can mix especially at first.
Buy nicotine first. You can get the rest later. Get it now, so many regulations no one knows what will happen. If just starting I would personally buy all the nic I could and get the rest as I go.
Need to Start
Scale that will do 0.01 g
Nicotine, get 100 or 250mg so you don't need to add a separate freezer to this list too
Vegetable Glycerin
Propylene Glycol
Flavorings
Sweetener (skip tfas sweetener when first starting out, it's not just sweetener and not in a always good way)
Bottles for mixes
Masking tape for labels
NEED SOON, or may need now depending on what you buy:
Boston round bottles with polycone caps if you buy a lot of nic, I prefer 120ml. Ebay has been the best option price wise I have found
Bloxygen (argon)
Tote to put all your crap in
It really is dead easy once you have the calculations done of how much nicotine you need. Everything else can be done by approximation (flavors and bases) i.e. if you have 72vg/28pg vs. 70vg/30pg who really cares?
For instance, I make 60ml bottles of several different flavors at a time. To make a single 3mg strength bottle (I'm stair stepping down the nic level to get off nic eventually), I would add 1.8ml of 100mcg strength nicotine to an empty beaker. I then fill the beaker to about the 10ml level with flavor(s) so about 8.2ml of flavor give or take. I then pour that mix of flavor and nicotine into an empty juice bottle and fill up the remaining space in the bottle with VG (I like max vg juice). Put the cap on and shake and bake baby. It's that simple. No scales, no elaborate measuring, etc. If I want some a thinner juice for a pod style device like my Smok Nord, maybe I fill the juice bottle about 3/4ths full of VG and the remaining with PG by eyesight giving me an approximate 75/25ish mix.
Like I said, since this is just for me, I don't really care one bit if I end up with a 80vg/20pg mix or 85/15 or whatever so long as I have the proper amount of nicotine for my desired strength.
From there, it's just playing with different flavors and percentages to find out what you like best which is most of the fun. Yesterday, I made five 60ml bottles of max vg juice in about 10 minutes. How much would that have cost me at the vape shop?! Yet I did it for probably a total of $2 at most, in materials and very little hassle.
I bought a kit from River Supply when I first started DIY and quite honestly, I've yet to use most of that kit outside of a small beaker and a couple of the 5ml syringes. Everything else is still new in the tub it came in. Don't over complicate it.
Finally, I know a lot of people like the chubby gorilla style bottles like most store bought vape juice comes in, but I really don't as they are only good for a few refills at most, then you'll develop creases in the bottle from you squeezing it and those creases can leak. I've since switched over to those skinnier bottles that are more opaque and a little softer plastic. They are made much better, the tip can be removed much easier than the chubbys, and so far, I've yet to have a single bottle develop a crease let alone a leak.
*Edit. These are the style of bottle I use. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XGDXD37/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
As others have mentioned, nicotine is the most important item to get, as it is being restricted in consumers in many states. I would suggest getting high concentrate nic so you dont have to use alot and can manage pg/vg ratio's easier. I use 100mg/ml as it makes the math extremely easy.
Welcome! I was so nervous about ordering the right stuff and mixing in general when I first started about six months ago. All I have to say is this sub and the Discord (on sidebar I think but I'm on mobile) have the most helpful folks and resources. Good luck!
So, I got package from VapeCraft today, but I only ordered 3 bottles and they are only 60 mL, so I only ordered 180 mL of nicotine, not nearly enough but I didn't see bigger quantities. I'm looking around and I found Central Vapors and Nicotine Giant. Are these good places to order bigger amounts from? Nicotine giant has 1000 mL for 79.95. Is that a good price for the amount? It is 100 mg nicotine. Thanks :)