How to Make Your Own Vape Juice: DIY Vape Juice Guide

Making your own vape juice can be pleasurable or equally frustrating, depending on how much you understand the process. Whether you have had the chance to prepare or you are doing it for the first time, a simple, step-by-step procedure can assist you in preparing a typical vape juice. By making fun out of it, it might as well save you some pennies or earn a few coins into your pocket. But you must ensure that you have the appropriate ingredients and mixing tools. Whereas basic chemistry is required during this process, safety must be practiced.

Preparing your own e-juice requires you to blend the main constituents that form an e-liquid: nicotine, base liquid of VG (Vegetable Glycerin) and PG (Propylene Glycol), and flavors. Nevertheless, you do not necessarily require all these components, for example, perhaps you prefer a nicotine-free or unflavored e-juice implying that the unwanted elements will be eliminated. Although some people think the preparation method could be overwhelming, it isn't as complicated as it might be perceived. There is no requirement for an advanced knowledge of chemistry. Anyone capable of making their own cocktail can prepare their own vape juice. Although preparing vape juice is perceived to be simple, sometimes the result ranges from just a liquid you might prefer throwing down the drain to the sweetest e-liquid ever. Regarding the quantity of vape juice you need to make, you can learn how to prepare it anywhere, but there are key ingredients and equipment required: Vegetable Glycerin (VG), Propylene Glycol (PG), flavor, nicotine (in diluted form), and distilled water (alternatively vodka), though nicotine or vodka are not compulsory elements. PG, VG, and flavoring can be used at a bare minimum preparation process.

You can give a try by following one of the simplest ways of making a vape juice:

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PG is a base liquid for preparing DIY e-juices. Nevertheless, some people are allergic to PG. It is a certified, odorless, colorless, and most importantly organic compound that is used when preparing various products such as tobacco, foodstuffs, among others. PG is as well used to prepare medicinal compounds used for inhalation, injection, oral, and topical consumptions.

PG is an organic liquid that is extracted from vegetables. Unlike PG, VG is thicker and is characterized by a slight tinge of sweetness. It’s VG and not PG which affects the overall flavor of the mixture. VG is certified Food and drug authorities for use in foodstuffs, e-liquids, cosmetics, et al. Both VG and PG are used when preparing e-juices as each offers peculiar properties to the mixture.

Whereas not necessarily needed in the mix, it’s purposely used for thinning the VG ingredient. Vodka, specifically provides throat hit, and without the need of including nicotine. In the place of vodka, distilled water can be used.

There is a broad variety of flavors, but to give your own vape juice the sweetest taste, flavors prepared purposely for inhaling are recommended rather than the common food flavors. Whereas the majority of mix will require about 10% - 20% of the content flavorings, some varieties are sufficiently strong to need only 5%.

Diluted nicotine liquid is available in different strengths. If it is your first time preparing vape juice, you are advised to make a selection of any nicotine whose strength lies between 8 mg and 24 mg, make experiments with it to determine the spot that makes the sweetest e-juice. Nicotine liquid should be handled with great care to prevent ingesting it resulting in nicotine overdose.

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For beginners, there is no need for using expensive or big containers; plastic bottles are the best option. Also, you must check on the sanitation of your equipment or risk spoiling the flavor of your vape juice with remnants of the previous preparation. Arguably, a fresh plastic bottle is much cheaper and effective compared to hard and costly containers.

For correct measurement of ingredients, separate syringes are marked and used for every ingredient. They can be used extensively if the bottles have small openings. Whereas counting of drops is also recommended, when small quantities of the ingredients are required, even the slightest difference can have a huge impact on the vape juice.

This is facilitated to wipe off any liquid that spills during the preparation. Even experts spill liquids, so it is vital to provide wipers when preparing vape juice.

Chemical ingredients, nicotine, in particular, can be hazardous or cause skin rashes when it comes into contact with the skin. Also, nicotine can be easily absorbed into the body hence it must be prevented by all means.

Goggles are used to protect your eyes in case splashes occur when mixing the ingredients. Highly concentrated nicotine liquid is dangerous to the eyes and is capable of causing eye damage.

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Some mathematics knowledge will be used to determine the amount of nicotine needed when making the e-juice attain a satisfactory percentage. Because the nicotine is in dilute form, its strength (in milligrams) and entire vape juice volume are used to figure out the amount of nicotine desired. An online calculator can as well make the calculations easy. Using too much nicotine will spoil your overall e-juice so slightly less than the recommended amount in the recipe is added, then added dropwise to taste. After attaining the desired level of nicotine in the mix, but you haven’t attained a satisfactory throat hit, you can add a few drops of vodka.

This step is very critical as it can make or spoil the overall e-juice, so it requires you to be attentive. A single flavor or a mix of various flavors can serve you well. Nevertheless, beginners are advised to use only one or at most two flavors. Like the nicotine, slightly less than the recommended amount of flavor in the recipe is added. This prevents you from ruining the overall batch. A taste test is conducted after steeping to drip some more flavoring to taste. For beginners, you are advised never (unless you are certain of the procedure) to use over 10% of the whole batch on flavoring ingredients.

Depending on the online calculator or your recipe, you can select your desired VG/PG blend, but often, the mix is in the ratio of 50:50 or 80:20. Most importantly, when determining the volume of VG/PG to be used, it is critical to remember that VG and PG traces are contained in diluted nicotine.

Steeping is your choice, but the vape juice will surely taste better if it was steeped, just as good as an aged wine. The freshly prepared e-juice can be tried out after you are done making the vape juice. If your “cocktail” tastes sweet and meets your expectations, then you can ignore this step. Steeping is nothing other than allowing the ready-to-vape e-liquid to settle for in a cool and dark corner. Actually, there’s no predefined duration for steeping an e-juice, but it can be a couple of days or weeks. Again, VG which is the most viscous ingredient will constantly settle down at the bottom of the bottle, hence shaking will be a routine activity.

During steeping, the bottle should be left open to allow free circulation of air in and out of the bottle and enable the vaporization of volatile fluids like alcohol. In other cases, the bottle is sporadically submerged in warm water or using a slow cooker to hasten the steeping. However, using these techniques to speed up steeping interferes with the water content in the mix, so it’s wise to watch the water level. After the steeping period, the color of e-juice changes due to the oxidation of nicotine. Rather than the initial colorless or slightly pale-ish color, some yellowish or light brownish color may appear. Steeping requires you to be patient and experimental as it turns out as monotonous and time-consuming, but the end result is worth the wait.

Ideally, the drill should encompass: preparing the e-juice, steep it, enjoy it, and repeat. But it is good to be realistic, making vape juice is monotonous and time-consuming. You are required to perform several tests to create a perfect mix. After you have fully understood the whole process, you can easily replicate it. The overall cost of preparing a home-made vape juice is less than purchasing a ready-made juice from the shop. But, care and attention are very important when blending the ingredients. Safety must as well be observed.

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