What do you need to make your own vape juice

DIY e-liquid, or mix your own is the perfect way to fully control your vaping experience. You get to make your e-liquid to your exact specifications and you can even save some money.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO MAKE YOUR OWN VAPE JUICE

1. Diluents – There are two main diluents used during e-liquid production. Propylene Glycol (PG) and Vegetable Glycerine (VG). These both perform different functions and are both important when it comes to mixing your own e-liquid. PG carries the flavour and provides the throat hit, while VG is responsible for your clouds of vapour, thickness and a little sweetness.
2. Flavouring – This is technically optional. Some vapers don’t want to taste anything when they are vaping, they just want to replicate the sensation of smoking. But most vapers will want a flavour to their e-liquid and there are lots to choose from, not to mention the endless combinations you can create. So flavouring or flavour concentrate is highly recommended when making e-juice.
3. Nicotine – Again this is optional. You can make a zero-nicotine e-liquid with all of the other ingredients, minus the nicotine. But if you are adding nicotine you can completely tailor your nicotine strength.
4. DIY e-liquid accessories – There are some accessories you will need. Empty bottles, syringes, measuring cylinders, scales, gloves and tissue are all things you may need, depending how you are going to mix your e-liquid.

BENEFITS OF DIY E-LIQUIDS

Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of DIY e-liquid.

1. Convenience – Like many things, mixing your own e-liquid can seem complicated at first, whereas it’s as easy as following a recipe. Once you get into the swing of things it means you can make large batches of your favourite e-liquids, meaning you only have to think about it once every few months.
2. Control over your vaping experience – Want thicker clouds of vapour? Feel like you need more throat hit? Want to add some menthol to your favourite fruit flavour? All of these can be controlled if you mix your own e-liquid.
3. Endless flavour opportunities – The flavours is one of the fun parts of vaping. Mixing your own allows you to become an expert mixologist. There are endless flavour combinations and you can easily discover your new all day vape.
4. Value for money – Depending on the nicotine strength of your e-liquid, you can save a lot of money compared to buying your e-liquid already prepared.
5. Bottle size – No more having to worry about only have a 10ml bottle. You can mix as much as you want.

DIY E-LIQUID INGREDIENTS TO AVOID

1. None suitable flavourings – You shouldn’t ever be using a flavouring that hasn’t been specifically designed for e-cigarettes. While ‘flavourings’ may be suitable for other things, such as cooking, it does not mean that they are suitable for inhaling. Only use specific e-liquid flavourings from a reputable source.
2. Ultra-high nicotine strength – Make sure you are controlling the strength of the nicotine in your DIY e-liquid. If you make your nicotine strength too high it is easy to vape too much.
3. Essential oils – Oils have no place in e-liquid and should never be used under any circumstances.
4. Water / Vodka – Back in the early days of DIY vape juice, the method of using water or vodka as a base was popular. This was to thin the e-liquid and enhance the flavour. It really isn’t needed nowadays and I wouldn’t recommend it. If you want an e-liquid with a slightly thinner base, instead of VG use Aqueous Glycerine (AG). This is a diluent with a mix of VG and distilled water. Vodka as a base just isn’t required, if you want to minimise the use of PG in your e-liquid, DIY means you can use almost all VG and you can still get a great e-liquid.

E-LIQUID CALCULATORS

There are a lot of great, reliable e-liquid calculators out there. All you need to do is plug in the numbers you want to mix to and it will show you the exact ratio of ingredients.
You need to know what flavours you are using and how many. What ratio of diluents you want to use and how strong you want your flavouring to be.

HOW TO MIX YOUR OWN E-LIQUID SAFELY

There are a few different ways to mix your own e-liquid.
Some people use measurements of volume, such as ml’s. Others will use scales and mix via weight.
To mix safely, especially when nicotine is involved, it is always best to wear gloves. This is because nicotine can be taken up through your skin (think of a nicotine patch).
As mentioned above depending on how you are going to mix, you will need some accessories. If you are mixing by volume you will need syringes or measuring cylinders. If by weight you will need scales, and both methods require empty bottles.
Make sure everything is prepared and in place before you are going to start mixing and make sure you have tissue handy in case of any small spills.

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO MAKING E-LIQUIDS

How to mix e-liquid by volume:

1. Choose your e-liquid mixing bottle (e.g. 30 ml) and add the required volume of flavour concentrate(s) using a pipette or syringe.
2. Add the required volume of PG & VG diluent using the 10 ml syringe & blunt needle, or into a measuring cylinder.
3. Add the required volume of nicotine using the 10 ml syringe & blunt needle, or into a measuring cylinder.
4. Replace dropper & cap on e-liquid mixing bottle. Shake thoroughly.

How to mix e-liquid by weight:

1. Place your empty bottle on the scales and then press tare.
2. Add the required weight of flavourings, then press tare.
3. Add the required weight of diluents, then press tare.
4. Add the required weight of nicotine.
5. Add the cap to your bottle and shake thoroughly.

The debate about steeping has raged as long as e-liquid has been available. What is steeping, it is essentially leaving your e-liquid in a cool, dark place (for a few weeks) so the flavours can fully ‘mix’ together and the full flavour of the e-liquid is available.
But some vapers don’t think that steeping does anything. So, the advice here is to make sure the e-liquid is shaken well, then try it and see what you think. Most flavours will taste great as soon as they are mixed. All e-liquid is perfectly fine to vape as soon as it is mixed.

CAN YOU MAKE VAPE JUICE WITHOUT PG & VG

In short no, you can’t. PG and VG are essential components in e-liquid, as they make the liquid ‘vapeable’. What you can do when you mix your own e-liquid is control the ratio of these two diluents.
If you want an e-liquid with a strong throat hit and more intense flavour, then you want to favour PG in your mixing ratio.
If you want a thicker e-liquid, maybe for sub-ohm vaping or for thicker clouds of vapour, you want to add more VG when you are mixing.
There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to DIY e-liquid, but what is great is the freedom you get to completely control your vaping experience.