How To Make DIY Vape Juice: The Ultimate Guide…

With flavor bans looming, is it time you learned how to make DIY vape juice? Here’s EVERYTHING you need to know…

Can you make DIY vape juice? Yes, you can. What is DIY vape juice? DIY means do it yourself. Vape juice is the flavored liquid used in e-cigarettes.

DIY vape juice is the homemade version, which saves on cost and can also be used as a creative way of discovering new recipes for richly flavored vape liquids.

Here some amount of creativity can be used to reduce the costs of producing vapes. Governments are banning flavors worldwide as they are deemed dangerous for the population’s health.

A homemade alternative to this might be the only solution in a few years; hence, this article will guide how to make DIY vape juice.

Making DIY vape juice requires the mixing of propylene glycol and vegetable glycerine, flavor concentrates, and nicotine.

The exact number of ingredients to use making DIY vape juice varies with the preferences of every consumer. Some consumers prefer nicotine-less vape juice, while others want the nicotine without any added flavors.

What is in Vape Juice?

Vape juice, or E-juice, or vapor-liquid is a liquid used for vaporizers and can be found in various flavors. The assortment of flavors for vape juices is because various customers have different tastes and preferences.

The vape juice variants also come with varying levels of nicotine to suit each user. Vape juice is generally made of base liquids that are propylene glycol (PG) or vegetable glycerin (VG).

Vape juice manufacturers also add other substances to improve their products, including food flavoring, nicotine, and water.

Vape juice primarily consists of VG or PG that make the product vaporize for safe consumption, while the smallest part of it is the flavoring and nicotine that consist of around 10% of the vape juice.

Things Required for Making DIY Vape Juice

Generally, there are essential components required to make DIY vape juice, for instance, the base liquids; however, others vary from the method you choose, the desired end flavor, or depending on your taste and preferences.

Besides, other instruments are needed depending on the technique of mixing used. The following is a checklist for all things to buy for a DIY vape juice project.

Flavor Concentrates

These flavor concentrates are the ingredients that ultimately determine the flavor of the vape juice and are most food-grade flavorings.

These need to be specified for making vape juice, and it is necessary to stay away from any oil-based flavors. The potency of vape juice flavor concentrates depending on the brand you choose to buy from.

To buy good flavor concentrates, one needs first to research the best and preferable DIY vape juice recipes available. Some brands are wary of beginners and sell multiple flavor premixed concentrates to make mixing easier.

Base Liquid

These are the most important of all ingredients, namely propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin. These mostly come premixed but buy each separately may afford flexibility to the DIY vape juice project. Base liquids are unflavored and contain no nicotine.

Nicotine

E-cigarettes are a favorite of non-nicotine smokers, but some people prefer e-cigarettes over actual cigarettes.

Nicotine is sold in variable strength levels and also with a person’s ability to apply the equipment available for the DIY vape juice project. F

or beginners, it is necessary to use less nicotine to make sure the end products’ nicotine level is not too concentrated.

Bare hands and your face should not be exposed to nicotine, and the use of gloves is advocated for when handling high strength nicotine.

Nicotine should also be kept away from the reach of children.

Equipment Required For Making Vape Juice

• E Juice Bottles – Small bottles are required to test recipes for the vape juice during the project, while bigger bottles are needed to make the best vape juice flavors that are achieved when making DIY vape juice.
• Storage Bottles – Vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol should be stored in nozzle tip squeeze bottles. Favorable bottles should be condiment ones. Dark bottles are ideal for storing nicotine as they protect it from degradation.
• Gloves – Disposable gloves are also required to handle the chemicals and equipment and are also available at any store or pharmacy.
• Stickers – Stickers for labeling the numerous bottles are also required. After the purchase of ingredients, the checklist should also contain equipment dependent on the method of mixing.
• A Scale – A 0.01-gram precision scale is required when mixing by weight. This scale should be preferably a digital weighing scale that can weigh at least 1000 grams. This kind of scale is available at any chain store.
• Syringes – 10-30 ml syringes are required for measuring the base liquids when mixing by volume. The nicotine and flavor concentrates are to be measured by 5ml syringes.

E-juice Calculators

E juice calculators are essential when accuracy is desired for your DIY vape juice project.

These calculators contain all the information needed to make DIY vape juice and hence simplify the process.

The calculators contain the amounts of nicotine, propylene glycol, and vegetable glycerine required to make the kind of vape juice you desire.

Most of these calculators are available to download on the internet, and others can be installed on mobile or desktop. They also contain recipes to help one make vape juice.

One such example is the eJuice Me Up desktop application that has saved recipes on it. To use it for mixing by weight, one needs to click on tools and then grams set.

Do You Need An Agitator To Make Vape Juice?

An agitator is a device used for mixing components to make a uniform mixture. This will help you with the mixing process. This can be obtained from most chemical/laboratory chemists.

If you’re serious about making DIY vape juice, you’ll want to invest in one of these devices – this one is pretty decent and will get the job done.

The Mixing Process

For spectacular results for your DIY vape juice, the following methods are preferred:

Mixing By Weight

The accuracy generated by this method is considered considerably higher than mixing by volume. It also requires less equipment than other methods.

The accuracy of this method is due to the reason that some liquids are heavier than others. Specific gravity becomes a better way to introduce these liquids to a mixture accurately.

There are vape juice calculators, so using them makes the operation much more effortless.

Mixing By Volume

Syringes are used to measure ingredients volumes in this technique. Mixing by volume is the easiest method to understand for first-timers as the liquids for DIY vape juice are measured with marked syringes, each for a specific ingredient.

When nicotine is involved, vape juice calculators are essential to determine the exact amount of nicotine to add to the mixture to accomplish the desired strength of the final product.

After you buy all the required ingredients and equipment for making your DIY vape juice, pick your preferred recipe and start mixing.

How to Make DIY Vape Juice

The following are the guidelines for making DIY vape juice. They include:

1. Nicotine Preparation

Nicotine preparation is a key step in making vape juice, and this requires some calculations to get the desired percentage of nicotine in your e-liquid. To get the right amount of nicotine, use the diluted nicotine in milligrams and the total e-juice volume.

For easier DIY, you can opt to use a smartphone app or an online calculator to get the required amount of nicotine. Then use a syringe to measure nicotine, and add it to the mixing bottle.

Then you can add more nicotine after steeping, as you taste, to get your desired taste.

Note that you should not add too much nicotine, it is advisable to add a little less amount than the required amount.

2. Flavor Preparation

This step mainly involves trial and error, especially when making a new flavor. Generally, you can use several flavors, but for a beginner, it’s good to start with two or fewer flavors of your choice.

Use the e-juice calculator or your recipe to get the required amount of flavor and add it to the mixing bottle. However, use less amount than the required.

A general rule says that you should not add more than 10% of the total volume.

Then after steeping, add it bit by bit while tasting to ensure that you don’t destroy your whole batch.

Note that artificial flavors can be complicated when used with other chemicals or flavors.

3. Base Preparation

This generally depends on your recipe: you can use any VG/PC mixture, although it ranges between 50/50 to 80/20. Then add the base to the mixing bottle.

Also, note that diluted nicotine consists of some volume of VG or PG, which should be taken into considerations.

4. Mix Thoroughly

After having prepared all your blends appropriately, then add all of them to a bottle and shake it thoroughly, as some e-juices can be very thick especially those with high VG content.

5. Steeping

This is the last step which is not mandatory, it depends on your taste and preference.

Generally, most people say that steeping helps in adding taste, similar to aged wine. So you can try out yourself, as this is a DIY procedure, and see what you get.

Generally, steeping involves oxidation, achieved by leaving the mixture in a dark room, for an unknown period or as much as you can, but keep shaking the mixture as the components will settle at the bottom.

Note that the bottle should be left open to allow oxidation and evaporation of highly volatile components.

Also, warm water can help speed up steeping by putting the bottle in a warm water bath.

Steeping can also cause the e-juice color to change, but that should not be a problem. Another steeping technique is to use a slow cooker or a coffee cup warmer to speed up the steeping process.

More Information About Vape Juice Ingredients

The following are some important information about vape juice that you should know.

Propylene Glycol PG

Propylene glycol is the main ingredient when making vape juice and most common in customer refills.

PG is a humidifier that produces potent vapor for use in vaporizers. This product is used to make vape juice because it can be easily ingested. PG leaves helps strengthen the potency of the flavors by leaving a taste at the back of the throat.

The odorless sweet-tasting liquid serves as alcohol. Only a few people are affected by the consumption of this additive, and it is hence considered safe for swallowing and inhalation.

Only a few people are allergic or sensitive to Propylene Glycol. It also produces less visible vapor than its alternatives hence making it dangerous to people allergic to it in large clouds.

Vegetable Glycerine VG

This ingredient has a more aesthetic, clearer, and bigger cloud potency that is more popular amongst vape juice consumers.

This liquid is colorless, odorless, and completely non-toxic.

This liquid is an alcohol and is completely vegetable-based, and contains no oils.

Food-grade Flavorings

Vape juice contains rich flavors, which are a result of the addition of food quality ingredients.

Base liquids have little or no taste alone, but food-grade flavorings improve the vape juice taste and give them rich flavors.

These flavors have consumers going back for more and try different flavors available in the market.

Some flavors are only safe for ingestion and not inhaling. The vape juice manufacturers are always upbeat, trying to encourage their use in the industry and DIY projects.

Nicotine Content

People with nicotine cravings will prefer nicotine vape juice to keep harmful cigarettes away.

The nicotine used in vape juice also improves its taste and flavor.

Nicotine is considered safe, and only when added to tobacco leaves, it becomes a harmful drug.

On the other hand, vaping is relatively less dangerous than cigarette smoking and automatically becomes a safer way of inhaling nicotine. Nicotine content in vape juice varies from recipe to recipe and depending on customer preference.

Nicotine salt, the most potent form of nicotine, can be found in vape liquids with high levels of nicotine, and it can go down to as low as a 3 mg dose.

There are doses lower than the 3mg dose and are used by consumers that are rehabilitating themselves from nicotine in cigarettes.

The different amounts of nicotine can also be customer preferences depending on how the variation affects the vape juice taste.