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Want to try to make my own juice, advice on where to buy

SirRichardRear

AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
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I know there isn't an end all be all choice, but wanted to see recommendations from you guys on where to buy.
I think i have the basics of what I need
Nicotine
VG
Syringes
Empty Bottles
Flavorings

I'm looking to do mostly VG (80% to max) at 3-6mg nicotine.

So any advice on vendors or mIxture?
 

Huckleberried

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Yep, you'll get several answers, everyone has their own preferences.

Nic - Vaperstek, Nicotine River, RTS, Ecigexpress, Wizard Labs, MyFreedomeSmokes, NudeNic, Heartland
VG- Hard to beat the deals at Essential Depot, but those vendors above also sell it.
Syringes - Those vendors, or Amazon for bulk quantities - or just get a cheap scale for measuring by weight. Super easy, minimal clean up.
Empty bottles - plastic - above vendors, Amazon or Ebay Glass - Packaging Options Direct, Amazon or Ebay
Flavorings.. Large variety at Bull City Vapers and all the vendors above, too.

Advice... shake everything before you mix,! ESPECIALLY nic. Nic in a PG base is easier to shake and to mix with.
 

SirRichardRear

AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
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Yep, you'll get several answers, everyone has their own preferences.

Nic - Vaperstek, Nicotine River, RTS, Ecigexpress, Wizard Labs, MyFreedomeSmokes, NudeNic, Heartland
VG- Hard to beat the deals at Essential Depot, but those vendors above also sell it.
Syringes - Those vendors, or Amazon for bulk quantities - or just get a cheap scale for measuring by weight. Super easy, minimal clean up.
Empty bottles - plastic - above vendors, Amazon or Ebay Glass - Packaging Options Direct, Amazon or Ebay
Flavorings.. Large variety at Bull City Vapers and all the vendors above, too.

Advice... shake everything before you mix,! ESPECIALLY nic. Nic in a PG base is easier to shake and to mix with.
is it better to do by weight instead of volume? would it be best to buy the 100mg concentrate of nicotine since it would last longer? seems like you only need 1ml per 30ml bottle of it so i could make 3000ml with 1 bottle of 100ml 100mg nicotine or am i off? I'm still trying to figure out the mixing part.
 

Huckleberried

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I vape a bit higher mg than you, but I prefer to by the 100mg by the liter. I split it up into 100ml glass amber bottles, then store it in the freezer. Anyone with curious young ones may not see this as the best option, I recently opened a bottle from May 2015 that was as clear as the day I got it, and it tests at the proper strength. (nic tests are optional, run around $10) And yes, you can make about 3000ml with that.

Not bad, eh?

The mixing part is super easy. Most of us over complicated it before we even had our stuff. I had my stuff for a month before I worked up the nerve to do anything with it, then couldn't believe how easy it was. Ejuice calculators are all over the place, just a matter of deciding which you like the best.

Better to mix by weight or volume? It's a matter of preference. Both get you to the same goal. If you want exact, you can get there using either method. I go for flavor consistency, which can also be done both ways. I like mixing by weight because there's so little clean up involved. Drop drop drop, done. I have flavors that don't have the dropper tops, so I keep syringes, or glass eye droppers, on hand for those. I saved a bunch of glass bottles from when I was buying juice and the droppers that came with them. I even saved a lot of the plastic bottles for that matter.

DIY juice only seems intimidating. For the times you do feel overwhelmed, take a step back and come here, ask questions. We all did/do.
 

SirRichardRear

AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
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I vape a bit higher mg than you, but I prefer to by the 100mg by the liter. I split it up into 100ml glass amber bottles, then store it in the freezer. Anyone with curious young ones may not see this as the best option, I recently opened a bottle from May 2015 that was as clear as the day I got it, and it tests at the proper strength. (nic tests are optional, run around $10) And yes, you can make about 3000ml with that.

Not bad, eh?

The mixing part is super easy. Most of us over complicated it before we even had our stuff. I had my stuff for a month before I worked up the nerve to do anything with it, then couldn't believe how easy it was. Ejuice calculators are all over the place, just a matter of deciding which you like the best.

Better to mix by weight or volume? It's a matter of preference. Both get you to the same goal. If you want exact, you can get there using either method. I go for flavor consistency, which can also be done both ways. I like mixing by weight because there's so little clean up involved. Drop drop drop, done. I have flavors that don't have the dropper tops, so I keep syringes, or glass eye droppers, on hand for those. I saved a bunch of glass bottles from when I was buying juice and the droppers that came with them. I even saved a lot of the plastic bottles for that matter.

DIY juice only seems intimidating. For the times you do feel overwhelmed, take a step back and come here, ask questions. We all did/do.

Nice write up. Thanks for the info. One more question, what is a good company for the flavoring. i see most sites have the same flavors but from like 5 different companies
 

Huckleberried

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Most do have similar. Bull City Vapors, Nicotine River, RTS, Ecigexpress, Wizard Labs, MyFreedomSmokes, NudeNic, Heartland

Bull City has a standing discount code here, VU6 for 6% off Ecigexpress (ECX) also has a code UNDERGROUND10 for 10% off.
 

SirRichardRear

AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
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Most do have similar. Bull City Vapors, Nicotine River, RTS, Ecigexpress, Wizard Labs, MyFreedomSmokes, NudeNic, Heartland

Bull City has a standing discount code here, VU6 for 6% off Ecigexpress (ECX) also has a code UNDERGROUND10 for 10% off.

Thanks. I'm gonna order the flavor from bull city, the nicotine from one you listed and everything else form amazon (amazon carries the VG from essentials for 15 a gallon) probably spend about 100 bucks but should be able to make a ton of juice. I'll let you know how it goes. thanks for the help!!!
 

Huckleberried

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Thanks. I'm gonna order the flavor from bull city, the nicotine from one you listed and everything else form amazon (amazon carries the VG from essentials for 15 a gallon) probably spend about 100 bucks but should be able to make a ton of juice. I'll let you know how it goes. thanks for the help!!!
You're very welcome :)

Yep, $100 gets you a really nice start with DIY. Just think how many bottles that would be premade and you know ya done good.
 

SirRichardRear

AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
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one more dumb question. for 3mg concentration in a 30ml bottle steam engine says .09 ml. is that correct? thats like a few drops basically?
 

SirRichardRear

AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
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So i got 40 dollars in flavors from bull city, 1 gallon VG, syringes, bottles, and labels from amazon for about 50 bucks, and nicotine from vapertek for 26 (120ml, 100mg) seems like i should be good for a while?
 

SirRichardRear

AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
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so it should be about .09ml of nicotine, 2ml of flavor and the rest VG?
 

SirRichardRear

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You might want to get one of the E liquid calculators to get yourself started that way you can save recipes etc as well as properly measure

thanks. i found this on reddit
The math formula for determining FINAL nico content is as such. Take amount of fluid you're making, we'll make it 30ml since it's a common batch size. Take your desired final nico content, we'll go with 18mg/ml since that seems to be the most common. That means you need to get 18mg (nico)*30ml (final amount) = 540 totall mg of in the whole batch. Divide that by you solution concentration, say 100mg/ml and you get 540/100 = 5.4ml of 100mg/ml nico solution for your whole batch of 30ml.

so for me 3*30 = 90 / 100 = .9 which matches the steam engine calculator so I think the .09 is correct. I also see people say to add 10% of flavor then adjust after tasting so basically what i can gather for a 30 ml batch at 3mg (what i'm planning to make) it would be

1ml nicotine (100mg/ml bottle) (will be a little higher then 3 but thats fine)
3 ml flavors (total combined for all flavors)
and the rest VG

any advice on which calculator?
 

Huckleberried

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steam engine says .09 ml.
0.9ml is what mine says. I use ejuicemeup, sometimes http://e-liquid-recipes.com/ there's lots of options out there. Measure twice, cut once, kind of thing.

upload_2016-7-18_19-46-26.png
seems like i should be good for a while?
This depends on the mixing bug you get, but yes, that'll be a great start with the low nic you use.
As far as flavoring amounts, it depends on the manufacturer. Some flavoring brands are way more concentrated than others.
 

SirRichardRear

AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
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0.9ml is what mine says. I use ejuicemeup, sometimes http://e-liquid-recipes.com/ there's lots of options out there. Measure twice, cut once, kind of thing.

View attachment 56833

This depends on the mixing bug you get, but yes, that'll be a great start with the low nic you use.
As far as flavoring amounts, it depends on the manufacturer. Some flavoring brands are way more concentrated than others.

Thanks. It's definitely .9. I'm gonna just go with 1ml nicotine, 3ml flavor, and 26ml VG and then adjust as needed after tasting
 

gopher_byrd

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@SirRichardRear What flavors did you buy? There will be some/most that 10% (3ml) are way too much. Sometimes less is more in the flavor department of DIY. Head over to the recipe forum to get an idea of how much others use.

My standard suggestion for new mixers is to choose a few recipes that sound good to you and just buy the flavors to make those recipes. It cuts down on the initial cost and with a successful first mix that tastes good, makes for a better experience. As far as testing your flavors I would just make at most a 10 ml solution. Less to go down the drain if it is totally yuk. Cap and TFA I would start at 5% and for FA and INW start at 2%
 

joeyboy

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There are many great recipes on VU. Some with only 3 or 4 ingredients. Weight is easiest but once you get used to the containers you could use drops in a rush if your scale broke.
 

SirRichardRear

AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
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@SirRichardRear What flavors did you buy? There will be some/most that 10% (3ml) are way too much. Sometimes less is more in the flavor department of DIY. Head over to the recipe forum to get an idea of how much others use.

My standard suggestion for new mixers is to choose a few recipes that sound good to you and just buy the flavors to make those recipes. It cuts down on the initial cost and with a successful first mix that tastes good, makes for a better experience. As far as testing your flavors I would just make at most a 10 ml solution. Less to go down the drain if it is totally yuk. Cap and TFA I would start at 5% and for FA and INW start at 2%
I got all tfa flavors except 1 was la. Thanks for the advice maybe I'll start lower

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 

SirRichardRear

AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
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There are many great recipes on VU. Some with only 3 or 4 ingredients. Weight is easiest but once you get used to the containers you could use drops in a rush if your scale broke.
I got syringes. I figured that's the easiest way to start. If I get really into it I'll probably get a scale

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 

SirRichardRear

AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
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So i mixed up a bunch of juice last night and it's steeping, but I had one more question. When using additives like koolada do you count that against the flavor % or not? and what about when using cream or custard?
 

Huckleberried

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Anything you use in your mix counts as part of your mix. I mean, if you need to add a drop or 2 to something, it's not that big a deal. The difference in your nic or anything will be negligible.
 

SirRichardRear

AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
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Anything you use in your mix counts as part of your mix. I mean, if you need to add a drop or 2 to something, it's not that big a deal. The difference in your nic or anything will be negligible.

Ok thanks. I was wondering since koolada is flavorless if I shouldn't count it against my flavor % cause it might make my juice taste muted and instead just use less of my VG base. Like If i normally use 15% flavor and I do one with Koolada and it's 10% flavor and 5% koolada or if it would be better to do my 15% flavor plus 5% koolada
 

SirRichardRear

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Typically Koolada is used at 1-2 drops per 10ml, but it's up to you how much you prefer, LOL.

lol I did all my bottles at 15% flavor, and the 2 that used koolada I did at 5%. guess i'll find out if it's nasty or not soon enough
 

Huckleberried

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Well, if it does turn out to be too much, you could hang onto them. Koolada does fade some in time. I don't know how much time, though.
 

SirRichardRear

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Well, if it does turn out to be too much, you could hang onto them. Koolada does fade some in time. I don't know how much time, though.

Or i could water down with some more VG. I do like a lot of flavor though and a lot of the cool effect. especially since my builds tend to hit really hard
 

RonJS

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lol I did all my bottles at 15% flavor, and the 2 that used koolada I did at 5%. guess i'll find out if it's nasty or not soon enough

Please don't be perplexed if your nicotine sensation/effect is not what you were expecting. It's my understanding that Koolada titrates nicotine.

Ron
---
“And our credo: “Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc.” We gladly feast on those who would subdue us. Not just pretty words.” – Morticia Addams
 

SirRichardRear

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