New to diy. Want to try on a small scale

[ChainVapeS]

I have been wanting to dip my toes into the world of diy juice for a while now.
Do any of you have any suggestions on the bare necessities I would need to try this so im not spending a fortune up front? I have a 25 dollar credit at DIYflavorshack.com
I just don't know if I should put it towards one of their diy kits just to try, or go all out and order a bunch of nic base, vg, flavorings and syringes. When I built a cart that way, it seemed like a lot of money for an experiment.
Forgive me if threads like this one have been done to death. It's hard to search thru everything...
I get overwhelmed easily.

 

[The Cromwell]

Just get some bottles and blunt tip syringes from amazon. all I use. rinse well after each flavor by sucking in clean water and squirting it out. Stronger flavors use a dedicated syringe.
I started mixing in 30 ml bottles with droppers. works well for testing since I use a RDA to test my mixes with.

 

[The Cromwell]

 

[The Cromwell]

 

[The Cromwell]

Once you decide something is good get bigger bottles?
I use 1 ml syringes for flavor and nic measuring.

have nice little scale but do not use it.

Learn exactly where 30 ml or whatever amount you are mixing is on your bottle.
Add you flavorings and nic, then fill to the line with PG or VG or I use premixed 50/50 in a plastic condiment bottle.

 

[ChainVapeS]

I have a 25 dollar credit at DIYflavorshack.com
I just don't know if I should put it towards one of their diy kits just to try,

So it seems that my $25 credit at DIYflavorshack.com does not apply to their diy kits that include hardware, pg, vg, nic and flavors all together for the newbie like me.
That's a bummer.

 

[The Cromwell]

For mixing my 50/50 I just measure up on the bottle to near the top amke a sharpie mark and then make on half way up to that mark.
Fill to mid mark with PG then to top make with VG and shake well.
You can use this method for any ratio of PG/VG. It is not that critical to get the PG/VG ratio down to milliliter accuracy.

flavoring levels and total volume of mix levels are important though.

 

[The Cromwell]

Amazon prolly has cheaper syringes, was just first hit. for starting out mixing 30 ml all you need is 1 ml and 5 or 10 ml. 1 ml for nic and flavoring and 5 or 10 ml for PG/VG.
You can also wash out old juice bottles and use those for mixing in.

 

[nadalama]

So it seems that my $25 credit at DIYflavorshack.com does not apply to their diy kits that include hardware, pg, vg, nic and flavors all together for the newbie like me.
That's a bummer.

Not to speak badly of them, but $25 doesn't go very far at DIYFS. The flavors of theirs that I've tried have been good, but they're quite expensive.

Everyone who mixes their own will have different suggestions for how to get started. The "as an experiment" part is what kinda changes things. Best thing I'd say to that is to first decide on a recipe or two that you want to mix. Do you have anything in mind?

Liquid Nicotine Wholesalers has a ready-mixed base that already has the PG, VG, and nicotine in it. 240ml of 6mg 30/70 mix is $7.49. Order that plus your flavors, and either a few different sizes of syringes or a graduated cylinder. For your mix, save and re-use a juice bottle that some bought juice came in.

This is enough to give you a taste of the actual mixing process, of the activity of measuring and mixing, following a recipe, while not costing you very much at all. If you decide you want to move forward, then you can buy your bases and nic separately, perhaps buy a scale, and move on to the next step.

If I were starting out on a tight budget, that's what I'd do, knowing what I know now.

When you're ready, we can help you adapt a recipe to the specs you need.

 

[The Cromwell]

Main thing on mixing is to keep a detailed record of what you put in a mix.
For instance you may make a mix then decide to add a bit more of something after trying it.
also the Steep or blend time is important with most mixes. A few are pretty much shake and vape but most require sitting for a few days to weeks before they are their best.
Higher VG mixes typically need more sit time.

 

[ChainVapeS]

Liquid Nicotine Wholesalers has a ready-mixed base that already has the PG, VG, and nicotine in it. 240ml of 6mg 30/70 mix is $7.49. Order that plus your flavors, and either a few different sizes of syringes or a graduated cylinder.

If I were starting out on a tight budget, that's what I'd do, knowing what I know now.

Well, thank you for that little piece of information! That's affordable, and seems easy enough for a first time attempt at mixing.

 

[ChainVapeS]

Mainly what I vape, is mixed berries with menthol.
No baked goods. No coffee toffee or tobacco flavors.
Simple flavor profiles.

 

[ChainVapeS]

So at liquid nicotine wholesalers, I put a cart together. 45 bucks for 1 liter of premixed 3mg base just add flavor, a few flavors, menthol, koolada and measuring syringes.
That should make something like 16 individual 60ml bottles of juice? That's cheaper than even buying it from my hookup here on vu.
Now to get approval from the finance manager aka my wife.

 

[nadalama]

So at liquid nicotine wholesalers, I put a cart together. 45 bucks for 1 liter of premixed 3mg base just add flavor, a few flavors, menthol, koolada and measuring syringes.
That should make something like 16 individual 60ml bottles of juice? That's cheaper than even buying it from my hookup here on vu.
Now to get approval from the finance manager aka my wife.

Actually if you mix at an average of 12% flavors, that will make more like 19 60ml bottles of juice.

Berries and menthol together? or berries by themselves and menthol by itself? Never mind, I didn't read closely enough. I see.

 

[wildgypsy70]

So at liquid nicotine wholesalers, I put a cart together. 45 bucks for 1 liter of premixed 3mg base just add flavor, a few flavors, menthol, koolada and measuring syringes.
That should make something like 16 individual 60ml bottles of juice? That's cheaper than even buying it from my hookup here on vu.
Now to get approval from the finance manager aka my wife.

The recipe you love is up in the recipes thread, for the flavor part of your order.

DIY is certainly cheap! Unless you get all obsessive with buying flavors. Lol!

 

[ChainVapeS]

Actually if you mix at an average of 12% flavors, that will make more like 19 60ml bottles of juice.

Berries and menthol together? or berries by themselves and menthol by itself? Never mind, I didn't read closely enough. I see.

Lol! Berries and menthol. Yummy!

 

[nadalama]

Lol! Berries and menthol. Yummy!

Oh, I like that myself, since I tried Cowboy Cooler from Vape Wild. Haven't come up with a spectacular recipe for it yet, though. That Gypsy woman got me started mixing bakeries and now I can't stop!

 

[ChainVapeS]

The recipe you love is up in the recipes thread, for the flavor part of your order.

DIY is certainly cheap! Unless you get all obsessive with buying flavors. Lol!

I figured you would chime in at some point lol!
Im starting to panic. With everything going in with the pending bans and taxes. And I dont want to rely on others forever for my juice needs. While I do love the stuff you make for me, I feel it's time for me to dip my toes into this so I have a better chance of fending and surviving.

 

[ChainVapeS]

So for my flavors to start, I'm thinking ripe strawberry tfa, berry mix tfa, watermelon tfa, koolada tfa, menthol lnw, and BlackBerry cap.
And since it's my birthday Friday, I'm going to order this up and tell my wife not to worry about a gift for me, I covered it for her.

 

[wildgypsy70]

I figured you would chime in at some point lol!
Im starting to panic. With everything going in with the pending bans and taxes. And I dont want to rely on others forever for my juice needs. While I do love the stuff you make for me, I feel it's time for me to dip my toes into this so I have a better chance of fending and surviving.

I understand completely! You’ve got a great group of people to get you through your first steps! We’re here for you!

 

[wildgypsy70]

So for my flavors to start, I'm thinking ripe strawberry tfa, berry mix tfa, watermelon tfa, koolada tfa, menthol lnw, and BlackBerry cap.
And since it's my birthday Friday, I'm going to order this up and tell my wife not to worry about a gift for me, I covered it for her.

Excellent gift!

 

[ChainVapeS]

My first order has been placed!
I got some small measuring syringes in there. I have a bunch of 10 and 20 ml syringes here for other purposes.
Im excited!

 

[wildgypsy70]

My first order has been placed!
I got some small measuring syringes in there. I have a bunch of 10 and 20 ml syringes here for other purposes.
Im excited!

Dude, that’s awesome! I’m so excited for you! You’re gonna love it!

 

[Jinx'd]

My first order has been placed!
I got some small measuring syringes in there. I have a bunch of 10 and 20 ml syringes here for other purposes.
Im excited!

are those flavors able to make your "hook up" juice ?

i would HIGHLY advice you to get "at least" 1ltr of 250mg nic. everything else you will be able to get regardless of bans .

 

[ChainVapeS]

are those flavors able to make your "hook up" juice ?

i would HIGHLY advice you to get "at least" 1ltr of 250mg nic. everything else you will be able to get regardless of bans .

Once I dip my toes in this, I'll order more in bulk if all goes well.
And right now my favorite all day flavor is a simple strawberry watermelon with a touch of menthol so I should be able to make that easily with what I ordered.

 

[ChainVapeS]

Thank you to everyone that chimed in here. I think you all saved me quite a bit of money, and pointed me towards what appears to be the most beginner friendly approach to diy. Im sure I'll have a hundred and twelve more questions down the road.

 

[DonBaldy]

I know I'm late to the party but I'll throw in my .02 cents as a new mixer and also like you ( as seen in another of your posts) pretty much live check to check for now. My big buys come at income tax time and one of my deductions is about to go to college.

I've only been mixing since Oct or so, but I had the good fortune to be able to watch and learn from another trusted VU member so I knew where I wanted to be. I chose to mix by weight and it's been simple although there is nothing wrong with measuring by volume. The initial investment was maybe around $100 and I think I'm over estimating here. That included all hardware and software.

I bought a scale (less than $12) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XS9WL1...uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

Pipettes for dispensing nicotine. I know there's other ways to do this, but it's what works for me and they allow me to be a little more precise. I only use them for the nic and then discard them.
Beakers. Easy to clean and they stack for storage
Bottles
Those items and some plastic thingy for storage was all I NEEDED to start.

Since then other than I've added some 60 ml bottles and some large squeeze bottle for more precise dispensing of VG. I got these but there's cheaper options.
I vape max VG so all of my PG comes from my nic and flavorings

I decided that for economy I was going to try and stick with simple recopies of no more than 5 flavorings. Mixing was not a rabbit hole I wanted to get real deep into. I started with Chromwell's Custard. I did change the VG/PG ratio as I prefer different than he, but the base recipe was the same. Since then I've adapted it further. I currently have 2 juices I vape in almost everything. One in my mech squonkers and a second I've adapted in my regulated squonkers. This way I know what I'm vaping. I have a third recipe that's being tested.

Another option is to buy a recipe pack from https://www.bullcityflavors.com/ . It will come with all the flavors needed for that flavor. It's also owned buy a VU member as an added bonus.

If you haven't yet done so, create and account at https://e-liquid-recipes.com/ . It will make it easier to store and adapt recipes. You can also search from a very large database of already developed recipes. Many VU members share recipes there also. There is also has a handy feature where you can list the flavors you have and it will search the database and provide a list of juices you can make with what you have on hand.

This whole DIY thing can be as simple or complex as you choose. I know much of what I've typed here has been said better by others here. There's tons of videos on the net that will show you how to mix by weight and volume. Good luck and enjoy your own juices.

 

[Jinx'd]

got some insomnia there Don ? lol. i got up early, couldn't sleep

i bought a scale. i couldn't imagine messing around with all that other stuff, its just not needed.

 

[nadalama]

got some insomnia there Don ? lol. i got up early, couldn't sleep

i bought a scale. i couldn't imagine messing around with all that other stuff, its just not needed.

A scale makes things a lot easier, imo.

 

[DonBaldy]

got some insomnia there Don ? lol. i got up early, couldn't sleep

i bought a scale. i couldn't imagine messing around with all that other stuff, its just not needed.

Yes sir. Between wife and dog both snoring and neuropathy pains I just couldn't fall asleep.

 

[ChainVapeS]

Hmm that sounds familiar. One of our two dogs sleeps with us. She snores so loud! Then she gets to running in her sleep, shakes the whole damn bed. Ive been up tossing and turning since 330 this morning.

 

[Jinx'd]

Yes sir. Between wife and dog both snoring and neuropathy pains I just couldn't fall asleep.

idk if it will work for you. but i use sleep-aid pills. these days, if i didn't, i wouldn't sleep about at all.

wife snoring = lol

 

[DonBaldy]

idk if it will work for you. but i use sleep-aid pills. these days, if i didn't, i wouldn't sleep about at all.

wife snoring = lol

I usually take Natrol melatonin but I've been out for 3 days and haven't made it to the store to resupply.

 

[ChainVapeS]

I usually take Natrol melatonin but I've been out for 3 days and haven't made it to the store to resupply.

I used to take melatonin before bed.
Made me sleep too hard. Id snore real bad and it was hard to get up for work in the morning.

 

[DonBaldy]

I used to take melatonin before bed.
Made me sleep too hard. Id snore real bad and it was hard to get up for work in the morning.

These Natrol seem to work better for me than the standard melatonin. Not sure what's really different, but I don't have any more snoring than normal and don't still feel groggy in the AM.

 

[ChainVapeS]

These Natrol seem to work better for me than the standard melatonin. Not sure what's really different, but I don't have any more snoring than normal and don't still feel groggy in the AM.

My wife told me I snored worse than she's ever heard. I was taking the gummy chewable melatonin. They'd knock me right out.

 

[wildgypsy70]

Oh, I like that myself, since I tried Cowboy Cooler from Vape Wild. Haven't come up with a spectacular recipe for it yet, though. That Gypsy woman got me started mixing bakeries and now I can't stop!

 

[The Cromwell]

And to kinda throw more stuff out there.
The kind of holy grail of mixing sites.

https://e-liquid-recipes.com/

 

[ChainVapeS]

And to kinda throw more stuff out there.
The kind of holy grail of mixing sites.

https://e-liquid-recipes.com/

Yeah I have been browsing around on there all morning looking at recipes, making a list of flavors I'd like to order once I get past my first attempts at this.

 

[The Cromwell]

Yeah I have been browsing around on there all morning looking at recipes, making a list of flavors I'd like to order once I get past my first attempts at this.

you can input the flavors you have and it will tell you what you can make from their list of recipes.

 

[ChainVapeS]

you can input the flavors you have and it will tell you what you can make from their list of recipes.

I did see that also. Lots of cool features on that site. Im super geeked.

 

[The Cromwell]

Just mix the quantity's listed in the recipe.
or maybe add just a bit more of something after it sits if it does not suit you.

One thing about the artificial flavorings we use. Adding more flavor only works to a point. Many flavorings will go all wonky and chemically on you after a certain concentration.

 

[ChainVapeS]

So, once I get this first order in, how do I store it?
Im getting a 1 liter bottle of premade base, 30pg70vg 3mg. Can I put it in a glass bottle or jar and keep it in the fridge or freezer? 1 liter should last me a while. I only go thru about 60ml every 7 to 10 days vaping.

 

[The Cromwell]

I keep all my DIY supplies in the deep freezer, except for a working stock of PG/VG, a 30 ml bottle of 100 mg nic and bottles of flavorings that I am using out of. You have to let anything stored in freezer/fridge warm up to room temp and shake well before using.

 

[ChainVapeS]

My LNW order arrived today!
Super excited!

 

[nadalama]

My LNW order arrived today!
Super excited!

That's very cool! When are you going to mix?

 

[nadalama]

So, once I get this first order in, how do I store it?
Im getting a 1 liter bottle of premade base, 30pg70vg 3mg. Can I put it in a glass bottle or jar and keep it in the fridge or freezer? 1 liter should last me a while. I only go thru about 60ml every 7 to 10 days vaping.

Since you have bases plus nic mixed together there, I think if you put half of that pre-mix into a glass bottle and put it in the freezer, you'll be fine to leave the rest in the bottle it came in, and just keep it in the fridge when you aren't using it. When you do mix, make a point of having the top off that bottle for as short a time as is absolutely necessary.

I keep out 30ml of 100mg nic plus 240ml of VG and 120ml of PG, and I don't even refrigerate those. The rest of a 240ml bottle of nic (the one I'm working from to refill the 30ml bottle) is in the fridge, and all the full bottles of nic are in the freezer.

 

[ChainVapeS]

That's very cool! When are you going to mix?

Im thinking im going to take a recipe for a mixed berry menthol and sub a couple flavors for what I have here to try.
Im thinking strawberry, berry mix, a touch of black berry and some koolada. Going to try 30ml first.
Going to dip my toes in this shortly here.

 

[ChainVapeS]

Since you have bases plus nic mixed together there, I think if you put half of that pre-mix into a glass bottle and put it in the freezer, you'll be fine to leave the rest in the bottle it came in, and just keep it in the fridge when you aren't using it. When you do mix, make a point of having the top off that bottle for as short a time as is absolutely necessary.

I keep out 30ml of 100mg nic plus 240ml of VG and 120ml of PG, and I don't even refrigerate those. The rest of a 240ml bottle of nic (the one I'm working from to refill the 30ml bottle) is in the fridge, and all the full bottles of nic are in the freezer.

That was my next question! Now to round up some glass containers.

 

[nadalama]

Im thinking im going to take a recipe for a mixed berry menthol and sub a couple flavors for what I have here to try.
Im thinking strawberry, berry mix, a touch of black berry and some koolada. Going to try 30ml first.
Going to dip my toes in this shortly here.

Try about 6% for the total of all your berries, and about 0.75% of the Koolada, and work from there. Easy to add more flavor, impossible to take it away!

That will also give you room to tweak the balance of the berries if at first it isn't exactly what you have in mind.

Oh, and if you add sweetener, start at 0.5% and then tweak. No, not twerk. Tweak!

Just my two cents...as always, ymmv.