Thank you so much! I feel like a wimp because I’m actually scared to start trying. Feel like I’ll royally mess it up and waste money cuz I won’t be able to do it.
Hi! I'm Dez..& I was EXACTLY WHERE YOU ARE about a year ago, and everyone here was telling me that once I started doing it.. I would love it, (and other than 1 sorta-bad 120ml bottle that didn't come out perfect, (which doesn't make a drop in the bucket compared to what I was spending.. especially where I was going online), it is SO MUCH CHEAPER and BETTER than having to get in the car when you run out, or when you get to the store they don't have your nicotine level or your flavor, or order it from a store and pay so much money, and end up running out early anyway, because the mail was a day late or you didn't have enough money to buy it in time, or whatever.
ESPECIALLY if you have one that is your specific favorite. I got lucky.. and my vape that I've been using for several years, comes in a flavor concentrate from the people who sell it wholesale and I never knew, so I only have to mix vegetable glycerin (VG), (PG) propylene glycol, and I don't use but I did at first and have some and it was very easy with a small syringe, so I just have to add the flavor concentrate (as if it is one of many flavors you can enter into the calculator) all into the ELR calculator.. (And I like the ELR APP, which is not connected to the website, but it is easy to use & figure out since I only have about three recipes that I care about and I can save them and also scroll through other people's, it's very similar to the website but I think it's easier to use as far as entering the recipe.
The supplies you need are at the top of the do-it-yourself juice link, get specific scale from Amazon, and you can get lots of other things there if you have free 2-day Prime shipping, or you may get the scale at Walmart or wherever, and the easiest way to do it when you start, is either use Amazon Prime to get a gallon of VG and a gallon of PG, or get a starter for your first time, that's what I did and I still have tons of PG and VG and nicotine left, and I think mine came from Nicotine River.. where I got a gallon of vg & pg each, and you would want to get your nicotine at the 100 level, (they offer 60 and 100 I believe), and you would want to pick it in the PG version of propylene glycol, because it works out better that way with flavor and it does not weigh as much as the thicker and heavier vegetable glycerin version, so it is easier with the calculators if you are using a scale.
I bought the one on Amazon that they list here, and the easiest way to do it, is to get a beaker that is more than big enough for what you need, put it on the scale, and then hit the TARE button and it will show you there is zero weight. TARE takes off the weight of whatever is on the scale and leaves it at zero for you to start fresh even if you have already got other ingredients in the bowl.
Then you have already plugged in your information on the ELR app or calculator online, so you get your first ingredient..(and I like to line them up in order of what ELR tells me it's order of items is, so that way I don't grab the wrong bottle)..
And you just pour into the beaker the weight in grams that it says to use, - it also gives you the amount in milliliters, so you could use syringes or beakers if you wanted to go that route, but I think it's the most precise and easiest if you do it with a scale and use grams, but you can have the option of either when you use that calculator in the app or online).
If you pour too much- if you start using only one ingredient at a time- and rinsing out your Beaker in between ingredients, if you over-pour, you can just pour it back into the bigger container it came from.. and not waste it, and after every ingredient.. hit the TARE button again after the beaker is on the scale.. or whenever you need the weight to be removed.. and something is on the scale already, and it will start out at 0, and you can measure your next ingredient.
After you get comfortable, you will put the beaker on the scale, and do one ingredient and then hit the TARE button, and then do another ingredient, and then hit the TARE button, and so on..
Then you'll just use the beaker with a spout to pour it into a bottle, and shake it up well, and you can choose to microwave-steep it, (you can look that up on YouTube), or just leave it with the cap off in a shelf for a week or two..
If you like your flavor right out of the bottle though, I have found no need or benefit from steeping my juice.. bc it is already perfect for me.
A lot of people do like to steep their juice to get a more bold /better flavor out of it though.
As for the kit I got from nicotine River, their bottles are awesome, the "bullet bottles", with the twist tops that don't come off every time you want to refill, but you can twist it one way to let it flow or twist it closed on the very top.. and then there is a bigger part that goes around the neck- where you can take the entire top of the bottle off.. where the spout is, & clean it, and they are VERY CHEAP- under a dollar each.
It gets easier after you've done it several times, but I do still have to focus and not talk when I'm doing it.
Just go slow with one ingredient at a time at 1st, and then if you pour too much, it doesn't matter.. because you can just pour the extra back into the bottle.. and put the beaker back on the scale WITHOUT HITTING TARE IF THERE'S STILL SOME FLUID IN IT..and it will automatically adjust to how much is in there at that point, and you can add more back from the big bottle into the beaker -until you hit the right amount.
I'm tied up a lot this week and maybe the next, but if you have any questions I can tell you, especially if you order off Nicotine River to get started which is the best thing to do I think, or Amazon, where I got my like the scale and beakers and syringes for measuring, maybe I can help you out by sending you the links to what I bought specifically and like to use that is simple and inexpensive..
I believe I made a thread before.. where I put a lot of comparison shopping off of Amazon..with links & prices..since so many of us here have Prime, and they do sell the vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol on Amazon also. That is also where I got my set of beakers and syringes and everything I experimented with until I figured out I only needed a scale, a medium sized beaker, my liquids, and the ELR calculator, and bottles.
-A label maker doesn't hurt either.
But you can use the same bottles like I do.. and just rotate them, and write on them with a sharpie or just take a piece of paper and tape a label on when you're starting out, or write on it with a sharpie if you have a favorite that you make all of the time, so unless you are selling what you make, you really don't need a lot of bottles anyway.
*Do make sure that what you buy will fit in your shelves, because we are in an apartment that is absolutely tiny with no storage, and I bought some nicotine River bullet bottles, those things are awesome, and cheap, but the big one barely fit in my cabinet because our apartment has no storage space. (I spent hundreds of dollars on things that hang over Cabinets and Doors to make vertical storage.)
Anyway, if you want to send me a private message feel free to, and I will try to check on here soon.. and I can give you my Facebook info and private so you can shoot me private messages if you have questions and I won't have to check anywhere to get them because they pop up on my phone. Good luck!
Dez