If you're looking to make your own eliquids you're probably fed up with spending tons of money on commercial juice. Or sick of having to rely on your shitty B&M for your nic fix. Or just tired of the mediocre novelty juices that flood the market. There's plenty of reasons to look at doing it yourself as a more viable and sustainable option for vaping. So now you're ready to take the plunge but you're not really sure where to begin. Well I'm going to tell you.
DIY Ejuice mixing is a project. Be prepared.
You can't expect to just buy a bunch of flavor concentrates and 15ml bottles and expect to mix up something like Lenola Cream. This is an endeavor that is going to take time, dedication, and money. It's an investment and with any investment, what you put in, is what you get out. So here are some tips to start to get you prepared.
Start "researching"
There are a few really good websites to look at to get an understanding of what to expect. These sites are going to help you form the understanding of mixing, and further your knowledge of things like terms, flavorings, and tools, everyone is using. This will also give you the opportunity to gain some friends who know what they're doing and who can help you make the switch over to DIY vaping. Start bookmarking any information you find useful so you can come back to it later when you're stuck in a bind. Once you feel you've got a good grip on what to expect, it's time to find a recipe.
Find a recipe you think you'll enjoy
This is something I always recommend to new users. It's nearly impossible to create a good, vapeable, ejuice on your first try. There's just too much to know before you get to this point. So I always recommend finding a well known recipe you think you will enjoy, to mix up on your first go. This will allow you to build your cart up with flavorings that are well known and useful, while also allowing you to have something to vape on while you build your arsenal of flavorings. The whole point here is to start putting flavorings you need down, getting ready for your first purchase.
Get ready to make your first purchase
This is where new users get nervous. It's understandable. You're jumping into a new hobby, and you want to make sure your hard earned money is going to work for you. You don't want to make your first buy and later on realize you forgot something, or don't have something you need. So I'm here to help and will provide links to the right. First things first is to find a shop that has almost everything you need all in one place. This way you're not getting slammed with shipping costs. And now this is what you'll need
- - You're going to need a big bottle of VG and a big bottle of PG. I do not recommend buying premixed bases, as it'll only hurt you when you understand how to mix.
- - Nicotine. I'll put the recommended nic (that I personally use) to buy on the right. But the strength is up to you. 48mg nic is very easy to use, and relatively safe. 100mg nic will save you more money and make much much more bottles of liquid.
- - Bottles. Do not just rinse out old ones to use to mix. Just buy yourself some new ones and you can reuse those. I recommend 10 15ml and a few 30ml.
- - Flavorings. This is where you will buy all the flavorings you need to create the recipe you've chosen. I also recommend buying any other flavors that you think you can use. This is where you'll want to spend the bulk of your money. There's nothing worse than wanting to mix up something and realizing you don't have the ingredient.
- - Supplies such as pipettes, beakers, a milk frother to mix, maybe some graduated cylinders. Just some stuff to stay organized.
- - An Ejuice Calculator. I will put the link to the one I use to the right. But this is 100% necessary and the best part about this is that it's FREE!
Now we come to our last supply item. This is a controversial one, but I'm going to give my opinion. Here you will need either a scale or syringes. Personally I can't recommend a scale enough. For beginners it only makes mixing so much more easier. Absolutely no clean up, no mess, it's thousands of times quicker, safer, and it's just so much more efficient. The difference is NIGHT AND DAY. The only issue that comes with this is that it's much more expensive. So if you're buying your first batch, and you're on a budget, you may need to go with syringes just to keep costs down and get mixing.
So now we wait...
So now we have taken our firsts steps into mixing. That's it, you're done. I told you it wasn't too bad. When you have someone with you explaining every step of the way, mixing is very easy. All we have to do right now is wait until our shipment is processed and shipped out. This takes a little longer than normal, because they have to process the nicotine. But just sit back and come back here when we are getting ready to mix! I'll be waiting.
RESEARCH
This one...duh.
E-Cigarette Forum (DIY Section) - One of the largest DIY vaping communities on the web
E-liquid Recipes (Forum) - Excellent community of great mixers and great information
/r/DIY_Ejuice - Amazing subreddit for DIY mixing. My favorite site to use
Vaping Underground (DIY Section) - Another excellent forum full of great mixers and great info
RECIPES
This site - All my recipes are here and they all taste excellent.
E-liquid Recipes - Biggest database of recipes on the web. Click the stars and search for top rated recipes to find a good one for you
Fizzmustard's Recipes - Recipes of one of the best mixers in the game. Awesome easy recipes
HeadInCloud's (HIC's) Recipes - Very prominent mixer in the VU scene. Only uses FA flavors, so great for beginners.
SUPPLIES
Bull City Vapor - All in one shop. My favorite place for flavorings and they have the best prices.
Wizard Labs - Great all in one place to get VG PG NIC and Flavorings. Also great for supplies
Ecig Express - Great all in one shop. Huge variety of flavorings
Liquid Barn - My favorite place to get VG / PG / and Nicotine. Their nic is AWESOME
Heartland Vapes - Another great All in One shop
Vape Clarity - Great nicotine for a GREAT price
CALCULATOR
Ejuice Me Up - The calculator I use.
Eliquid Recipes Calc - Great calc that saves to your own profile on ELR.