DIY E Liquids

MrSossidge

Am tempted now to start making my own. Buying premade is starting to get expensive and I'm finding that I've got bottles all over the place.

Started looking on ebay at Make My Vape kits linked to early on in the thread.
Large DIY E Liquid Kit - Make your own Vape Juice Kit - Easy to mix  | eBay

Can I assume that the stuff they are selling is OK?

Any other places that are worth looking at for starter kits with all the gubbins required?

Does any of the stuff need keeping in a fridge?

mad_allan

I get all my PG/VG/Nic from Darkstar, bottles came from ibottles, scales (I mix by weight) from Amazon (0.001 gram scales) and then flavours from a variety of places but I only normally use Flavor Art

182

How are you storing nicotine? I have just got 500ml of 72mg PG based nicotine in a plastic bottle. Do I need to freeze this and if so, is it ok still in the plastic bottle? Or does it need to be in glass?

mad_allan

I decant a small amount into a 30ml bottle, which is stored in the fridge (I have a spare fridge in garage for alcohol!!) The big bottle lives in the freezer, my bottle is glass.

wilco1uk

Been DiYing for ages
Great recipes at
Le DIY pour les Nuls - Recettes DIY - Trucs et Astuces.
and
e-Liquid Calculator
Lots of great recipes (including some leaks from the Juice makers) but also some rubbish on last one, but everything can be rated so it's easy to sift the really well respected ones.  Can also search by your own flavours on for clones, e.g. "Element pink lemonade clone", "unicorn milk clone " etc etc.
I get my vg and pg from anywhere, nicotine from dark star, and concentrates exclusively from chef's flavours or vapable.com (loving their rhubarb and custard concentrate....nothing among the many I've tried comes close...sharp and sweet).

reddeviluk

Hi Guys, I'm sick of thinking about it and just want to pull the trigger on some DIY gear. Looking on Dark Star they do a pre-mix base solution of 70VG/30PG which is what I'm after......my one thought is that once I add the nic and concentrate to that it'll throw the 70/30 split out of whack.....so what's the point in the pre-mixed???????

Cheers,

Rich

PumpingtonSteel

I did this recently for the first time. Here's my guide to what you need
base - PG/VG of your choice (70:30VG is supposedly the highest ratio for some tanks. PG is better for flavour but harsher on the throat. VG is smoother and bigger clouds)
flavours
nicotine - 72mg is the strength of choice of many. This will be stopped by TPD. Darkstar is seemingly THE place to go to
7.2% Nicotine (VG Base) 500ml for £17.49. If you're after 6mg strength juices, you'll get 6 litres out of this
nicotine is freezable, but even in the bottle it should last 2 years without degrading if stored in a cool, dark place. Buy this ASAP as they're on clearance and they're not restocking.
this is the replacement Box of 18 Nicotine Shots 10ml (18mg/ml) - £15.99 for something a quarter as strong and just over a third in volume (roughly 11 times less actual nicotine for just £1.50 less)
syringes - bought mine from darkstar
pipettes - 100 x 3ml Disposable Pasteur Pipettes Graduated Transfer Pipettes Eye Dropper UK  | eBay
scales - Amir Digital Scales, (500g/ 0.01g) High-precision Pocket Food Scales, Jewelry Scales, Multifunctional Pro Scales with Back-Lit LCD Display, Tare and PCS Features, Stainless Steel for Easter, Batteries Included: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home
bottles - Wholesale Empty PE Plastic Liquid Cap Water Squeezable Eye Dropper Bottles New  | eBay 10pc 3-50ml Empty LDPE Dropper Childproof Cap Squeezable Bottles E-Liquid Bottle  | eBay 30ml 60ml Empty Plastic Unicorn Long Dropper Bottles Tip Childproof Cap LDPE  | eBay 5/10/15ml Empty Squeezable Plastic Dropper Bottles Eye Liquid Screw Cap Lids Hot  | eBay (some of those are smaller so I can transport juice). some prefer glass bottles. you can't squeeze air out of these which is recommended to help the steeping process (but can probably displace the air by blowing)
latex gloves - nicotine in this strength is toxic and can seep through skin. the other ingredients are fine to handle

always check ebay and amazon for any accessories, there are SO MANY cheap vendors and my links may not always remain the best value

you don't NEED scales, pipettes AND syringes, technically you don't need to weigh (bit of a belt-and-braces approach)
I spent about £130 in all for 5 litres worth of juice and all the extras. 80p per 30ml. Cheapest I've seen elsewhere is an ebay seller - 300ml for £20 (shutting up shop soon) (£8 for that volume with home-brews) or £9.80 for 80ml from onepoundeliquid (£2.13 for same volume home-brew)
If you split it between a couple of mates, your outlay is under £50.
You can't sell juices commercially without certification, which of course is impractically impossible for home-brewers, but sticking a mate a 60ml bottle for a contribution of a fiver gives you £3 in the pot. 40 of these bottles will pay for all the gear & supplies and leave you with 2.5litres worth for yourself


As long as you're happy to sacrifice premium recipes (in favour of experimenting!) and nice bottles/designs, you don't lose much but save SO MUCH!!

PumpingtonSteel

(to be read in conjunction with the above post)
here's how to do it - read guides and watch youtube videos!!
it's surprisingly easy

- Get a nice, clean workstation
- Shake your nicotine, mix it up good
- Select your flavours and your base
- Use an online calculator. I liked this one Make My Vape
Remember that the VG to PG ratio of your flavours and nicotine will affect the end ratio (e.g. if you have 70% PG nic and PG flavours). I'm not particularly bothered by this as if I use 70%VG, and PG flavours and nic, my end result will still be 63% VG, which I'm happy with
Also be aware that 1ml does NOT equal 1g. This calculator tells you weight and volume

Open up your computer. Label your recipe. Save the details!!! If it's nice, you'd want to recreate it. If it's not, you'd know what to avoid. Label your bottle - a chinagraph pencil or sharpie will do
Stick some newspaper down. The pipettes/syringes will leak drops after they're used
- Put your latex gloves on. Do NOT handle the nicotine without these - especially not the 72mg strength
- Stick your empty bottle on the scales. The scales need to measure 1/100th of a gram rather than kitchen scales that only do 1g increments
- Add your three ingredients. Measure the volume using the pipettes or syringes, confirm the weight using the scales. Belt & braces. Use a fresh pipette/syringe every time. Don't cross contaminate flavours
Flavours should make approximately 10% of your total. You can make recipes (mixes of flavours). Really important you log your mix so you can recreate that perfect juice!!!
Depending on the strength you desire, nicotine may only be around 8% of your total
The base will be around 80%  of your total liquid

e-Liquid Calculator
Eliquid Recipes
99Juices - E-Juice Recipes
several sites have recipe databases to mimic popular juices. Use one flavour per juice for simplicity or mix a few flavours to experiment.

Once your liquids are mixed, the steeping process begins.
Put the cap on, shake the hell out of the bottle with all the vigour of a birthday w**k for as long as you can go (several minutes?). There'll be lots of little bubbles within the bottle. This is good. They'll disappear as it settles. Open the cap, squeeze the air out, allow it to refill with fresh air. Leave open in a dark place for 24 hours. Cap and shake, replace the air intermittently. The fresh air aids oxidation - I can only guess the concentration of oxygen drops during this process so fresh air gives it new, maximum concentration oxygen for a more efficient oxidation.
There are several theories - some like to then cap it up, others leave it open. Whatever you choose - keep up the shaking and re-airing. It's been said that different types of flavours have different requirements
There are so many opinions about steeping. Some don't at all (although mine was harsh the following day), others speed up steeping with ultrasonic cleaners and water baths, but many say patience is a virtue and the best way to steep.
Some flavours improve with time, others have a sweet spot and degrade after a month
I got a lot of steeping info from here The Ultimate Guide to Steeping E-Liquid
these guys have done blind taste tests and have some good info on the act and benefits of steeping

the beauty of home-brewing is the trial and error aspect - you're the chef and are free to have the nic strength, flavour mix and base ratio that you want. You can make a bunch of juices with different properties and flavours and vape what suits your mood at different times. And the price (as detailed in the previous post) is incomparable - especially to what post-TPD 10ml juices will cost
if you have a mod and chase clouds, shop prices are just unsustainable. with home-brews, you can fund a 10ml a day habit for a year for under a ton


I'm new to mixing so this is just an introduction. There is plenty of info on the net, if you read through this and like the idea, sit through a few videos on youtube, search it and read a few guides, and sign up to vape forums like planetofthevapes.co.uk/forums for expert guidance
post your tips and let me know of any potential improvements/amendments I can make to these posts.

reddeviluk

WOW Pumpington......that answers all and any questions I had.  I will start to get the bits and bobs ordered today, my main concern has always been the selection and mixing of the actual flavours.  I'm no Chef (with regard to food), for me a Pot Noodle is fine dining as it does what it says on the tin, so I think I'm going to concentrate on basic flavours or one shot type pre-mixed concentrates.  I've always used onepoundliquid as my daily vape, with the occasional dabble into more expensive juice.  When going "up-market" I prefer creams and milk etc, something along the lines of Mama's Milk or Dragons Milk, but even then I go for whatever's on offer at the time, so it's never a BIG BLOW OUT.  I've started to buy some juice from REJUICED, as I've reduced my nic from 12mg down to 3mg, which was always my goal after smoking for 20  years, to go from that, to vaping 3mg in 6 months.....I'm happy with that.

What flavours or concentrates have you tried so far?.

Thanks again,

Rich

PumpingtonSteel

I've tried yoghurt and cheesecake ones which I didn't like so much
and the fruit ones are quite nice
my friend and I both agreed the flavour is subtle - it is tempting to add in higher concentrations, but it has just been a week so perhaps it will get richer in the coming days/weeks