Making DIY E-Liquid "A Guide"

 DIY E-Liquid Mixing Guide
How to make your own E-Liquid

This guide will give you enough information to help you start and enable you to make your first home made e-liquid.

Making / Mixing your own e-liquid can be economic, fun and very rewarding. It isn’t overly difficult, if you read, digest and follow the guidelines set out below.  

Where to start?

In this example, we are going to show you how to make 10ml of a 50%PG/50%VG at a final strength of 18mg, using 25% flavouring

All flavourings vary in strength, even from the same manufacturer, some users will like a strong taste, some milder, we use this as an example only, vary as required and explained below.

In principal, an e-liquid is made up of 4 things…  So, you will need these (if you are making 0% Nic, otherwise known as “Nic Free” you won’t need the nicotine base), like any recipe, these main ingredients can be adjusted to suit your tastes and requirements.

• Nicotine Base (suspended in PG or VG)

• Propylene Glycol (PG)

• Vegetable Glycerine (VG)

• Flavourings

However, there will be other items required to make up your e-liquid. Here is a list of suggested & required items, make sure you have all these before starting.

• Mixing Calculator, we recommend “EJuiceMeUp” it is a free download and very accurate Probably the most extensively used by e-liquid makers. Link Here:- http://ejuice.breaktru.com/

• Syringes (1ml, 2ml, 5ml, etc) with blunt 18 gauge needles.

• Clean, empty bottles, of the required size.

• A clean & Safe working environment (away from distractions, children, pets, etc)

• Spillage clean up kit (some kitchen paper towels, bowl of fresh water, etc)

• Protective clothing and safety items, we suggest an apron, nitrile gloves, and some eye protection as a minimum.

What does each component do?

Nicotine Base: We advise the use of 72mg/ml Nicotine (7.2%) in VG as the Nic Base ingredient (we will explain why we advise it in VG later), preferably of Pharma grade and from a reliable source.

Nicotine is an addictive substance, as well as giving you the “Throat Hit” associated with a cigarette, it also satisfies your “Nicotine Hit” craving.  

Nicotine base requires respect. It can be extremely toxic and is absorbed through the skin, it can be absorbed even more easily when diluted with water etc, so great care should be taken when using it. Wear Gloves. 

Propylene Glycol (PG): can be used to dilute the concentrated nicotine liquid to the desired strength. PG carries the flavour, has anti-bacterial properties, extends the shelf life of e-liquids and helps give the cigarette-like “Throat Hit” that a good e-cigarette vapor gives the user.

Vegetable Glycerin (VG): is also used to dilute the concentrated nicotine liquid to the desired strength. VG is smoother and gives less of a throat hit, but creates more vapor. It is often too thick to be used by itself, however, most suppliers will offer a pre diluted VG, sometimes called AVG, this is simply VG diluted at about 10% with a pure Lab Water to make the consistency more easily used with vape equipment.

Flavourings: There are so many brands available, some good, some not so good. Start off with a reputed name (such as Capella) widely used and respected in the industry, we think Capella is “The Best” and ticks all the boxes for safety (at the present time of this guide) and gives a true representation of the chosen flavour and ideal for the first time mixer.

Flavours can be mixed together, for example Apple, Grape & Strawberry, or you can stick with just one flavour, the choice is yours. We will start to talk about Flavour percentages later, some flavours may be overpowering some may be milder and will be best when mixed with other flavours.  .

Mixing or combining flavours is where things start to get interesting. Combining the right amount of just two or three flavours doesn’t sound too difficult, but figuring out just how much of each can be a challenge and every persons taste is different. There are a few recipes already out there you can use as a starting point Here is a Link:- http://www.thealchemistscupboard.co.uk/page/capella%20recipes, but there are many more on the Internet (Google is your friend).

First Mix

The calculator will help you to determine just how much of each ingredient is needed to deliver the expected result at the right nicotine level. Remember In this example, we are going to show you how to make 10ml of a 50%PG/50%VG at a final strength of 18mg, using 25% flavouring.

Let’s start by loading the calculator and entering the required information.

Enter the following information into the calculator,

1. On the first line “Nicotine Strength e-juice” Line of the calculator (on the left-hand side), enter the Nicotine as 100% VG and 72mg strength.

2. In the next line “Target Nicotine Strength”, enter 18, as that is our target strength for the final e-liquid.

3. In the next line “Amount to make”, enter 10, as that is the number of mls we want to make.

4. Leave the next line “Water/Vodka/VGA as 0, (we are not going to dilute it any more).

5. In the First “Flavouring” line, type in “Capella Lemon & Lime” as our flavour of choice, and 25% as shown. (Leave the PG/VG % boxes on this line alone for now – our flavouring is 100% PG and is already set).

6. Skip to the bottom of this section and type in to the Target PG “50” this should auto adjust the Target VG to “50” also.

We are using syringes for measuring, so we don’t need to put in the number of drops per mil, so leave the box (at the top of the right hand side to 20 for now).

Hit the Calculate button and you should see the recipe appear as above.

This shows, to make 10ml of e-liquid you will need to use

• 2.5ml 72mg/ml of Unflavoured Nicotine Base

• 2.5ml of PG

• 2.5ml of VG

• 2.5ml of flavourings

Nice and easy example, using 2.5ml of each component part we make 10ml of 50%PG/50%VG at 18mg.

Changing the Values of your Mix

You can play around with the percentages in the calculator, add or take away the amount of flavourings, PG, VG, etc…. hit the calculate button again and the resulting values change to tell you what is required.

Using a “VG Nic Base” as opposed to “PG Nic Base” gives you more flexibility to vary the PG/VG percentages. Some users do not like high PG liquids and some report intolerance to high PG liquids, Using VG Nic Base gives you better control.

Record the Mix

Now is a great time to write down exactly what you have made, label the bottle with the name and the date, nothing is worse than discovering that you really like the flavour you made a week or two ago but cannot remember what you put in it.

Always use syringes to measure out the ingredients as exactly as possible. A tip:- put some clear tape or clear nail varnish over the markings of the syringe before first use, as they do dissolve with Nic / PG over time .

Vigorously shake the bottle and steep. You do know it develops flavour over time don’t you? If not there is a guide to steeping Here:- http://www.thealchemistscupboard.co.uk/page/steeping.

After steeping it for a while then you are ready to enjoy vaping your new e-liquid.

Some flavours will take a little time to fully mix and develop, so don't expect it right straight away.  Try going back to it after a week or so, to see if it is any more enjoyable.  

More Information

This guide is only intended as a “First Time Users” quick guide / explanation. There is a wealth of information and forums on the Internet to help you more.

We recommend this one as very good:- http://allaboute-cigarettes.proboards.com/board/18/mixology-general

Be responsible, Be safe, Enjoy!

The Alchemist.