Need some advice on creating some eliquid

[Kiaya611]

Hello All,

DISCLAIMER: This is meant as a discussion between adults, 21 and over. No information here is to be used by minors. By posting this, I am not in any way promoting the use of nicotine. For now, I am using it and will until I get down to a 0% nicotine.

CAUTION: When working with Nicotine, take every precaution and wear Nitrile Surgical Gloves and clean utensils, syringes, etc. Wash your hands and anything that was in contact with the nicotine solution as it can absorb into your skin.

This is one of my first posts on this forum and the first on creating e-liquid. I have been vaping for about 1 year and 8 months now (totally off cigarettes). I really love vaping. Anyway, I am disabled and on a very limited income and I also like creating things of all kinds. I decided to save myself money so I wanted to make my own e-liquid. Since I am still using nicotine, that is included in this thread as one of the ingredients.

I usually vape about 150ml per month, so I thought I would make a 150ml batch. I used two different calculators to check my calculations. One is ejuiceMeUp and the other is an online calculator and it is on ecigvape.com.

Being the first time I have ever made e-liquid, I had no idea of the percentage of flavors to start out with. Since taste is different for everyone, I wanted to create a Menthol to be very similar to ECBlend's Menthol, but I wanted a little more "kick" so I included Peppermint and I wanted it to be a bit sweeter, so I added sweetener. All of the flavorings are from ECBlend, 60%PG/40%VG and 0 nicotine and I purchased 100mg/ml nicotine liquid in a 100% PG Base. The sweetener is ECBlend's sweetener and it has a 100%VG Base.

Ok, with all of that said, What I ended up with is WAY too much flavorings. What started out as 150ml is now 800ml as i keep trying to dilute the flavorings. A newbie mistake, but one I will not forget

I have attached my "recipe" in both formats (1 from each calculator) so you can "check my work".

I have a couple of questions. First, by looking at the recipes, does everything look accurate to get a 12mg/ml product? Second, approximately how much flavorings (either by percent or ratio) that is normally followed when making an e-liquid?

I am getting closer to where I need to be, as far as the final flavor, but I wanted to be sure that everything else looks good. Again, I know taste is subjective, so the actual final product will vary between people and their taste. I will dial in the exact flavor once i get the dilution near where I need it to be as far as flavoring percentage in a given recipe.

Even though this is a very large recipe, It will not go to waste as with my current usage, I am estimating it will last about 5 1/3 months (as it stands right now) and I keep my e-liquid in the refrigerator, so it should have no problem lasting that amount of time.

I hope I made sense with this as I have never really talked about all of this until now.

I would appreciate any thoughts and tips you can provide in making your own e-liquid.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Steven

 

[Ld3441]

Hi Steven, sorry you have gotten no replies. One thing I noticed on your calculators is you have 60/40 ratio on your flavorings. Your final ratio is not going to be 60/40 because your flavorings do not have that ratio. That should be either 100% PG or 100% VG.

Personally I have not worked with menthol but I think that might be a little high % but perhaps not. My guess is you have already learned it is better to try things in small batches when trying to figure out percentages. I usually do 3 to 6 ml samples until I get something I like. Don't be discouraged, it happens to us all in one way or another.

One other thing you might mention is the brand of flavoring you are using. They are all different and use different percentages. Not that everyone will use the same percentage but some are more concentrated than others. One brand may use 1-3% and another may use 10-15%.

The truth is... you are the judge. If that final product is good to you then that is where it should be. Good luck to you and maybe someone with some menthol experience will show up here soon to help.

 

[Kiaya611]

Hi Steven, sorry you have gotten no replies. One thing I noticed on your calculators is you have 60/40 ratio on your flavorings. Your final ratio is not going to be 60/40 because your flavorings do not have that ratio. That should be either 100% PG or 100% VG.

Personally I have not worked with menthol but I think that might be a little high % but perhaps not. My guess is you have already learned it is better to try things in small batches when trying to figure out percentages. I usually do 3 to 6 ml samples until I get something I like. Don't be discouraged, it happens to us all in one way or another.

One other thing you might mention is the brand of flavoring you are using. They are all different and use different percentages. Not that everyone will use the same percentage but some are more concentrated than others. One brand may use 1-3% and another may use 10-15%.

The truth is... you are the judge. If that final product is good to you then that is where it should be. Good luck to you and maybe someone with some menthol experience will show up here soon to help.

Hi,

Thank you for your reply. I noticed that error on the PG/VG "results" just after your reply. I have since changed the graphics to show the actual numbers as there were also a couple that were wrong in the flavorings. The graphics now are correct.

I wasn't sure if it was ok or not to mention names, but since it apparently is, they are all ECBlend flavorings. I'll see if I can add that text o the original message.

Thanks again.

 

[Kiaya611]

Also, If any of you know what percentage ECBend uses in their flavorings, that would help me out a lot as I happen to like a number of their flavorings and will be making my own version of them.

 

[Ld3441]

You're welcome.
I have no idea about ECBlends.
On new flavors I would start at 2% in a 3ml test batch and add to that as needed. I would also test each flavor to find the percentage you like best for each. Say you ended up liking menthol at 1% and peppermint at 5%. (just picked numbers here) To combine those I'd go with .5% menthol and 2.5% peppermint.
I hope that helps a little... good luck!

 

[RMarcusY]

I play around with new flavors all the time. I put all the liquids in the same kind of small bottles, PG, VG, flavors, nicotine.
I then take a new, or freshly washed tank and use 50 to 100 drops. Since they are all coming out of the same kind of bottles the drops are pretty close to the same size.
Most of my flavors are from TFA and I found most of them are good at 10%. There is some place on this site, a recommended chart that gives us a good starting point.
I have tried menthol at 1/2% and even that was too strong for me.
I pre-mix my VG/PG (55/45) in one bottle and add 45 drops into my tank, and then 5 drops of (PG based) flavor, that makes the flavor at 10%. I vape it and write down the results in my note book and adjust from there. I don't add any nicotine until I get a mix that I like.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spr..._hQ6Fu8HdEwwR2dLRUJlVjlabEN1NG1ucktuUVE&gid=7

 

[NGAHaze]

If you just want to get a feel for a flavor and perhaps a potential starting %, you could try the following:

Fill a small container (bottle, beaker, etc) with 20 drops of unflavored base ( whatever your preference is ) with a dropper.
Then add 1 drop of flavoring with the same size dropper.
Shake the mix and drip 3 drops into an RDA ( or other atomizer ) and vape (5%).

Since you are only testing flavor it's probably best to just hold it in your mouth and exhale through your nose in order to get the flavor notes.

Then add 2 more drops of unflavored base and 1 drop flavoring to keep the mix at the same level.
Now drip 3 drops and vape again to try it at a higher percentage (10%).
You can repeat again for 20-25% if desired but personally, I seldom if ever, go this high especially with a single flavor.
With flavors you think are going to be stronger, you can use a 40 drop base to start at @ 2.5% ...

This isn't perfect of course but I've found it helpful when starting out with a new flavor.

ETA: This link provides a list of potential starting percentages with various vendors that you might find useful. It doesn't appear to have the brand you are using unfortunately but it still might come in handy one day.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spr..._hQ6Fu8HdEwwR2dLRUJlVjlabEN1NG1ucktuUVE&gid=7

 

[Kiaya611]

Thank you all very much, I appreciate the help. I have cut an pasted the information and will try that on the next flavor...I still am determined in saving this batch, although I might end up with a years worth - LOL

Since no one mentioned the nic level, I will assume that means it is correct for the 12mg result.

 

[Ld3441]

Nic is correct.

 

[Kiaya611]

Nic is correct.

Thank you...that is the only part that I want to be REALLY sure I get right...it just started to seem like a lot, but so far it is a 800ml, so I guess it is going to be high even for a 12mg level. Now all I need to do is dilute it down enough to vape, then I will have a lot of it for a long time. I like it to steep for at least a little while before I ever try any. I have been working on this over two days now, so the flavor is much different than the first day. I won't make any drastic changes until it has steeped for at least a full day, and then I can get a pretty good idea on which direction to go...in this case it is just adding more PG/VG and upping the nic to match.

 

[glassgrl]

Are you measuring your flavors with a syringe? The reason I ask is because I think both of those calculators set default drops at 20 drops per ml. If you're adding drops, that's probably at least double % flavoring.
I don't have any experience with that company or flavors...menthol either.

 

[Kiaya611]

I do all of my measuring with syringes, they are very convenient and very accurate. Plus, I have a few hundred sterile syringes in different sizes for when I used to have farm animals. I still use them for my dog's vaccines if the vaccine doesn't come with a syringe. I do have droppers (medical grade), but I would have to calculate the amounts/equivalents. I am trying to do everything in exact measurements and writing everything down so I can be able to go back and either make another batch of something I like or know that I need to tweak something. This is very new to me (making my own e-liquid anyway. The savings is unbelievable. When you are on a fixed income, this can make a HUGE difference. I really like scientific type stuff anyway, so I like taking apart my tanks and cleaning them really well and doing all of the calculation and mixing and then be able to test the sample is really something I am enjoying. I am working on a medical cannibus vaping liquid, since it is legal in this state for medical users and On July 1, it will be legal for anyone over 21.

Because I have so many health issues and I hate having to take so many pharmaceuticals, I would really like to find (or even create) a strain that works for me and if I do create a strain, I would like to make it available for anyone who can legally posses it for medicinal purposes. I am not against recreational use, I just personally am interested in the medical side...but all of that is a totally different forum.