DIY E-liquids

DIY E-Liquid Guide: Master the Art of Custom Vaping

Many vapers find that moving to DIY E-Liquids opens up a world of possibilities for customising their vape experience and saving them money. Whether you are an experienced vaper wishing to fine-tune your throat hit or want to blow bigger clouds, or you want to create a flavour that is not on the market yet, you'll enjoy creating your own E-Liquids.

At UK Vape Kings, we provide you with everything you'll need to evolve from vaper to creator, including high-quality concentrates like our Ultimate Juice range, and ready to mix premixes that are perfectly balanced.

What is DIY E-Liquid?

DIY E-Liquid is the process of creating your own e-liquid using 4 ingredients: Vegetable Glycerin (VG), Propylene Glycol (PG), flavour concentrates, and Nicotine. By controlling the levels of each of these ingredients, you can create an E-Liquid suited to your vaping hardware (sub-ohm tanks, MTL pod systems, etc.).

What are the benefits of making your own E-Liquid?

• Cost Savings - Buy E-Liquid in batches. Purchasing 10ml or 100ml Shortfills can be expensive but by purchasing large quantities of VG, PG and concentrates you will save a lot of money.
• Flavour Customisation - You will not be limited by flavours available on the market, you can create different flavours like mixing "Blue Slushie" with "Menthol", or making a "Strawberry Custard" with more Strawberry.
• Ratios of control: Different commercial vaping juices tend to get stuck at what is often called a 70/30 (VG/PG) ratio, but making your own vaping juice gives you more options such as mixing up to an 80/20 VG/PG for bigger clouds, or as low as 50/50 VG/PG if you would like your juice to be thinner and more suitable for older coils.

The key Ingredients of DIY Juice

Knowing what each of the pieces of the “building blocks” will do to help make your unique vaping juice is key in helping you get started in the right direction.

Base liquids (VG & PG)

• Vegetable Glycerin (VG): VG is a sweet, thick liquid that comes from plant-based oils. VG helps with the creation of vapor (or, in common terms, big clouds) and will give you that sweet, but smooth throat hit.

• Propylene Glycol (PG): PG is a thinner, odourless liquid than VG and will carry most flavours better than VG will. PG will also provide you with the “throat hit” or kick that most previous smokers look for in a liquid.

At UK Vape Kings, we sell two types of premixed ultimate DIY e-liquid (that will take the guesswork out of what the base of your liquid should be), so you can focus more on the flavour and the ‘nic’ when mixing.

Flavour Concentrates

The flavouring component of your DIY juice is the soul of your juice, or in other words, the flavour that you get from the finished product. All flavouring will come in a food grade base and will be mixed with PG.

Single Flavours: These are a good choice for beginners because a 30ml bottle of “watermelon” or “vanilla custard” produces a good quality vaping experience when used alone.

Complex Blends: Brands like Ultimate Juice provide complex layered flavours such as “cherry choons” and “apple pie” that can offer unique blends without having to go through the hassle of blending the flavours together yourself.

Nicotine Shots

Due to the TPD regulations, nicotine shots are now sold in 10 ml "shots" (if usually, they are 18mg/ml) that are to be used as part of a mixing procedure to achieve the desired nicotine strength (3mg or 6mg).

How to Mix Your First E-liquid Batch: Step-by-Step

There are two ways to mix e-liquid: by using volume (for example, with syringes) or by using weight (for example, using a digital scale). Volume is usually the better point for beginners to start mixing e-liquids.

1) Calculate Your Ratios

To calculate how much flavour concentrate and nicotine shots to add to the bottle, you can use an e-liquid calculator found online. When using this calculator, input the size of the whole bottle you are going to make (e.g., 10ml, 30ml), your desired nicotine strength (e.g. 3mg/ml), and then the percentage of flavouring added to the bottle (most concentrates are recommended to be mixed at 15-20%). 

2) Add Your Flavour Concentrate

Using an empty bottle, measure out however much of your Ultimate Juice concentrate you will need to mix your complete recipe; if you are making a larger batch of e-liquid with a 30ml Ultimate Juice concentrate, than follow the recommended mixing percentage provided on the label.

3) Add Your Nicotine

Carefully pour your nicotine shots into the bottle; always wear gloves when handling nicotine due to it being dangerous when absorbed through the skin.

4) Top Up with Base (VG/PG)

Fill the remaining space of the bottle with your VG/PG premix; i.e. if you are using an 80/20 VG/PG premix and have just added flavour and nicotine (both of which are usually PG), the resulting ratio will now most likely be closer to a 70/30 ratio due to your flavouring and nicotine being added separately.

5) Difference

The fifth step is the difference between 'Shake and Vape' and 'steeping' (please make sure you understand the difference).

Some general safety rules to follow when mixing your own e-liquids are:

(1) Please ensure you keep any supplies (especially anything containing nicotine) locked away from children/pets.

(2) Use new sterile bottles and syringes with each batch to avoid cross-contamination.

(3) Label each bottle with the flavour, nicotine level, VG/PG ratio and date mixed.

Frequently Asked Questions About Mixing Your Own E-liquid

How long do I steep my e-liquids?

Depending on the flavour you're mixing together, there's a different time frame for each flavour type on how long to steep. Fruit flavours can be steeped for as little as 1 to 3 days or vaped immediately after mixing. The dessert/cream type and tobacco type will take 2-4 weeks before they reach their full flavour profile/depth.

What is the correct % to mix my concentrates at?

DIY concentrate ranges such as Ultimate Juice are normally designed to be mixed at 15%-25%; however, double-check the specified brand, as some 'super concentrates' may need to be mixed down to only 5%.

Is it possible to incorporate various flavour concentrates?

Certainly! Experimentation is one of the greatest joys of DIY! A few drops of menthol can be added to a fruit blend, or you can mix several fruit flavours into a custom "Summer Lovin'" tropical medley that is all your own! 

What could cause harshness in my DIY juice?

High nicotine levels (too high), high PG ratios (too much Polypropylene Glycol) or "peppery" nicotine that has gone bad (oxidation). Make sure your nicotine is fresh and kept in a dark place, and experiment by increasing your VG ratio to get a smoother hit.

Do I need special tools for mixing? 

To start mixing, all you need is an empty bottle, the ingredients (base, flavour, nicotine), and a way to measure them out (blunt needle syringes or a digital scale capable of measuring to 0.01 grams).