The Risks of Creating Your Own E-liquid - VapeIQ
DIY e-liquids are only recommended for advanced users. This alone is enough of a reason not to do it in my opinion. It’s is not a task for those who do not understand the intricacies of each ingredient, the right percentage, the safety procedures, and how each content would react to each other. There are plenty of risks at stake if you do this the wrong way.
1. Your safety
This is the number one risk that you have to contend with when DIY-ing your e-liquid, for a number of reasons:
- Nicotine content – High dosage of nicotine is volatile at best and dangerous at worst. Never make the mistake of using pure nicotine. On top of that, there are adverse health effects that you’ll experience (e.g. burning) just by touching or accidentally spilling nicotine on your skin.
- Controlled environment – E-liquids are manufactured following an exact formula that often take years to create, as well as strict compliance with government laws. The wrong measurement, even in small amounts, can result in dangerous chemical compounds. E-liquids are also developed in labs where the environment is controlled and there are safety protocols in place.
- Lack of experience – Whether this is your first or tenth time to create DIY e-liquids, there will always be risks when doing it at home. Some experts will say at least six months of experience is needed to start DIY-ing your liquids; however, the fact of the matter is that at six months, you’ll only have enough time to appreciate various e-liquids and the ingredients in them. You need to understand the entire process, before deciding to set up your own home lab.
2. It is a complex process
Mixing your own e-juice is not as simple as mixing your own cocktail or following a baking recipe. You need to do actual calculations to get the right amount of ingredients in one bottle.
For one, you need to account for the nicotine level and the liquid base ratio. And then, you also need to find out how much nicotine is enough to get the hit that you’re looking for. On top of that, you also have to consider the flavouring—how much do you need to get the taste that you’ll be happy with?
This isn’t as easy as it sounds. Calculations take time; so does the experimenting. If your final product is not to your liking, you will need to start over again.
3. The taste may not be up to your expectations
Even if you followed the recipe to the letter, there is a huge risk that your final product will not taste like what you had in mind.
More often than not, you’ll end up with a bland-tasting e-liquid that does is not on par with any of the store-bought bottles you tried before. This is how it is when you DIY anything. The professionals that make e-liquids have honed their craft over years and years and are experts. It’s unlikely you’ll get anything approaching an e-liquid bought from a professional supplier on your first, third or even twenty third go.
It could, therefore, actually take you quite a lot of time and money before you nail the actual taste that you want in a bottle. And that’s just one flavour.
4. You’ll waste products
Plenty of vapers buy ingredients in bulk to save on costs. But if you end up with a bottle that you’re not happy with, then you likely won’t vape it. Even if you give it away, you’ll end up with wasted ingredients.
5. It can get costly
On your first few tries, you’ll also most likely waste a good amount of ingredients to get everything right, either by experimenting or because of any untoward accidents (e.g. spilling).
While some might argue that experimenting is part of the fun of DIY, the amount of money you’ll spend on wasted ingredients can quickly add up.
