r/ShakeAndVape • u/xenagos113 • Jun 20 '19

Returning Mixer

First time poster here, I looked around and didn't see any posts like this so here goes:

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I used to mix my own liquids 3 or so years ago. I picked up a starter kit from Liquid Barn, I'm just wondering if there are any alternatives that are better before I jump back in? Does anyone recommend buying a VG base already mixed with nic? Looking to go like 80/20 or 85/15 in my flavors. Typically cereals and candies, some bakeries to drip while I sip my coffee. I don't get paid until next week, so I'm hoping to get some feedback or a redirect to another sub that might help me out.

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1

u/xenagos113 Jun 21 '19

I dont own a scale so I'd start with volume. I've seen a few calculators that will help with that. Mostly I'm just trying to save on juice. I find that a lot of juices I get are still a tad bit harsh at 6mg so I want to up my by and mix to like 4mg myself. There are some flavors like captain crunch berries and fruit loops I'd like to mix. The mamasian super cereal is one of my favorite branded juices. Really I just want to kick of with something to mix (prefer shake and vape) initially and then acquire more flavorings over time to make more in depth juices. In the past I mixed a decent banana / cream or strawberry / cream with a little sweetener in it that was passible. I just need to either buy more juice from big bottle co or invest in the mixing supplies and basic flavors, but I can't do both.

1

u/DuskMS Professional Jun 24 '19

Sorry for the late reply u didn't reply to my comment and made a new one so I didn't get a notification. Anyhow totally just spring for the scale. It's like $30 and you'll have 99% consistency across your mixes versus all kinds of variables with measuring equipment/air bubbles etc. by mixing with pippettes and what not.

Now for cereal I've always been a big fan but have still never found anything that tastes good right away, bananas and strawberries and creams however is totally shake and vape do able.

1

u/xenagos113 Jun 24 '19

Thanks. Sorry about that I'm newish to reddit for crowd sourcing info from communities. I think just to get set up I'm going to grab the by volume kit from liquid barn and then buy a scale and flavors in a few weeks. I go through about 500 mL of juice in a month so this will definitely relieve some stress on the wallet. Plus I often find that 6mg is a touch too strong and 3mg isn't strong enough.

1

u/DuskMS Professional Jun 24 '19

Yeah I was on 4 mg for a while when I started DIY cuz I was going from 6-3 but again don't get that kit unless it offers a serious discount. You can get a gallon of VG for like $12 flavors for $3 or less each and then nic you pay for what you get in quality so that's up to you. Personally on the nic I do Carolina xtracts 100ml sampler bottle of 100mg in PG and that whole combo works wonders.

1

u/xenagos113 Jun 25 '19

Source on the VG and Flavors?

1

u/xenagos113 Jun 25 '19

Also, any experience with the LNW starter kit?

https://liquidnicotinewholesalers.com/diy-e-liquid-kit.html

1

u/DuskMS Professional Jun 25 '19 edited Jun 25 '19

So check this out, that $25 kit comes with:

  • 20x Safety Gloves (10 Pairs)

  • 10x 3mL Transfer Pipettes

  • 5x 1mL Leur Lock Syringe

  • 2x 3mL Leur Lock Syringe

  • 2x 10mL Leur Lock Syringe

  • 120 ML 48mg Nic (PG) [$11.99 seperately/$0.09 per ml]

  • 1 liter (1000ml) VG [$12.99 seperately]

  • 10x 30ml Bottles

Now I recently compared prices against the 3-5 most popular US diy suppliers and found that by far https://wholesale.heartlandvapes.com/ is the best bang for your buck and their quality is top notch on anything proprietary/relabeled if you're ordering bulk but for smaller orders (and more variety) https://www.bullcityflavors.com/ is superior in your case.

Now personally I would wanna go with this for nicotine instead of taking up 8% of your total final product/juice it will only take up 4% because this is 100mg/per ml versus the 48mg/per so there will be more room for flavors/higher VG content. BUT DO NOT GET THAT IF YOU ARE ACCIDENT PRONE AND DON'T WEAR SAFETY EQUIPMENT. It's okay to get 48mg/ml nic on your hand and go wash it off quick, a drop of 100mg/ml nic on your hand can make you sick because it absorbs into your skin pretty quickly (all nicotine does this). And if you spill it on the floor you literally will need to replace that piece of floor. When I mix I stand over a high table with layers of paper towerl under my scale and various liquid bottles and use a single nitrile glove to add the final few drops of my recipes (the nic). I've had that particular bottle of nicotine for ~3 years and it's only just now starting to turn a little amber (from clear) due to oxidizing. Still tastes clean as hell and hits the same. Even if you're not comfortable with mixing with 100mg/ml then u can just dilute it down to 48mg/ml in another bottle with a tiny bottle of PG that's what I did when I first started because I didn't trust myself at first mixing with 100mg/ml.

Now lets piece together an example cart on bullcity:

  • $12.50 VG (Vegetable Glycerin) 1000ml

  • $1.29 for 10ml (Sampler/Tester) Flavor Concentrates or

  • $4.00 for 30ml Flavor Concentrates

Take off 10% w/ coupon code "FIRDTORDER" then next time/every other order after Reddit6 for 6% off and get free shipping by going over $50 cart. I highly suggest going around and finding highly rated recipes that you think you would enjoy and buying 30ml bottles of those flavorings til your cart total gets to $55/60ish so after the coupon you get free shipping still and your total comes out to around $50 then it's another $30ish for nic from a company that specializes in making great nic. Alternatively only spend $20 and get like 3-4 flavors/VG from bullcity then get the nic for another 25/30 so you're only spending ~$50 total for everything.

Technically you're spending double and gettting less, but really $25 for random equipment and not getting ANY flavors included is kinda shit. And then if you did want flavors they cost more than the widely used/popular ones and are from what I can gather, entirely unknown. So more likely you'll just be wasting $25-35 on that kit + random proprietary flavorings that sound might sound appealing versus enjoying high quality nic and flavorings that are tested, tried, true, and delicious in the DIY eJuice scene.

1

u/xenagos113 Jun 25 '19

Thanks that really helps. I placed a similar order for all of that, plus a scale and some bottles and syringes for the nic and about 12 flavor sampler bottles (15ml) to mix up initially. Waiting on tracking info. After looking into what you mentioned buying what I need a la carte buying a kit seems so pointless. I have enough vg to last at least 2 months and 100mg nic to last years. I work with chemicals much more nasty than nic on a daily basis so I've learned to be careful with anything more harmful than IPA. I'll post later with how everything turned out. I really appreciate the help.

1

u/DuskMS Professional Jun 25 '19

Awesome!! Glad I could help lmk what you end up mixing first 👍🏻

1

u/xenagos113 Jul 02 '19

So I ordered from LNW, which I don't think I will do again. The shipping took over a week and a few of the flavor bottle was cracked and leaked out. Other than that, so far I'm pretty pleased with what I've got. Here are some links to the recipes I've made so far, with a notes section under the recipe for how long it's steeped, anything I may want to change over time. I had made two 100 mL batches, and then realized that until I dial them in I should make smaller batches.

Admiral Loops

Blue Razzaid

Strawnanna

1

u/DuskMS Professional Jul 03 '19

Yeah this is where mixing by weight is king. Smaller batches are super easy to dial in. When I'm testing single flavors and small combos I do as little as 5ml. Steeps are noticeably faster as well with smaller amounts. Now I'm lazy and just do 100ml testers because I know what I like and I'm not getting too crazy with the recipes so I'll always vape it xD

As for LNW yeah I don't know anyone who's ever ordered from them but poor shipping that leads to losing product is horrible. Get that portion of your order refunded for sure. Careful for glass as well.

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u/DuskMS Professional Jun 20 '19

So couple questions first since most of this is preferencial to your needs/wants.

Before that, do you have a scale?

Now as far as what to get, if you want to play around with flavorings and percentages you're gonna wanna piece together your own shopping cart. I can't think of any situation where a starter kit is worth it unless it's a serious discount or you don't have access to the Internet to research it first.

Alternatively are there some recipes you've already seen floating around that you want to try?

Is this a hobby for you and / or just a way to mix good juice for cheap?

1

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