# DIY vs Premade eliquid



## Ravynheart

Time to open a second can of worms. 
As a newbie, I've discovered that some people mix their own eliquid blends along with the prospect of it being cheaper than buying a Premade eliquid. So, here I have a couple questions as I have very little understanding on the topic. 
1. How risky and complicated is DIY? 
2. Is it really worth the risks vs the convenience going to a store and buying a bottle of liquid? 
3. Is it really cheaper considering you might have to throw away a couple screwed up batches? 
4. How's the best way to get started in DIY without breaking the Vape budget? 

All opinions and answers welcome!


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## Mike

3. Is it cheaper? I've spent somewhere in the region of R4k to R6k on diy... So I'm not entirely sure. If you're working with "simple" juices and are satisfied with relatively basic things, it's definitely cheaper. But everything has a shelf life, especially nicotine in higher concentrations.


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## Viper_SA

When you're vaping 15-20ml a day, yes, it's much cheaper! I have chucked maybe 200ml of 'oopsies' in 2 months. Mixed without nic, so not that expensive at all. I hwve also made over a liter of very vapeable juice, and even sold some to colleagues who have tasted some 5ml samples of my stuff. I charge them R50/30ml. Makes up fir my flavoring collection and the PG/VG cost is negligable. Some good recipes by members on planet of the vapes, kritikalmass and e-liquid-recipes.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## Ravynheart

@Viper_SA how do you vape 15 to 20 ml a day? I thought 6ml was a lot for one day!


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## Jysin

@Ravynheart I am my self quite the noob at e juice mixing. But I think you should start off where I did. Get some100%pg juice (propylene glycol) with a high nic content 18 to if you can find 24mls. And buy some empty bottles or just keep your empties. And pop down to dischem and get a bottle of glycerin BP ( vegetable glycerin) and play around with mixes start by adding a little vg to the mix and go till you find the sweet spot. By doing this you will get used to the ratios and vaper production(vg brings the couds but dulls throat hit as you prob know). It is also cheaper before you go and buy a DIY kit and make a mix that puts you off. A bottle of glycerine BP and a syringe is like 30 bucks.
Hope this helps.. Good luck fiddling

Reactions: Informative 1


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## Jysin

Another thing to add sorry. The more vg liquid you add the thicker your juice will become. And with that you will need more power to vape it as well as bigger wholes in your coils and lower ohms.(I am going to be moving from my mvp2 to a more powerful box mod with a decent sub ohm tank so I can vape pure vg juice as I find the cloud production addictive. ). But a 50 50 mix works great on almost all decent egos and devices (1.5 to 2.1 ohms at about 5 to 6.5 watts).however anything lower than a 50 50 mix gets to thick and coils don't get ejuice in time and you get a dry hit.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## zadiac

My DIY costs me around R500 to R600 every 3 months. Yes, it's cheap if you want it to be. If you want to clone every recipe out there, then yes, it will be more expensive.
I only vape my DIY juices. I don't buy juices anymore. Only on very rare occasions like the vapecon. I also won a crapload of juices at the vapecon and have been testing them almost non-stop, but when I go to bed, I take my Reo with my DIY juice with me, because I like it more than any other juice.
Tonight I'll be vaping my vanilla custard and my coconut menthol diy juices. My vanilla custard tastes better to me than any other that I've bought.

Reactions: Like 1 | Informative 1


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## Matt

I mainly use recipes and if i find a winner i can make around 250ml for R250 (very low nicotine). Then its cheaper and its even more convenient then picking up juice yourself. 
Creating your own recipes can set you back more cash but thats because you like to play around with flavours etc.
So its all up to you if it will be cheaper or not.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## Andre

Ravynheart said:


> Time to open a second can of worms.
> As a newbie, I've discovered that some people mix their own eliquid blends along with the prospect of it being cheaper than buying a Premade eliquid. So, here I have a couple questions as I have very little understanding on the topic.
> 1. How risky and complicated is DIY?
> 2. Is it really worth the risks vs the convenience going to a store and buying a bottle of liquid?
> 3. Is it really cheaper considering you might have to throw away a couple screwed up batches?
> 4. How's the best way to get started in DIY without breaking the Vape budget?
> 
> All opinions and answers welcome!



Not risky and not complicated at all. Be prepared to research and be prepared to document everything.
For me there was no substantial risks vs convenience, but I gave it up because I was too impatient and not really committed and my efforts could not compare to the juices I bought. But there are many DIYers that make great juices. I applaud them. Many commercial juices started as DIY juices.
No doubt in my mind it could be cheaper, depending on many factors though.
http://www.ecigssa.co.za/diy-your-first-time.t7324/

Reactions: Like 1 | Winner 1 | Informative 1


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## Ravynheart

I have a love for complex dessert flavours and a higher PG to VG ratio. With that said, the thought of mixing my own juice is intimidating and being unemployed doesn't help the budget.


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## VapeSnow

It's MUCH cheaper than international e-liquids but not so much when you compare it to local e-liquids.


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## nemo

Ravynheart said:


> Time to open a second can of worms.
> As a newbie, I've discovered that some people mix their own eliquid blends along with the prospect of it being cheaper than buying a Premade eliquid. So, here I have a couple questions as I have very little understanding on the topic.
> 1. How risky and complicated is DIY?
> 2. Is it really worth the risks vs the convenience going to a store and buying a bottle of liquid?
> 3. Is it really cheaper considering you might have to throw away a couple screwed up batches?
> 4. How's the best way to get started in DIY without breaking the Vape budget?
> 
> All opinions and answers welcome!



I am not sure if you have read the DIY thread started by @Derick, from that you will be able to get a good starting point. Its something you can makes as simple as mixing your own flavour to complex mixes and additives to introduce new tones.
The post I am talking about http://www.ecigssa.co.za/diy-your-first-time.t7324/ Maybe with all the interest this could be considered to be made a sticky, it has loads of good advice and branches out from there.

In regards to risk (if health) the concentrations used are very low, buying from one of the reputable dealers you can rest easy as most of the concentrated flavours appear to be used by most of the manufactures of e-liquids. Of course there are measures to be taken to protect your loved ones including pets. I don't think you will be in danger of mixing some lethal biological weapon.

Well now on the cost side it is like any Hobby or craft, you can buy a DIY kit that comes with all sorts of gizzmos and gadgets or you can pop in at dischem and get a syringe, your base mix of pg/vg (there are many posts on brands) some gloves and even dropper bottles (or recycle your used ones). you can make small batches of say 10ml and replicate the ones you want. About the anything you will need to order online is Nicotine and concentrates. If you look at the costs I wondered myself about throwing away a batch I made an excel spreadsheet. A 6mg nic content at 50/50, 3 concentrates and 1 additive at the full price (not say the starter kit price from skyblue) works out to between R40 - R50 per 30ml or less than R2 per ml. So just by doing a small batch and if you exclude the nic it gets even cheaper.

getting flavours you like well thats another story all together i have opted to buy same concentrates that i would enjoy on their own and then maybe use them to create a new flavour or enhance something I like. Some of the flavours I have decided on was thought up by mixing different premium liquids.

Your biggest friend on the DIY here is the forums and google, there are so many clones listed, if you have a look there are many recipes and some are made with one or another of the flavours that are very vappable on their own, and that thanks to members on this very forum helping to get my first list of concentrates.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1 | Informative 1


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## Ravynheart

nemo said:


> I am not sure if you have read the DIY thread started by @Derick, from that you will be able to get a good starting point. Its something you can makes as simple as mixing your own flavour to complex mixes and additives to introduce new tones.
> The post I am talking about http://www.ecigssa.co.za/diy-your-first-time.t7324/ Maybe with all the interest this could be considered to be made a sticky, it has loads of good advice and branches out from there.
> 
> In regards to risk (if health) the concentrations used are very low, buying from one of the reputable dealers you can rest easy as most of the concentrated flavours appear to be used by most of the manufactures of e-liquids. Of course there are measures to be taken to protect your loved ones including pets. I don't think you will be in danger of mixing some lethal biological weapon.
> 
> Well now on the cost side it is like any Hobby or craft, you can buy a DIY kit that comes with all sorts of gizzmos and gadgets or you can pop in at dischem and get a syringe, your base mix of pg/vg (there are many posts on brands) some gloves and even dropper bottles (or recycle your used ones). you can make small batches of say 10ml and replicate the ones you want. About the anything you will need to order online is Nicotine and concentrates. If you look at the costs I wondered myself about throwing away a batch I made an excel spreadsheet. A 6mg nic content at 50/50, 3 concentrates and 1 additive at the full price (not say the starter kit price from skyblue) works out to between R40 - R50 per 30ml or less than R2 per ml. So just by doing a small batch and if you exclude the nic it gets even cheaper.
> 
> getting flavours you like well thats another story all together i have opted to buy same concentrates that i would enjoy on their own and then maybe use them to create a new flavour or enhance something I like. Some of the flavours I have decided on was thought up by mixing different premium liquids.
> 
> Your biggest friend on the DIY here is the forums and google, there are so many clones listed, if you have a look there are many recipes and some are made with one or another of the flavours that are very vappable on their own, and that thanks to members on this very forum helping to get my first list of concentrates.


I did read the post,however I wanted to ask these questions from the point of view of someone that knows nothing about DIY eliquid (which I am) so that other newbies can have the complex answers broken down into more newbie friendly terms along with the pros and cons of taking this avenue

Reactions: Like 2 | Creative 1


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## nemo

@Ravynheart yup I agree fully, nothing is more discouraging than going out and spending R100's just be feel very disappointed in the end. the world of DIY is really growing, very often mix different juices together and have had some happy accidents

Reactions: Useful 1


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## Ravynheart

nemo said:


> I am not sure if you have read the DIY thread started by @Derick, from that you will be able to get a good starting point. Its something you can makes as simple as mixing your own flavour to complex mixes and additives to introduce new tones.
> The post I am talking about http://www.ecigssa.co.za/diy-your-first-time.t7324/ Maybe with all the interest this could be considered to be made a sticky, it has loads of good advice and branches out from there.
> 
> In regards to risk (if health) the concentrations used are very low, buying from one of the reputable dealers you can rest easy as most of the concentrated flavours appear to be used by most of the manufactures of e-liquids. Of course there are measures to be taken to protect your loved ones including pets. I don't think you will be in danger of mixing some lethal biological weapon.
> 
> Well now on the cost side it is like any Hobby or craft, you can buy a DIY kit that comes with all sorts of gizzmos and gadgets or you can pop in at dischem and get a syringe, your base mix of pg/vg (there are many posts on brands) some gloves and even dropper bottles (or recycle your used ones). you can make small batches of say 10ml and replicate the ones you want. About the anything you will need to order online is Nicotine and concentrates. If you look at the costs I wondered myself about throwing away a batch I made an excel spreadsheet. A 6mg nic content at 50/50, 3 concentrates and 1 additive at the full price (not say the starter kit price from skyblue) works out to between R40 - R50 per 30ml or less than R2 per ml. So just by doing a small batch and if you exclude the nic it gets even cheaper.
> 
> getting flavours you like well thats another story all together i have opted to buy same concentrates that i would enjoy on their own and then maybe use them to create a new flavour or enhance something I like. Some of the flavours I have decided on was thought up by mixing different premium liquids.
> 
> Your biggest friend on the DIY here is the forums and google, there are so many clones listed, if you have a look there are many recipes and some are made with one or another of the flavours that are very vappable on their own, and that thanks to members on this very forum helping to get my first list of concentrates.



Also, the more I look into DIY, the more practical it appears to me as I struggle to find a good Premade that I enjoy (fussy much)

Reactions: Agree 1 | Funny 1


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## rogue zombie

Woah this could be a can of worms.

Look, it was pretty damn expensive for ME to start, because I wanted to try all the flavours. And working with recipes, you need to get a good couple of flavours going.

I'd say in my first two months of mixing, I preferred store bought stuff.

Now, know a few things from obsessively researching, I actually prefer my stuff to soooooo many juices out there. Also, I am sampling some of @Mike juices which are just sublime. SO I would definitely say DIY can be just as good and surpass so, so many store bought stuff.

BUT, my favourite juice is still Suicide Bunny Derailed. When I could get it at R235, I jumped. And paying close on R300 for juice now will have to be for something I cant come close to making.

I spent around R1k this month, BUT I have like 15 30ml bottles of juice steeping, loads of flavourt and a bit of PG left. For the next few months I will probably only NEED to buy nic, VG and a flavour or two

So yes, it is 100% worth it, if you take it seriously with researching etc.

Reactions: Agree 2 | Thanks 1


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## Rob Fisher

DIY was an expensive waste of time for me... I tried it twice and I guess I'm not one for meticulous data recording and measuring and patience has never been a virtue for me. The only DIY I do now is maybe add some Menthol Ice to a juice to try and improve it...

Reactions: Useful 1


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## stevie g

today I chucked the following together.

VM4
Custard
strawberry

gave it a stir with my diy magnetic stirrer added some VG and extra Nic.

now I can taste my favourite juices all at one time

Reactions: Like 1


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## Ravynheart

I'm browsing the concentrates on Skyblue and there's so much choice! I'm starting to look forward to giving DIY a try. Consulted my vape budget (read: mom) and she approved of the idea because according to my maths literacy it will be much cheaper and more flexible to my palette of flavour preferences


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## stevie g

good for you bro vaping is so much healthier than stinkies. A word of advice ... Have patience and don't get discouraged it does take time to become halfway decent at diy.

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## Mike

@Sprint

Reactions: Agree 1 | Funny 1


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## Ravynheart

@Sprint @Mike it's fine. I did online gaming and I'm used to being called bro. 
Also, I'm. A nonsmoker that uses nicotine as a replacement therapy for my Adhd (hyperactivity) (yes, it works)

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## zadiac

Ravynheart said:


> I'm browsing the concentrates on Skyblue and there's so much choice! I'm starting to look forward to giving DIY a try. Consulted my vape budget (read: mom) and she approved of the idea because according to my maths literacy it will be much cheaper and more flexible to my palette of flavour preferences



Here's a tip:

Check the recipes you want to try. 2 or 3 at most.

Get the flavors used in those recipes and try them out. If you like what you get, then you can move on to more recipes and flavors. It really is not that expensive if you start small. Good luck.

Reactions: Useful 1


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## Ravynheart

@zadiac I will take that approach. That way I don't end up with 'kid in a candy store' syndrome


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## zadiac

You can also mix your own creation from the flavors that you bought, not just the ones you bought it for. Mix small samples at first before making 30ml or 50ml mixes. Start with 5ml or 10ml mixes first. That way you don't waste valuable flavor concentrates. 

Believe me, I'm no expert mixer, but I've wasted a lot of money and flavors in the beginning until I started using my damn brain and now it's very cheap to mix.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Viper_SA

You can alsomget DIY gear from www.valleyvapour.co.za and www.vapourmountain.co.za' and of course, as you mentioned, www.skyblue.co.za. best of luck

Edit: www.skybluevaping.co.za

Reactions: Winner 1 | Thanks 2


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## Ravynheart

@Viper_SA checking now! Thank you!


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## VapingSquid

Just to correct on the link there 

SkyBlue:

http://www.skybluevaping.co.za/

Reactions: Thanks 1


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## Viper_SA

Ravynheart said:


> @Viper_SA how do you vape 15 to 20 ml a day? I thought 6ml was a lot for one day!



When I first switched to 6mg I had a hard time coping with less nicotine. Building low Ohm builds also eats at the juice, especially when you have a week off and bad weather, lol. Chain vaped like a maniac.


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## Ravynheart

Is Skyblue the only one with an actual kit?


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## Viper_SA

Ravynheart said:


> Is Skyblue the only one with an actual kit?



I believe so at this stage

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## SamuraiTheVapor

I really want to order a DIY Kit, to give it a go.

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## Silver

Ravynheart said:


> Is Skyblue the only one with an actual kit?



Check with @Oupa at Vapour Mountain
A while back they also did kits
I bought two of them. Not in a dedicated box like SkyBlue, but there was a discount because of buying all the things together.


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## Viper_SA

If you want to save some money, you could supplement the KIT with some Dolly Varden VG from SPAR. They are generally the cheapest at around R22 for 250ml. Not a huge saving, but it helps and you could use it to find your sweet spot with PG/VG ratio. I'm down to only 1mg nic, so at the moment I use 0.7ml per 30ml juice, which means my nic lasts forever. Also doing max VG juices now, so the only PG I add are the flavors and nic. My fav recipe so far has been 10% TFA Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, 12% TFA Ripe Strawberry. Very easy to make and tastes awesome. What I have found is that I get a sweeter taste from the Dolly Varden VG than the Skyblue VG. Have not tried the Vapourmountain or Valley Vapour VG yet. I also love kiwi and watermelon flavors.

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## Puff&Pass

People are a lot different some prefer it others don't, personally I have only bought 3 ejuices(Chinese) with my penstick when I started and have been DIY since then. Have thrown a batch or two away, but have tasted pre made juice that I would've thrown away aswell had I bought it without testing. For me it works out a lot cheaper, me and oupoot finished more that 50ml on Sunday of a DIY blend so that worked out fairly cheap about R15 for the bottle. In the end it comes down to wether one likes, blending/measuring the bonsai lab thing(which I do). Same with coil building, There is so many fun things in this industry around the vaping itself.

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## free3dom

Don't underestimate the value of making single flavour juices to supplement your store bought commercial juices. I still buy a lot of juices, but I DIY just as much (or more). For me DIY is just an add-on, not entirely a replacement - but others live off of DIY juice 

Think of DIY as cooking and store bought juice as take out or a going to a restaurant - some people really enjoy cooking (or can't affording eating out) while others can't bear to prepare their own food  

If you play it safe and follow recipes, or make some single/dual flavour juices then DIY will be a whole lot cheaper than buying pre-made juices - and they can be very good too

Reactions: Agree 2 | Winner 1


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## Puff&Pass

free3dom said:


> Don't underestimate the value of making single flavour juices to supplement your store bought commercial juices. I still buy a lot of juices, but I DIY just as much (or more). For me DIY is just an add-on, not entirely a replacement - but others live off of DIY juice
> 
> Think of DIY as cooking and store bought juice as take out or a going to a restaurant - some people really enjoy cooking (or can't affording eating out) while others can't bear to prepare their own food
> 
> If you play it safe and follow recipes, or make some single/dual flavour juices then DIY will be a whole lot cheaper than buying pre-made juices - and they can be very good too


 At the moment I am using a RY4 at 2.5%...ok you need a bit of high wattage...but man...this is an extremely addictive flavor...the caramel is blooming...and at 1mg nic....it is difficult to keep below 20ml's a day..

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## free3dom

Puff&Pass said:


> At the moment I am using a RY4 at 2.5%...ok you need a bit of high wattage...but man...this is an extremely addictive flavor...the caramel is blooming...and at 1mg nic....it is difficult to keep below 20ml's a day..



But luckily because of the low cost you CAN vape 20ml a day and still eat


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## Ravynheart

@free3dom I love how you explain the comparison. 
I like to live by 'keep it simple, stupid' and most of the recipes I plan to use are going to be simple single or dual or a key flavour with a little tweaking

Reactions: Like 1 | Winner 1


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## Puff&Pass

Viper_SA said:


> If you want to save some money, you could supplement the KIT with some Dolly Varden VG from SPAR. They are generally the cheapest at around R22 for 250ml. Not a huge saving, but it helps and you could use it to find your sweet spot with PG/VG ratio. I'm down to only 1mg nic, so at the moment I use 0.7ml per 30ml juice, which means my nic lasts forever. Also doing max VG juices now, so the only PG I add are the flavors and nic. My fav recipe so far has been 10% TFA Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, 12% TFA Ripe Strawberry. Very easy to make and tastes awesome. What I have found is that I get a sweeter taste from the Dolly Varden VG than the Skyblue VG. Have not tried the Vapourmountain or Valley Vapour VG yet. I also love kiwi and watermelon flavors.


 I agree with the vanilla bean Ice cream eh....awesome flavor...I thin my VG blends with a little distilled water, but gotta keep it under 10% as it is a lot thinner than PG and does not carry flavor the way PG does, easy to ruin a juice if overstepped.


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## Puff&Pass

I do believe skyeblue


Ravynheart said:


> Is Skyblue the only one with an actual kit?


 has the best flavours in the country...not to step on anyone's toes...but their DIY flavours are amazing, if you choose the one that fits your tastebud you'll be a happy camper garenteed.

Reactions: Like 1


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## free3dom

Ravynheart said:


> @free3dom I love how you explain the comparison.
> I like to live by 'keep it simple, stupid' and most of the recipes I plan to use are going to be simple single or dual or a key flavour with a little tweaking



Then I say go for a DIY kit - the one from SkyBlue is fantastic and gives you everything you need (including 2 flavours). It costs R450 and while that may seem high it gives you 250 ml of juice at 12mg with 8% flavouring (and 50+ml left over that just needs more flavouring) - that's more than 8 bottles of store bought juice

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## Ravynheart

@free3dom I use 6mg nicotine so that will drop the price further per bottle. That's incredible!

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## free3dom

Ravynheart said:


> @free3dom I use 6mg nicotine so that will drop the price further per bottle. That's incredible!



Score 

That means that with the 36mg nic you buy you only need to use 1/6 in your juice (so 5ml per 30ml of juice) - and since it's the most expensive part of DIY you end up saving a bundle

Reactions: Optimistic 1


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## Viper_SA

@Ravynheart also check out this thread for some recipes and suggestions http://www.ecigssa.co.za/calling-all-diyers.t10799/

Maybe the guys will be more generous sharing their recipes with a gurl

Reactions: Funny 4


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## Ravynheart

@Viper_SA hahahaha! I'll keep that in mind! 
@free3dom I've already got five concentrate flavours in mind for starting off with

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## Warlock

"Maybe the guys will be more generous sharing their recipes with a gurl"

Of course if she collects the recipies personally @Viper_SA

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Warlock

Oops ... My apologies @Ravynheart I thought @Viper_SA was referring to his avatar.

Reactions: Funny 2


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## Warlock

Starter kits also from Blck vapour.
https://blckvapour.co.za/collections/starter-kits


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## MTBManiac

I only vape my own juices...have done since approx 3 months ago...total laid out for DIY goodies R5.5k...but seeing a ROI now. I too find my own mixes WAY better then some out there. Initially when I started mixing, not understanding the "steep" process properly, I thought I had ventured into a "white elephant". As time has passed, and my juices cured properly, I am starting to reap the benefit...the stuff is SO YUMMY!!! Needless to say, if I had to calculate the amount paid out, to what I currently have to vape, versus what I would've paid out on "premium", then it is working out WAY cheaper...
I should also add, I dont mix one flavour juices...hence the capital layout for concentrates...

Reactions: Like 2 | Agree 1 | Can relate 1


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