Essentials of a DIY E Liquid Starter Kit?
I wouldn't buy a starter kit tbh. Most assume that you will be mixing by volume and thus include syringes, beakers and suchlike. For me, the essentials are:
1) A decent scale. You don't have to go overboard, the R140 one from Blck will do. Although I'd get the R240 one if you have the budget. Those little MH pocket scales can be a tad temperamental in my experience.
2) Some amber glass mixing bottles, 50ml is a good size. If you only want a few juices and know what your ADVs are, maybe 100ml.
3) Some 30ml or 50ml HDPE or PET or Gorilla dropper bottles for dispensing, ideally the same number of droppers as you have amber glass. If budget is a problem, you can even mix directly into the dropper bottles and bypass the glass.
4) Two of the black witch's hat nozzles which you attach to your PG and VG bottles, they make dispensing PG and VG a breeze.
5) A 100ml PET or HDPE dropper for your nic, which is usually supplied in a glass screw cap bottle with no dropper mechanism. Decant your nic into the dropper et voila, you have an extra 100ml glass bottle for mixing.
6) A bottle each of VG and PG. If you mix at 70/30 and use PG nic, get around 4x as much VG as a general guide. So 500ml PG and 2l VG, for eg.
7) Flavours. I would buy 10ml bottles until you've identified the flavours that are in your ADVs. If you use a lot of a flavour, you can then go for 20ml or 30ml or even bigger bottles. I would also look for concentrates in HDPE or PET dropper bottles. Some vendors supply in glass and the inbuilt droppers will drive you insane, they are so slow. If you get concentrates in those bottles, I'd buy 10ml HDPE droppers, decant from the glass into the plastic, and then keep the 10ml glass bottle for single-flavour testers.
With that, you're good to go. You don't need pipettes, syringes, beakers. Some might advise to get gloves and goggles but I never use them. I like living on the edge.
1) A decent scale. You don't have to go overboard, the R140 one from Blck will do. Although I'd get the R240 one if you have the budget. Those little MH pocket scales can be a tad temperamental in my experience.
2) Some amber glass mixing bottles, 50ml is a good size. If you only want a few juices and know what your ADVs are, maybe 100ml.
3) Some 30ml or 50ml HDPE or PET or Gorilla dropper bottles for dispensing, ideally the same number of droppers as you have amber glass. If budget is a problem, you can even mix directly into the dropper bottles and bypass the glass.
4) Two of the black witch's hat nozzles which you attach to your PG and VG bottles, they make dispensing PG and VG a breeze.
5) A 100ml PET or HDPE dropper for your nic, which is usually supplied in a glass screw cap bottle with no dropper mechanism. Decant your nic into the dropper et voila, you have an extra 100ml glass bottle for mixing.
6) A bottle each of VG and PG. If you mix at 70/30 and use PG nic, get around 4x as much VG as a general guide. So 500ml PG and 2l VG, for eg.
7) Flavours. I would buy 10ml bottles until you've identified the flavours that are in your ADVs. If you use a lot of a flavour, you can then go for 20ml or 30ml or even bigger bottles. I would also look for concentrates in HDPE or PET dropper bottles. Some vendors supply in glass and the inbuilt droppers will drive you insane, they are so slow. If you get concentrates in those bottles, I'd buy 10ml HDPE droppers, decant from the glass into the plastic, and then keep the 10ml glass bottle for single-flavour testers.
With that, you're good to go. You don't need pipettes, syringes, beakers. Some might advise to get gloves and goggles but I never use them. I like living on the edge.
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Oh, I forgot one item: the smallest funnel you can find. Blck stock them but sell out almost as soon as they get them. If you want to decant from a glass steeping bottle into a plastic dropper bottle, it is essential. I managed to find one as part of a set of three kitchen funnels. It doesn't fit into the neck of my plastic bottles but fits flush with the top so it's just about OK. It is one of the most used mixing tools ever, yet one of the hardest to source, I guess because you only ever need one.
By the way, I meant to ask earlier - where/how do you store your HDPE nic bottles?I wouldn't buy a starter kit tbh. Most assume that you will be mixing by volume and thus include syringes, beakers and suchlike. For me, the essentials are:
1) A decent scale. You don't have to go overboard, the R140 one from Blck will do. Although I'd get the R240 one if you have the budget. Those little MH pocket scales can be a tad temperamental in my experience.
2) Some amber glass mixing bottles, 50ml is a good size. If you only want a few juices and know what your ADVs are, maybe 100ml.
3) Some 30ml or 50ml HDPE or PET or Gorilla dropper bottles for dispensing, ideally the same number of droppers as you have amber glass. If budget is a problem, you can even mix directly into the dropper bottles and bypass the glass.
4) Two of the black witch's hat nozzles which you attach to your PG and VG bottles, they make dispensing PG and VG a breeze.
5) A 100ml PET or HDPE dropper for your nic, which is usually supplied in a glass screw cap bottle with no dropper mechanism. Decant your nic into the dropper et voila, you have an extra 100ml glass bottle for mixing.
6) A bottle each of VG and PG. If you mix at 70/30 and use PG nic, get around 4x as much VG as a general guide. So 500ml PG and 2l VG, for eg.
7) Flavours. I would buy 10ml bottles until you've identified the flavours that are in your ADVs. If you use a lot of a flavour, you can then go for 20ml or 30ml or even bigger bottles. I would also look for concentrates in HDPE or PET dropper bottles. Some vendors supply in glass and the inbuilt droppers will drive you insane, they are so slow. If you get concentrates in those bottles, I'd buy 10ml HDPE droppers, decant from the glass into the plastic, and then keep the 10ml glass bottle for single-flavour testers.
With that, you're good to go. You don't need pipettes, syringes, beakers. Some might advise to get gloves and goggles but I never use them. I like living on the edge.
Just in the fridge. I have a bar fridge that is set pretty cold and keeps its temp as I don't use it much. I initially decanted into several smaller HDPE bottles to reduce oxidisation but I reckon I use my nic fast enough to avoid any problems.
And you don't find that the nicotine separates with more "pure" nicotine clinging inside the dropper tip as the VG starts to drip/slide down over time? I might do the same as you, then.
I use PG nic, haven't noticed any separation. I also find that only a mild shake is required before mixing. I think I've been exceptionally lucky with nic. I have used most of them, from the most expensive to the cheapest, and have never experienced harshness, throat hit, discolouration, strange odours. Touch wood that it continues that way.
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