Pinterest and YouTube have proven that you can make or do just about anything yourself, including DIY vape juice. It sounds tempting, especially since the ingredients cost just pennies per dollar.
But do the savings really justify the outcome?
Those who have tried it will be the first to admit their mistake. (And if they don’t, they’re lying)!
Homemade vape juice is one DIY tutorial you should skip and let the pros handle it. Here’s why:
DIY Vape Juice Usually Has No Flavor
Have you ever tried homemade vape juice? If not, you might want to seek out some stuff someone else has made before you attempt it on your own.
In most cases, DIY vape liquid made by beginners lacks flavor and quality. There are a few malfunctions that can cause this.
Overflavoring is one of the most common rookie mistakes. More isn’t necessarily better or stronger. Olfactory fatigue is a thing, and too much flavor can cause it to set in.
Another pitfall is trying to reinvent the wheel — or at least make the wheel more complicated. You don’t need a bunch of different flavors or complicated recipes to make a good vape juice. Sometimes, the simple ones will give you the most success.
Also, if you’re testing a variety of potent flavors at once, you might be suffering from Vapor’s Tongue. This happens when you get so used to smelling certain smells that they become less noticeable.
The best remedy for Vapor’s Tongue is to take a break from vaping, which will be especially helpful while you’re waiting for your batch to steep.
It Takes Longer Than You Think
How long do you think it takes to make a batch of e-juice you’ll actually want to vape? A few minutes? A few hours?
Once you mix a batch, you’ll likely make the mistake of tasting it right away to see how you did.
Our advice? Don’t!
Once you’re done mixing and calculating, you still don’t have a final product.
If you want to have any flavor, your e-liquid will need to steep. This is one of the main reasons why so many homemade vape juices fail. They aren’t given enough time to let the flavors settle.
Steeping lets the compounds in the concentrates to fully distribute themselves throughout the vegetable glycerin. Commercial vape juice has the luxury of resting in warehouses or on retail shelves long enough for this process to occur.
It’s best to let the juice rest for about a week. However, most DIY vape juice makers don’t want to wait that long, which is why the taste and quality can suffer.
There’s a LOT of Trial and Error Required
Making your own vape juice takes a lot of work and trial and error. Where baking is an art, mixing vape juice is more of a science. It requires careful measuring, calculations, and waiting to get it just right.
Most folks don’t want to go through all this trouble, and it’s easy to see why.
For starters, if you’re using nicotine, you’ll need to account for nicotine levels and your liquid base to see how much of each ingredient you should use. These must also be considered in conjunction with your desired flavor.
If you manage to wait the recommended week before trying your vape liquid, this means it will be a full week before you’ll know how you did.
You might discover you need to adjust your calculations, which means you’ll be waiting yet another week to try your new batch.
You’re not going to knock it out of the park every time. That’s part of the joy of making things yourself. It takes a diligent, ongoing effort to perfect your vape juice craft, so don’t expect any miracles on your first go.
You Likely Won’t Save Money
On the contrary, it could end up costing you more than if you were to order the professionally made stuff. There is a myriad of costs involved in making your own vape juice that most people don’t realize until they’re paying for them.
Invest in Supplies
For starters, you’ll need to stock up on ingredients. The basics include vegetable glycerin, propylene glycol, and whatever you want to use to flavor your e-liquid. Nicotine is optional.
In addition, you’ll need some supplies to create your concoction. Blunt tip syringes in varying sizes are a must. You’ll be measuring out micro sizes of liquids and will benefit from precise measuring devices.
You’ll also need a stock of dropper bottles to store your batches. Plus, you’ll need small funnels to reduce spillage when pouring into the bottles. Graduated cylinders and nitrile gloves will also land on your shopping list.
By the time you buy all the supplies and ingredients, your space may resemble some type of drug den. Visitors may have questions. And it will take some time to see any ROI from your investment.
Invest Your Time
Some folks have more time than money. If you’re one of those people, then investing your time isn’t such a bad trade-off.
But the fact remains that perfecting your homemade vape juice blend takes time — a lot of time.
In fact, you likely won’t get it right on your first attempt. As we mentioned earlier, it takes a lot of trial and error to craft your recipe.
What About Wasted Product?
So what happens when you make a batch of e-liquid that tastes so horrible there’s no chance you’ll ever use it?
Most likely, you either toss it or try to give it away.
Either way, you won’t be getting your money back.
The Best Bang for Your Buck
DIY vape juice isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s time-consuming, complicated, and sometimes downright expensive.
Save yourself a headache and find a reputable source that’s taken all the guesswork out of e-juice for you. This way, you can spend less on failed DIY projects and more on higher quality and better tasting e-juice.
Check out our e-liquid reviews to find your favorite flavors and deals to fit your budget.