Eliquid

Liquid is used for refilling or dripping (putting a couple of drops directly into the atomiser and using a mouthpiece rather than cartridge with filler). Liquid with nicotine strength of over 36mg (3.6%) can be bought in some places but it is intended for dilution in DIY mixing rather than for direct use at that strength. Some people with high tolerance do vape strengths higher than 24mg but care is advised, there have been some reports of adverse reactions.

The liquid is based on propylene glycol, polyethylene glycol and/or glycerine which make thicker vapour than steam - more like smoke. Also in the liquid are usually flavourings and nicotine, although they're not strictly necessary to make vapour.

Basic DIY liquid

You don't have to rely on commercial supplies (except usually for nicotine) if you prefer to make your own liquid. Ingredients are fairly easy to find and mix according to taste.

To make vapour, you need some glycerine (vegetable glycerine/VG), propylene glycol (PG) or polyethylene glycol (PEG). Make sure you use food grade, BP or USP grade products - industrial grades have impurities.

For flavour most people use water soluble food flavourings. Some flavours are very concentrated so there's no way to give a general measurement of how much to use. Watch out for diacetyl (that's a butter flavouring that can cause lung disease when inhaled) plus sugars, oils and colourings - they might harm you and/or your hardware.

If you want nicotine in your mix the easiest thing to do is buy very high nic commercial eliquid and put some of that in. 18mg per ml strength is considered high, if you wanted that level you'd have to dilute 36mg liquid by half. Extracting your own nicotine from tobacco is a bit dodgy so if you decide you're going to do that please be careful.

EXAMPLE - to make 10ml of 18mg nic eliquid:

Adjust quantities to suit your ingredients and required strength.

To make a 12mg nic strength from 36mg commercial liquid you need to use a third in your mix.

Click HERE for a handy recipe calculator.

Glycerine is thick and gloopy, if you need to thin your mix to make it wick better from cartridges you can use distilled water or alcohol, vodka works well. Be careful not to dilute too much or you won't get good vapour.

To make menthol flavour some people use menthol crystals. Put a tiny amount (you can crush the crystals to make them smaller) in your pvliquid and let it dissolve (heating gently can help speed things up if you're in a hurry). Mix a small amount at first to get an idea of how potent it is.