e-Liquid Vape Juice: The Ultimate Guide
Prior to vaping devices, whoever wanted to smoke had to burn rolled up tobacco and inhale the smoke. The invention of vaporization brought along a safer alternative to this traditional method. It allowed users to inhale vaporized liquids for the same purposes. What we are going to concentrate in this article are e-Liquids that you can find in your electronic cigarette. Do you know what ingredients are in your e-liquid? Do you know all about the care and application of e-liquids? If you’re in the dark about some or all aspects of vape juices that go into your vaporizer, continue reading to learn more.
What is e-Juice or e-Liquid?
If you’ve ever vaped or have even heard about vaping, you have most likely come across the terms e-juice or e-liquid. But what is e-liquid? E-Liquid, which is also called e-Juice or vape juice is the liquid that is put into your vape tank. Although e-Juice is a broad term that is used to describe all of the liquids that go into vaporizer devices, it varies in terms of flavoring, consistency, nicotine levels, colors, and viscosity. However, if you hear the term e-liquid, you know that someone is talking about the liquid used for vaping.
What's in Vape Juice?
Many people often ask "What's inside of these juices?" E-Liquids are made out of several ingredients that you have most likely heard of. Some are even household items. Let’s break them down and go through them separately.
PG or Propylene Glycol
Propylene glycol (PG), is a liquid that is often used as a food additive as well as cosmetic or hygiene products. It has no color or odor and is generally described as a substance that has properties similar to syrup but with a more watery consistency. Due to its extremely low toxicity levels and its ability to mix well with other substances, propylene glycol is one of the two main substances used in the production of e-liquids.
VG or Vegetable Glycerin
Vegetable glycerin (VG) is a sweet, colorless, odorless liquid that is much more viscous than propylene glycol. Vegetable glycerin is produced through using a process known as hydrolysis to extract the liquid from vegetable fats such as palm oil or coconut oil. VG is typically used in the food and pharmaceutical industries and is perfect for vaping due to its consistency and its already sweet flavoring.
Flavoring
Speaking of flavoring, this is yet another ingredient that will give you the taste and smell you experience when you are vaporize your e-Juice. Flavor concentrates, which are food grade flavorings are often used to bring sweetness and flavors to a variety of different food products.
They are added to the VG and/or PG in your product to give it the desired flavor produced by the manufacturer. These flavorings are water soluble and a little bit of water is often added to the overall e-liquid mix.
Nicotine
Once you have combined the main ingredients with the food grade flavoring, some e-liquid manufacturers will add nicotine to the mix. Not all brand will do it it's done in order to provide a unique smoking experience for some or to allow others to smoke something other than cigarettes. This is why e-Cigs have been touted as a great smoking cessation.
Nicotine levels will vary or may be nonexistent in different e-Cig juices but it is important to pay attention to this depending on your own nicotine needs.If you smoke cigarettes, find a nicotine strength that matches your smoking profile. Start weaning off the nicotine levels and start decreasing it.
Nicotine Strength
Nicotine in e-liquids is a matter of choice. If you feel as though you will need it, there are plenty of e-liquids with lower levels of nicotine to choose from. If you are trying to stop smoking, there are also several e-liquids with much higher nicotine levels to choose from. If you don’t want any nicotine at all, there are also quite a few choices that have no nicotine levels.
If you are looking for some level of nicotine, it’s important to know how nicotine levels are measured and displayed on your e-liquid package. You will often see the amount measured in terms of milligrams per milliliter. You will often only see the milligram part mentioned on the packaging. For further reference on how each amount of nicotine will affect you and what overall vaping experience it will provide, take a look at the short description of each of the levels below.
0mg
As you can tell by the amount of milligrams shown above, an e-liquid that shows 0mg on its packaging has absolutely no nicotine in the mixture. If you are just beginning to vape and have had no prior smoking experience non-nicotine will be best for you. These e-liquids will also prevent you from experiencing harsh throat hits since they are lacking nicotine, which is acidic and hurts the throat in high concentrations. These will definitely yield the best flavor.
3mg/mL or 0.3% = Super Low
If you’re looking to stay on the extremely low end of the nicotine spectrum, you are probably going to want to start out with an e-liquid that only has about 3 milligrams per milliliter. This is the perfect amount for those who are looking for a little something extra in their e-liquid or for those who are occasional smokers and are looking to lower their dosage. At this stage, it is important to note that nicotine is a highly addictive substance. Only those who have had nicotine in the past should start smoking e-liquids with nicotine, even at low levels such as these.
6mg/mL or 0.6% = Low
For those who found 3 milligrams too light for their needs, the next step would be to go for an e-liquid that contains around 6mg per mL. This is actually the level of nicotine that is highly recommended for individuals who are currently smoking light amounts of cigarettes. It helps with higher amount of nicotine that can then be used to help you gradually slow down your nicotine consumption.
12mg/mL or 1.2% = Low to Medium
The 12 milligram point is when you finally start transitioning from low levels of nicotine to more moderate levels. If you’re more of a heavier smoker or generally smoke a pack a day, you may want to test out e-liquids that have approximately 12 milligrams of nicotine per milliliter. At this point, you should begin experiencing a little bit of a kick to your e-liquid and a little more of the nicotine flavor.
18-24 mg/mL or 1.8% – 2.4% = Medium to High
E-liquids that contain 18mg per mL to 24mg per mg are on the higher end of the spectrum and are recommended for heavy smokers. For some, this nicotine level may be a little harsher or provide a type of head rush that is experienced when smoking high-nicotine cigarettes. For heavy smokers though, this level of nicotine may not provide the exact experience that one is looking for.
36 mg/mL or 3.6% and Above = Super High
Anything that is 36 milligrams per milliliter is very high on the nicotine spectrum and is recommended for very heavy smokers. Hits of these e-liquids with these high nicotine levels will most certainly be harsher on the throat. However, much higher levels of nicotine and much smoother vape hits can be achieved if you use an e-liquid that utilizes nicotine salts instead of freebase nicotine. Keep this in mind for all levels of nicotine within e-liquids.
PG vs. VG
Not all e-Juices are made with the same amount of VG or PG. It is good to check out the ratio before you buy it, especially if you have a preference. Some vape juices are split 50/50 which is the perfect balance.
If you are looking for more vapor and less throat hit, primary vegetable glycerin ratios can provide this. They are also a bit more thicker and sweeter than flavors with more PG.
Propylene glycol gives you better throat hit and more flavors. They have a thinner consistency and makes it easy to pour it in the atomizer.
Lemon Twist brand usually comes in 70/30 with more VG. Pancake House by GOST Vapor is generally 80/20 with more VG.
FAQ
A lot of the information above has probably tackled some of your biggest questions regarding e-liquids an ingredients that go into their production. There are some other questions that are commonly asked in regards to these vaporizer juices. Let’s take a look at some of the most common ones.
Can Vape Juice Expire?
Vape juice will eventually expire. However, it takes an extremely long time for it to expire and “go bad”. In fact, that would take about two years to actually happen due to the fact that the ingredients used to make e-liquids are known to last for long periods of time. Keep it in a cool, dark environment and use your vape juice regularly.
What Happens If I Accidentally Swallow E-Juice?
It truly depends on the amount of e-juice that you swallow and the amount of nicotine that is contained in the e-juice that you swallowed. Usually, if you only swallow a little bit of e-juice containing absolutely no nicotine or extremely low levels of nicotine, you should be fine overall. If you swallow large amounts of e-juice, however, you may end up with nicotine poisoning. It’s important to call poison control if you end up swallowing large amounts of e-juice that contains high levels of nicotine.
How Should I Store It?
As we briefly touched upon in the first section, you are going to want to store your e-juice in a cool, dark location. E-juices are not fond of sunlight and heat. You are going to want to make sure that your e-juices stay cool and cold. If you must keep them out in the light, attempt to place them in dark, tinted bottle. This will allow them to be used for a longer time. However, storage shouldn’t be too much of an issue unless you have a surplus of e-juices and will need a long time to get through all of them.
E-juices are used by almost everyone who owns an electronic cigarette but very few actually have extensive knowledge about how e-juices are made and how their production will affect your overall vaping experience. If you’ve been looking to know more about e-juices in general, this article should help you understand what they are, how they’re made, how to figure out which type of e-juice you will need, and how to take care of your e-liquids so that they will continue to remain usable for years to come.