Electronic cigarettes

Liquids

DIY

E-juice or vapor juice is made up of two main ingredients, with other additives for flavors. Propylene Glycol (PG) and Vegetable Glycerin (VG).

PG is the non-medical suspension agent used in inhalers, and it’s also used as a sanitizing agent in hospitals. PG is a very thin liquid with a low viscosity. It’s an organic compound that’s colorless, almost completely tasteless, used as a preservative, and can be found in a lot of FDA approved oral and topical medications. And don’ t worry, there’s no evidence of PG being carcinogenic, so you can feel safe vaping it.

VG is a pretty thick liquid with a high viscosity. It’s an organic compound commonly used in foods (as a sweetening agent), medications, soaps, and cosmetic products. If you’ve washed your hands with soap and/or ate any food food containing corn syrup, you’ve already had some interactions with VG.

Now that I know what PG and VG are, what PG VG ratio should I choose?

Typically most juices are 50/50, but your choice depends on what you’ll be using to vape your e cig juice with and your personal preferences. PG and VG have a few different vaping properties that will weigh into your decision. Let’s explore these factors.

Different E Cig Setup Requirements

Clearomizers, Dripping Atomizers, and RDAs are pretty flexible and will probably work with any PG VG ratio that you choose. There aren’t any limitations, so your choice will boil down to personal preference.

Cartomizers and Carto Tanks are a bit more finicky and typically do better with either 100% PG e juice or a PG VG blend. Cartomizers have a thick poly-fill that surrounds the heating element. The poly-fill needs to absorb the e juice in order to work properly. If you’re using a tank, the e juice also needs to be able to be absorbed through the holes punched into the cartomizer.

With a pre-punched carto, I’ve found from personal experience, that a 100% PG e cig juice to a 50/50 PG VG ratio works best. However, if you’re willing to spend a little extra time priming and/or slotting your cartomizers, you can use up to a 100% VG ratio as well; it just requires a little bit of extra work.

Personal Preference Factors

So now that you know about any e cig device limitations, let’s look into the other factors that will weigh into your decision. Are you more interested in flavor or vapor production? Are you looking for a stronger or smoother throat hit? How hot do you like to vape? Do you have any PG sensitivities?

Vapor and Flavor

100% VG will give you those big sexy fluffy clouds of vapor, but might mute the flavor, making it less intense for your taste-buds. 100% PG concentration will give you better flavor, but the clouds will be less voluptuous. If you’re looking for a balance between the two, you’ll probably want a mixture of both. Remember, more PG=more flavor, and more VG=bigger clouds.

Throat-Hit

Heres what you need to know m8: PG = flavor and throat hit VG = MAD CLOUDS

If you’re missing that punch to the back of your throat that cigarettes used to give you, you might want to get a higher PG concentration since VG tends to vape smooth. PG helps deliver that oh so familiar throat-hit and might help stave off those pesky cigarette cravings. However, if you’re looking for a ride smoother, you’ll probably want a higher ratio of VG. If you’re looking for a balance between the two, choose a mixture of both. Just remember, more PG = more throat hit, and more VG = less throat hit.

Turning up the Heat

VG has a higher resistance to heat, so you can really crank it up! PG is a bit more sensitive to heat, so the taste of higher PG based liquids might taste burned if you’re vaping at higher volts/watts.

Allergies and Sensitivities

A small segment of the vaping population are allergic and/or have a sensitivity to PG. It’s common to have a bit of a sore throat and cough a little when you first start vaping, but if your symptoms persist and are more severe (sore or swollen mouth, gums, and/or back of throat), you might want to consider moving to a 100% VG e juice. If you need to move to a 100% VG e juice, but your set up requires thinner e juice, you can always ask your favorite e juice vendor to cut the VG with some distilled water (velvet cloud vapors make breddy guud 100% VG juice).

E Juice Longevity

100% VG e juices might not last as long as 100% PG e juices, or e juices containing some PG. Remember how we mentioned PG is a sanitizing agent? Since PG is a preservative, it helps to keep contaminants from festering in your e juices. VG, while great for people who want more vapor, like higher vaping temperature, and for people with a PG sensitivity, does not have these same anti bacterial properties. So if possible, even if it’s only 5-10%, use some PG in your liquids to lengthen their shelf-life. If you’re allergic, or flat out refuse, no worries! If you are going to sperg and you NEED 100 VG,keep it in the refrigerator to keep them fresh, and throw them out if they start to taste funky.

Also, some people like to do what is called "steeping." this is basically letting the juice sit for a while to let the mixture of VG, PG, and ingredients mix fully. Most people recommend a week, but you can speed up this process by placing the juice bottle in hot water. Leaving the cap off the bottle has also been mentioned to help things move sanic fast.

Adding it all Up

Propylene Glycol and Vegetable Glycerin are both perfectly safe substances that are used everyday! Now that you know the differences between PG and VG, all you have to do is decide what you want out of your vaping experience. Figure out the limitations (if any) of your device. Decide if you want more flavor (more PG) or more vapor (VG). If you want to feel the vapor hit the back of your throat like a ton of bricks, use more PG. If you want a smoother experience, use more VG. If you like to vape at higher volts/watts, use more VG. If you vape at lower temperatures, use more PG. And finally, if your allergic, or sensitive, to PG, do yourself a favor and use either 100% VG, or use VG that’s been cut with some distilled water.