DIY e-liquid by weight, set up a clean workstation

Most failed bottles have nothing to do with the recipe. They come from a syringe read at an angle, a nicotine shot left open next to the base, or a bottle nobody can identify three weeks later. Before you mix any DIY e-liquid, the bench deserves as much thought as the flavours. Where the bottles go, what gets weighed, what gets written down, and how the nicotine is put away once the session is over.

DIY e-liquid done properly, the four habits that matter

Four habits cover almost everything. Mixing happens on a dedicated, wipeable surface, with nitrile gloves on from the moment a nicotine shot is opened. Every ingredient is measured by weight on a precision scale rather than by volume. The label goes on the bottle before it is filled. And each batch is recorded in a log, with the batch numbers of the ingredients used.

Weighing relies on a single number, density. A millilitre of propylene glycol (PG) does not weigh the same as a millilitre of vegetable glycerine (VG), and a 50/50 base sits in between. Once you know those values, DIY e-liquid can be poured straight into the bottle sitting on the scale, with no syringe-to-syringe transfers.

Setting up the workstation

A home mixing station does not need to be large. What matters is that it looks the same every session and is used for nothing else while you mix. Three elements give it its shape.

A clear, wipeable surface

A plastic tray or a sheet of glass marks out the working area and catches drips, with a sheet of kitchen roll that is replaced every session. Mugs, plates and phones stay off the tray, so that no drop of nicotine shot ends up on something you handle every day.

The measuring kit

The centrepiece is a precision scale reading to 0.01 g or 0.1 g. Check its maximum capacity. A 100 ml bottle filled with 50/50 base holds roughly 115 g of liquid on its own, before the weight of the bottle. Around the scale, keep graduated syringes for concentrates, clean bottles with caps, blank labels and a permanent marker.

What protects your hands and the bench

Gloves go on before the shot is opened and come off only once it has been capped and put away. Suppliers say so themselves, DarkStar advising buyers of its 18 mg shots to avoid contact with skin and eyes and to wear gloves and eyewear. Any splash is rinsed off straight away with soap and water. A small sealed bag takes used gloves and soiled paper, so nothing is left lying around after the session.

Why weighing beats measuring by volume

Syringes are the usual DIY measuring tool, and they are fine for small amounts of concentrate. On base and shots, though, the errors add up. Thick VG clings to the barrel and stays behind. Air bubbles throw off the reading. Every transfer loses a little liquid.

A scale removes those steps. The finished bottle sits on the platform, the scale is zeroed, and each ingredient goes in until the target weight is reached. At 0.1 g resolution you are working to less than 0.1 ml for liquids denser than water, a level of detail no 50 ml syringe can match.

Densities of PG, VG and a nicotine shot

To mix DIY e-liquid by weight, each volume is converted by multiplying the millilitres by the density of the ingredient. PubChem, the chemistry database run by the US National Library of Medicine, lists densities at 20 °C of 1.036 g/cm³ for propylene glycol, 1.261 g/cm³ for glycerol and 1.009 g/cm³ for nicotine.

Ingredient	Density at 20 °C	Weight of 10 ml
Pure PG	1.036 g/ml	10.4 g
Pure VG	1.261 g/ml	12.6 g
50/50 base	about 1.15 g/ml	11.5 g
30/70 base	about 1.19 g/ml	11.9 g
50/50 nicotine shot, 18 or 20 mg/ml	about 1.15 g/ml	11.5 g

Base densities are weighted averages of the two reference values, which is accurate enough at bottle scale. At 18 or 20 mg/ml, nicotine takes up only about 2 % of a shot’s volume, so a 50/50 shot weighs the same as a 50/50 base.

Concentrate density depends on the formula and is not always printed. Measure it once by pouring 5 ml from a syringe into a zeroed bottle and dividing the reading by five. The figure goes into your log.

Mixing DIY e-liquid by weight, a worked example

Take a 50 ml batch with 10 % concentrate, a 50/50 base and one 10 ml nicotine shot. UK shots are sold at up to 20 mg/ml, the ceiling set by the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016, and many are 18 mg/ml, so read the label first. The strength always follows the same formula, shot strength multiplied by shot volume, divided by the final volume.

With a 20 mg/ml shot, 20 × 10 ÷ 50 gives 4 mg/ml. With an 18 mg/ml shot, 18 × 10 ÷ 50 gives 3.6 mg/ml.

The concentrate is 10 % of 50 ml, so 5 ml, and the base makes up the rest, 50 − 10 − 5 = 35 ml. By weight, that is 11.5 g of shot (10 × 1.15) and 40.25 g of base (35 × 1.15). The same calculation for a salt shot is set out in our guide to nic salt shots in a DIY recipe.

The session then runs in this order:

Put the empty, already labelled bottle on the scale and zero it.
Pour 11.5 g of nicotine shot, cap it, put it away at once, then zero again.
Add the 5 ml of concentrate by syringe, or its weight if you have logged its density, then zero again.
Top up with 40.25 g of base, which reads 40.3 g on a 0.1 g scale.
Cap, shake for a good minute and log the weights you actually poured.

Starting with the shot is deliberate. The nicotine is handled once, into an empty bottle, and leaves the bench before any other ingredient is opened.

Labelling and logging every batch

A label applied before filling prevents the silliest DIY mistake, two identical bottles and no idea which is which. At the very least it carries the recipe name, the final nicotine strength, the ratio, the mixing date and the words “contains nicotine”.

The log goes further. It records the planned recipe, the weights actually poured, the batch numbers of the base, shot and concentrate, and the date each ingredient bottle was opened. When a mix disappoints, that trail lets you isolate the ingredient at fault instead of binning everything.

Putting the nicotine and the bench away

The session does not end when the bottle is capped. Shots go back into their original packaging, caps screwed down, inside a closed box stored high up or locked away, apart from food and drink, out of light and heat. UK packs carry the warning “This product contains nicotine which is a highly addictive substance”, and that is how they should be treated.

Leftover shot is never decanted into an unlabelled container, let alone a food or drink container. Concentrate syringes are rinsed, the tray is wiped, and paper and gloves go into the sealed bag. The bench ends up exactly as it was before you started.

FAQ

A few questions come up whenever someone sets up a first mixing station. Here are the short answers.

Can I make DIY e-liquid without nicotine?

Yes. The calculation simply loses its shot line. For 50 ml at 10 % concentrate, the base rises to 45 ml, which means 51.75 g of 50/50 base on the scale.

Do I need gloves for a nicotine-free mix?

They are not essential, but keeping them on keeps the habit alive. Concentrates stain and leave a stubborn smell on your fingers, and the glove reflex is already in place on the day a shot joins the recipe.

Will kitchen scales do?

Scales that read to the gram are too coarse. On 5 ml of concentrate, which weighs about 5 g, a one gram error is already 20 %. A resolution of 0.1 g is the minimum worth buying.

Can a failed mix be rescued?

Often, as long as you know exactly what went into it. An overpowering flavour is diluted with base, plus some shot if you want to keep the nicotine strength, after reworking the maths on the new total volume. That is where the log and the recorded weights earn their keep.

Can I mix several bottles in one session?

Yes, provided you handle them one at a time. Each bottle is labelled before filling, each ingredient is capped between batches, and the shot goes back in its box as soon as the last weighing that needs it is done.

DIY e-liquid to the nearest gram, the routine to keep

A dedicated surface, gloves at the right moment, a scale, labels applied before filling and a log kept up to date. None of it is exciting, and that is precisely why the results repeat. Mixed this way, DIY e-liquid becomes a calm routine in which every bottle can be traced, repeated or corrected.

From the same recipe book

Editorial guide for adult readers only. Vaping products usually contain nicotine, which is addictive, and nicotine vaping products are not for sale to anyone under 18 in the UK. This guide describes a mixing method and is not a buying recommendation.