Storing Base Liquids ? PG/VG etc

[Edna]

Hiya All,

Noob questions   I'm excited though....DYI goodness (hopefully)

I was wondering how and where you store your base liquids  (PG/VG/nic) and flavorings?

Do you mix the ratio you want like 70vg/30pg and set it in the freezer like that and add whatever as you make various flavors or keep the all separate and mix as you go?

My DYI supplies are coming in this week and I was thinking I'd mix some base and then freeze the rest. I have my nicotine already in the freezer in it's original bottle, thinking I can mix it in as needed and as I lower down from a 6mg to a 4 then eventually a 3 then ZERO (I hope sooner than later)

Oh, should I also put everything in glass mason jars or keep it in the plastic bottles? I'm not fond of glass in the freezer but it is an investment that I don't want to have to repeat because gravity, being a klutz, or Murphy gets me ...darn him.... however if glass is better I'll put a mattress under the door every time I open it or maybe a safety net

Thanks,

Edna

[Earthling789]

The best places to keep your PG, VG, Nicotine base, and flavorings is in the freezer, or at the very least, in the fridge.  It is best to keep bottles as full as possible to prevent Oxygen degradation from occurring.  Plastic bottles are okay, but I would invest in a few dozen amber or blue Boston Round bottles of varying sizes... 8oz down to 1oz, with cone-caps... as well as 1/2oz, 1oz, 2oz, and 4oz amber or blue Boston round bottles with dropper-caps for holding your mixed flavors.  Plastic are fine, but glass is reusable .  I would avoid Mason jars or anything large/fragile.  Those Boston Round bottles are pretty tough and really hard to break!

Here is what I do...  I buy my Nicotine base in liter containers (when I can), and I transfer that directly into 2oz or 4oz amber glass Boston Round bottles (with cone-caps, not dropper caps).  I fill them near to the brim, so the cone-cap can seal them tight without any excess air.  Be careful when you do this, and use surgical gloves and work on a surface that can be cleaned easily just in case you spill anything.

I do the same thing with my PG/VG, but I put those into 8oz bottles... because I use more of those, and Oxygen doesn't affect them nearly as much, so the bottles I'm currently working from stay on my shelf at room temp... nothing worse than trying to syringe-up frozen VG... it's like molasses in January, lol.

Flavorings are also moved to glass Boston Round bottles, if they aren't already bought that way.  I don't worry about moving those to smaller bottles... I just work from the 4oz bottles I buy them in, and they also stay in the freezer (for the ones I use less frequently), or the fridge (for my go-to flavors).  As long as they are kept out of sunlight, and in a cool place, they will be fine for a couple of years, though.  My go-to flavors typically get used in a few months, so I've never really worried about them going bad before I use them, and sometimes just leave those bottles on the shelf in my office... which is also where I do most of my mixing... because I have the space there, and it's quiet, cool, good lighting, and nobody bothers me there.  I also have a bathroom 5' away, so I can quickly wash/shower away any catastrophic spills...

Another thing... buy some stick-on labels... like the Avery-style in 1"x2" or 2"x3" so you can label the bottles with what is in them, as well as a date it was bottled.  A date may seem odd, but you'd be amazed how handy it is to know which bottle has been neglected, so you can keep your stock rotated and fresh!  The Avery labels can also be fed through a printer, so you can make labels more legible, too.  And, on glass, the labels can be easily removed during cleaning of the bottle for re-use.

[Edna]

Holy Smoke @Earthling789 is your hand tired...WOW thank you.

I already have some amber/blue jars with droppers (1oz) and some larger (4oz) with black caps that I was going to use. But I bought a gallon of VG and quart of PG so I figured I'd used the mason jars with my vacuum sealer to get the air out of them. I also only got 250 ml of nicotine since I'm trying to phase it out. I'm not sure what kind of jars the flavors will come in I ordered from the flavor apprentice.

I have labels galore since I can up stuff from my garden on a regular basis so that's easy. I rotate my food so rotating my juice will be like second nature

So you pre-mix your pg/vg/nic and put in smaller bottles those go in the freezer and your made juices go in fridge.

That's pretty much what I planned on doing but I just realized I have to get canning up some meats to make room for everything in my freezer... that or throw a heck of a B-B-Q....

Thanks for the ideas! You're awesome for sharing your wisdom! I'm grateful!

Edna 

Edited July 14, 2016 by Edna
Typo :( or two

[Earthling789]

13 minutes ago, Edna said:

Holy Smoke @Earthling789 is your hand tired...WOW thank you.

Nah, I don't get tired typing about what I love

The PG and VG won't need to be placed into glass or smaller bottles, unless you just want to make them easier to store.  I frequently store my PG and VG in the gallon or liter bottles they came in, and only separate them into smaller bottles once I open the seal on a gallon jug... not to mention, the mini-fridge I use in my office won't accommodate too many gallon jugs   The gallons tend to go into the deep-freeze!

I also do not pre-mix anything... it makes it much harder to factor and figure your mixes if you're pre-mixing PG/VG/Nicotine, because you're limiting yourself on the amount of flavorings you can use to achieve the 70/30 or 50/50 mixes you want, and run the risk of further diluting your nicotine to a lower level than you think it is (which might not be a bad thing).  I leave everything separate until I'm ready to mix a juice to completion!

Another reason I don't pre-mix VG/PG/Nicotine is that they have different shelf-lives, and I don't want to shorten the shelf-life of my PG by mixing VG with it... if that makes sense?  PG has a shelf life at room temp of 10-15 years... in the freezer it will keep nearly forever.  VG has a shelf life of 5-7 years at room temp... 10-30 years in the freezer...  Nicotine has the lowest shelf life... 2-5 years if mixed with VG, and 4-7 years if mixed with PG (at room temp, with no air in the bottle)... Oxygen degrades it rapidly, but sealed in glass bottles as I mentioned above, placed in the freezer, and you'll get a decade (minimum) out of storage.  Flavorings typically last anywhere from 2-10 years without freezing... but it depends on the flavor and if it is mixed with PG base, natural flavor, artificial flavor, alcohol content, etc.

[Edna]

Thanks again. I'm going to have to put my VG into smaller containers only because a gallon won't fit in my small freezer it's too tall.

I'm going to take your advice to heart and if I mix up something tasty I'll have to send you some