Modified on: 29/05/2024
Here’s what vegetable glycerine is and how it is used in the electronic cigarette.
E cigarette liquid is generally composed of two main elements: propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin. What is vegetable glycerin? Many people use it but don’t know what it really is and where it comes from.
Vegetable glycerin, otherwise called glycerol, is used in the world of vaping to create, with propylene glycol, the neutral base for electronic cigarettes (e liquid base).
It is an organic compound extracted by hydrolysis from vegetable oils (such as coconut oil). By creating a reaction with water, the glycerin molecules detach themselves from the fatty acids and separate into crude glycerin, water and oil.
Then, through a distillation process, pure vegetable glycerin is obtained which appears as a transparent, viscous,odorless liquid, with a sweetish taste. It is basically a natural product that is also found within the human and animal organisms, so it is completely safe.
Let’s now see what are the characteristics of vegetable glycerin and its uses.
Liquid glycerin: commercial use and properties.
As anticipated in the previous lines, vegetable glycerin is a natural organic compound extracted from various types of vegetable oils by a (non-chemical) process of hydrolysis. It appears as a very dense, transparent, odorless and sweet tasting liquid.
This natural product has a great wetting property, as it has the ability to capture air humidity, which is why it is widely used in cosmetics. Its intrinsic hydration characteristic allows it to be used even within certain types of drugs, such as ointments.
Vegetable glycerin is used in the production of shampoos too, as it gives great softness to the hair, used together with other products and not in purity. But the greatest use of liquid glycerin occurs in the world of vaping.
With propylene glycol, it makes up the neutral base for electronic cigarettes, which can also be vaped without flavours. By heating the atomizer resistance, the base is vaporized in order to simulate the smoke of the analog cigarette, but with a sweeter taste, with non-carcinogenic and no harmful substances.
However, in most cases, the neutral base is used for the dilution of flavours for electronic cigarettes. Let’s now look specifically at the use of vegetable glycerin in the world of vaping.
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Vaping vegetable glycerin: this is the role of glycerin in e-cig liquids.
The neutral base for electronic cigarettes is usually composed of vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol and forms the basis of every vaping liquid. The essence of e-liquids is due to the e-cig flavors.
In fact the flavours are diluted in a neutral base according to the personal tastes of the vaper, but it is usually advisable to follow the manufacturer’s guidelines, to avoid excessive or too labile concentrations.
The neutral e liquid base, which can be purchased on the market ready-made or diy at home, can be composed of different percentages of glycerin and glycol. The most common neutral base is the 50:50 one, in which the two components are equivalent.
However, the qualities of the vegetable glycerin within the vaporization process allow you to play on the composition percentages of the base to obtain vapors of different entities. In fact, glycerin has the ability to make more dense and full-bodied the vapor of e-cigs (the so-called “clouds”) and also to give a more pronounced hit (sensation of hit in the throat).
For this reason, the compositions of the neutral bases can be of various kinds, depending on the vape destination they will have. In MTL, or mouth to loung (modest vapor production), 50:50 or 60:40 are preferred, while higher percentages of glycerin are intended in flavourart and cloud chasing (to make clouds).
Glycol, anyway, has the role of diluting the glycerin which, being very dense, tends to steam the aromas: together in fact they form a perfect combo for vaping. However, there are people who are intolerant to propylene glycol and, in this case, the neutral base can be composed of glycerin diluted with bidistilled water.
Read also: Terpenes: what they are, where they are found and why they are useful
Just use vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol for vaping
To vape the flavours you will need to dilute them with a neutral base for electronic cigarettes.
You can vaporize liquids in both MTL and flavourart and cloud chasing, changing the composition of the neutral base according to your preferred type of vaping. In any case, the experience will be crazy!
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