What makes a good nicotine base?

What happens if you use high quality nicotine (such as PureNic 99+) and mix it with cheap, low quality PG or VG?

Let’s have a look at the ingredients of nicotine base.

Nicotine – high quality is crucial. Nicotine starts oxidizing when in contact with oxygen – this process turns flavorless, crystal clear substance into a peppery, brownish liquid. Oxidized nicotine is unpleasant to vape and is something you should avoid.

Vegetable Glycerin or VG – used in pharmaceuticals, hand creams etc. with various degrees of purity – the higher the purity, the less water added and the thicker the VG. Always use pharmaceutical quality or similar grade when choosing your diluent. High purity VG is very thick, lower purity VG usually contains water – using it is not a good idea as the oxygen from water will start the nicotine oxidation process as soon as it comes in contact with nicotine – it means that nicotine bases manufactured from low purity VG oxidize even during transport or on warehouse shelves, you don’t even have to open the bottles!

Propylene Glycol or PG – available in various purity levels, always go for the highest purity available. Usually 99,9% is easily accessible for most people.

Remember to always check certificates and any other documentation available with your nicotine, VG and PG.

As you can see, there is nothing really complicated when it comes to nicotine base ingredients. Mix high quality nicotine with high quality diluents and the resulting nicotine base must be of high quality right? Not entirely true – what about manufacturing and storage conditions?

Our PureNic 99+ nicotine has no contact with oxygen during the manufacturing process, the same goes for our nicotine bases that are manufactured under nitrogen to minimize oxygen exposure, then sealed in a bottle or canister until a customer opens his batch.

Storage conditions play an important role in nicotine base quality – if stored improperly the nicotine base may deteriorate quickly and become unusable. Remember to follow the manufacturers’ storage conditions as closely as possible – a general rule of thumb is to keep your nicotine bases in a cold, dry and dark place.

As you can see there is many factors that may influence the final quality of nicotine base, it is much more than just a sum of its ingredients. If all the ingredients used are of top quality, the most important thing on the manufacturer’s side is the manufacturing process – this is where you may lose the advantage of high quality ingredients. It is also very important to store your nicotine bases as the manufacturer suggests.