You may have noticed in the ingredients list on the side of your bottle of E-liquid that most, if not all of it is made up of Propylene Glycol and Vegetable Glycerine. Although these sound like ‘scary’ chemicals they are very common in everyday products. For example Propylene Glycol or PG is used in sweeteners, ice cream and other dairy products, as well as fizzy drinks, and coffee based products. PG is also used in pharmaceutical products such as inhalers, painkillers and contact lens solution.

Vegetable Glycerin or VG is a clear substance with a slight sweet taste to it, VG is typically made from palm and coconut oil. Its used in a lot of household items such as Shampoo, Soap, toothpaste, and lots of cosmetics. Another use for VG is as a sweetener due to the way it is metabolised differently to sugar.

Now we know what they’re used for we can look at what characteristics they give to your e-liquid.

PG:

• Holds flavour better than VG
• Produces less vapour than VG
• Provides a bigger throat hit than VG
• Has a lower viscosity than VG

VG:

• Has a sweeter taste than PG
• Produces a lot more vapour than PG
• Has a higher viscosity than PG
• Provides a smoother vape than PG

Different manufacturers use different blends of these two ingredients to take advantage of their different properties. The most common blends are 70%VG-30%PG used for Sub ohm liquid although 80%VG is becoming more common due to more powerful tanks needing a thicker liquid to make the most of the new available power. And for mouth to lung the most common is 70%PG although 50%PG-50%VG is becoming more common for the same reason.