Last updated on March 29th, 2021
Have you been confused about how the two base ingredients in e-cigarette e-liquids – Propylene Glycol (PG) and Vegetable Glycerin (VG) affect your vaping experience?
You’re not alone! This handy infographic shows the pros and cons of each.
How Do You Determine the Best PG /VG Ratio for Your Optimum Vaping Experience?
Why You Might Choose a Higher PG Content –
- You vape an ultra-portable, refillable Pod Vape. Some devices recommend a 50/50 or higher PG e-liquids.
- Your vaporizer uses a poly wick top coil (like the old Triton Tank System), or higher resistance bottom coil (over 1.8 ohms).
Learn More About Atomizer Coil Ohm Resistance
- You prefer a more intense flavor over massive cloud production.
- You like a stronger “throat hit” without having to up your nicotine level.
- You don’t like changing your coils too often. (higher VG eliquid shortens the life of your atomizer coil).
- You don’t have a negative reaction to PG which can sometimes cause dry mouth, throat irritation or rash (which is rare).
Why You Might Choose a Higher VG Content –
- You prefer using a low resistance, or sub-ohm coil with an advanced vaporizer.
- You find PG eliquids irritate your throat or dry out your mouth.
- PG gives you an allergic reaction.
- You want greater cloud production and a cooler vape without having to use a more complicated adjustable wattage vaporizer.
- You don’t mind the thickness of the e-liquid or having to replace your coils more often.
Most e-liquids are still formulated with a 50/50 PV to VG ratio. This was the preferred vaping standard before low and sub-ohm vaping became popular.
Today You Can Buy Custom Levels of PG and VG in you E-Liquid
The best vape companies keep up with industry trends and customer requests including ingredient preferences. You’ll find that most e-juice companies only offer up to 80% VG. But a few do offer 100% Vegetable Glycerin e-liquids.
Vaporfi is in my opinion the best place to shop for e-liquids. They not only offer over 30,000 delicious flavor combinations to suite your taste, you can choose from several PG to VG blends, including 50/50, 70/30 and Mac VG for subohm vaping.
Kai’s Virgin Vapor and KIND Juice are two great totally organic e-juice companies that offer 100% VG e-liquids. They’re a bit more expensive, but of you’re sensitive to PG, there’s none in any of their flavors.
Check out our Review of Kind Juice.
Many e-liquid companies will let you select your preferred ratio of PG to VG. Popular Mt. Baker Vapor offers a MAX VG blend where the VG is more than 70% of the ratio. Since high VG can be less flavor intense, Mt. Baker Vapor lets you add ‘flavor shots” to your eliquid flavors. If you visit their website, just make sure you refine your search by selecting “MBY E Juice Flavoring”.
The ecig industry is evolving, not only with new innovative hardware, but with greater selections of e-liquid flavors, nicotine levels and now custom PG to VG ratios.
4 comments
Skip to comment form
I’m very new to vaping and I’ve read all this stuff and I’m still confused. I have the smok nflix, so is vg or pg better with this model? Also I was told to fill pod but never told to wait and now it tastes yukky, burnt does this mean I’ve ruined the device now or just change pod? Please help
Hi Tina,
Thanks for your comment about the SMOK Nfix! A high VG e-liquid works best with the NFIX. You can find high VG e-liquids at Kai’s Virgin Vapor. All e-juices are 100% VG based. These e-liquids are completely organic and certified under European Organic Standards.
You can also get high VG e-liquids from Vaporfi. These e-liquids are 70% VG and 30% PG.
Our NFIX post does state that you can use regular 50/50 e-liquids or nicotine salts; however, you’ll get less vapor production than a high VG eliquid.
The post also says that you need to wait 2-3 minutes to allow the e-liquid to fully saturate the coil’s cotton. If you don’t wait, you’ll get a nasty burnt taste and ruin the coil (along with the pod). The good news is that you can still get a new NFIX Pod. You can get it HERE. I hope this helps!
I didn’t know that a high VG e-liquid would be more viscous than one with a high PG. Thank for explaining why this would be good if you have a coil with a low resistance. I will have to check the coils that I have to see what type of e-liquid I should order. I’m new to vaping, so this is really helpful to know before ordering!
I Kairi,
Yes VG e-liquids are more viscous (thicker) than 50/50 blends and they are necessary if you use a sub ohm atomizer. You can read more about it here. Thanks for the visit.