Last updated on May 17th, 2018
The Benefits and Side Effects of PG and VG E-Liquids
Have you been confused about how the two base ingredients in e-cigarette e-liquids – Propylene Glycol (PG) and Vegetable Glycerine (VG) affect your vaping experience? You’re not alone!
With so many e-liquid companies that offer vapers the option to choose a variety of PG/VG ratios, it’s difficult to know why it’s even important.
This handy infographic shows the pros and cons of each.
So now that you know the different effects of PG and VG, how do you determine the best ratio for your optimum vaping experience?
Why You Might Choose a Higher PG Content –
- Your vaporizer uses a top coil (like the Triton Tank System), or higher resistance bottom coil (over 1.8 ohms).
- 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 is thicker and can be gunkier).
- 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 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 vapor industry is every-evolving. The best companies keep up with industry trends and customer requests including ingredient preferences.
Companies such as Kai’s Virgin Vapor organic ejuices and Mt. Baker Vapor let you design your own eliquids. That means you can choose your own PG/VG ratios as well as the intensity of your eliquid flavors. Kai’s Virgin Vapor is the only ejuice company I know of where the Max VG choice (their Absolute Line) is actually 100% VG. You’ll find that even the top selling companies only offer up to 80% VG.
The ecig industry is evolving, not only with new innovative hardware, but with greater selections of e-liquid flavors, nicotine levels and now PG to VG ratios.
2 comments
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.