What Else Can I Put In My Vape Besides E-juice?

Humans are naturally curious and like to explore the unknown. The challenge of pushing the limit and experimenting are often fascinating and exciting, but you need to be extremely careful when it comes to experimenting with vaping. Beginner vapers especially have questions about what vape juice flavors to use, what e-juice brand is best, and what other vapers recommend for them to try. Several weeks ago, I mentioned that you should never put anything other than vape juice in your vape device. A lot of things look like they could be used in a vape device, but doing so can cause harm to your device, yourself, and others. Let’s take a look at some of the common items that people want to put in their vape tank but definitely should not.

1. WATER

Believe it or not, some people actually question whether or not they can vape good old-fashioned H20. The answer, of course, is absolutely not! The follow-up question is, “Why not?” We already know what e-juice is made from: Vegetable glycerin (VG), Propylene Glycol (PG), flavoring, and sometimes nicotine. When these ingredients are mixed together, they form a liquid that is safe to be aerosolized (changed into a vapor). The vape juice that was once a liquid is now changed into a gas.

So now what happens when you try this with water? Water is made up of hydrogen and oxygen, making it the H20 that we’ve been familiar with all our lives. In liquid form, water is very refreshing and helps rehydrate our body. But in gas form, water can be very dangerous. Yup, I’m talking about steam. When water gets really hot, it changes into a gas that can cause serious burns and injuries if precautions aren’t taken. Think of the hot steam released in a whistling kettle. You wouldn’t want to stick your face in the steam and inhale it, right? If you put water in a vape tank, you’d be changing the liquid water into a boiling hot steam with a single inhale. You risk burning your mouth and even your lungs if you were to vape water, with a possibility of catching pneumonia!

While it’s true that some high VG e-juices do utilize water in their ingredients, it’s only to allow the e-juice to easily wick. Some vapers who are allergic to PG also use water to thin the e-liquid concentration from 5% to a safer 15%. However, you shouldn’t be adding water to your vape tank or e-liquid without professional assistance and guidance.

2. ALCOHOL

If you’ve ever been to a hookah lounge or known a friend with a hookah setup, you may have seen them add certain types of alcohol to the liquid chamber of the hookah. I’ve seen Hennessey, Crown Royal, and even Don Julio added to the chamber, and the alcohol adds a distinct flavor to the hookah that many users find delightful. However, when it comes to your vape, alcohol isn’t something you want to be vaping. While it is possible to do, the process for finding the right amount is extremely complex and shouldn’t be attempted. It’s also possible for the alcohol to diffuse into your bloodstream instead of your liver, resulting in alcohol poisoning.

Attempting to vape alcohol is similar to vaping water, in that a liquid is being rapidly changed into a gas. Just like vaping water, vaping alcohol steam can severely burn your mouth and even damage your lungs. Vaping alcohol can also increase your likeliness of alcohol addiction and brain damage, as it travels to your brain quicker than if you were to drink it. Do NOT take this as motivation to get drunk quicker by vaping alcohol, as the dangers far outweigh the benefits. Even if you’re around someone who brags to know what they’re doing by vaping alcohol, it’s not a risk worth taking. Vaping regular e-liquids with or without nicotine are a wonderful addition to drinking, but eliminating the vape juice entirely in favor of alcohol is a terrible idea and never recommended.

3. FOOD GRADE OILS (OLIVE, VEGETABLE, CANOLA, COD LIVER, ETC.)

I can’t fathom why someone would want to put actual vegetable oil in their vape tank, but I feel it’s necessary to mention since VG stands for “Vegetable glycerin.” Some people may want to argue that since VG looks similar to vegetable oil and even has the word “vegetable” in it, regular vegetable oil is fine to put in your vape tank. However, all food-grade oils are meant to add flavor to food. Trying to vape any type of kitchen oil is disgusting and highly discouraged, if not outright banned. Don’t try to make your own vape juice out of vegetable oil, thinking that it’s similar to vegetable glycerin. Vegetable oil is meant to be used as a food substance, not something to be inhaled or heated in a vape tank. Even though some vape juices do resemble food grade oils and are crafted with food grade flavorings, any type of kitchen oil is not intended for vape devices and is therefore not safe for vaping or inhaling.

4. HONEY, SWEETENED JUICE, & ESSENTIAL OILS

Just because something looks like your favorite e-juice doesn’t mean you should treat it as such. Honey may look deliciously sweet and sticky in the bottle, but I can’t imagine the awful mess you’d make if you tried to actually vape it. Honey is extremely thick and heavy, which I can only assume that it wouldn’t even turn into an aerosol no matter how hot you got it. Heating up honey causes it to caramelize and bubble, not vaporize. Trying to vape honey would undoubtedly ruin the coil and be a complete mess in your tank, not to mention ruining perfectly good honey.

One of my favorite sweetened juices is the Cran-Apple Peach from Ocean Spray. As good as this and any other juice tastes, it’ll be the same as (you guessed it!) vaping water. The resulting steam would burn your mouth and throat, as well as cause harm to your lungs. Just because it tastes good in a cup doesn’t mean you should dump it into your vape tank.

Essential oils like grapefruit and lavender smell heavenly when properly used. However, just because they come in a 30mL bottle or smaller doesn’t mean you should try to vape it. There are proper devices for using essential oils and other fragrances. Inhaling them into your lungs is extremely dangerous and should not be put in your vape tank. Instead, consider a diffuser or other device that was made to properly utilize essential oils. If you’re a really big fan of a particular essential oil scent, consider searching for those scents on e-juice websites and actual vape shops.

CONCLUSION

By now, you should have figured out that absolutely nothing other than vape juice should be put in your tank. There are so many delicious e-liquids out there from many premium and famous brands. Some of my favorite brands include NUDE, Pachamama, Dinner Lady, Vapetasia, Cookie King, and Coastal Clouds. There's no reason why you should be putting in any type of liquid that wasn’t specifically made for your vape tank. Just like you wouldn’t deliberately stick your face in the steam from a whistling kettle or deliberty drink scalding hot water, it’s important to practice safe vaping habits by using the device as it’s intended.

If you have any questions about what particular vape juice you should try next or want some advice on which e-liquid closely matches your preferred flavor, you can always reach out to us via phone, email, or social media. We hope to hear from you soon! Check back with us soon for an e-liquid review, a DIY vape juice article, or an answer to one of many vape questions in the industry. For now, enjoy the e-liquid in your tank and admire those beautiful puffy and flavorful clouds!