Without a doubt, shortfill e-liquid is easily one of the most important developments in the history of the UK vaping industry because it fixes a major problem and makes vaping dramatically more convenient for the many people who use powerful sub-ohm vaping devices.
This particular vape juice does have a bit of a potential drawback, though, in that you could end up having an incredibly unsatisfying experience if you don’t know what you’re doing. In short, you could end up filling your tank with an e-liquid that has no nicotine at all!
So, what is shortfill e-liquid? Is it the type of e-liquid that you should be buying? When you do buy it, how do you use it? Don’t just take a vape SEO expert’s word for it. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll answer all of your questions.
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What Is Shortfill E-Liquid?
Shortfill e-liquid is any vape juice sold in a large bottle that’s not completely full. Initially, there’s no nicotine in the bottle. You’ll get that separately in the form of nicotine shots. Unless you happen to prefer nicotine-free e-liquid, you’ll need to add at least one nicotine shot to a bottle of shortfill vape juice before using it. Otherwise, you’ll be vaping nicotine-free e-liquid. Virtually every bottle of e-liquid in the United Kingdom is shortfill one if it’s sold in bottles larger than 10 ml.
The most important thing to know about shortfill vape juice is that it isn’t ready to use immediately when you buy it. You must add nicotine to the bottle first unless nicotine-free e-liquid is what you want.
Why Using Shortfill E-Liquid?
So, what’s the point of buying nicotine-free e-liquid and adding the nicotine to it yourself? The Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) is the reason why shortfill e-liquid exists. The TPD is a law that was enacted by the European Union, and it is still observed in the UK after Brexit. It sets certain limits that apply to all vaping products. In short, those limits are:
- E-liquid with nicotine can’t be sold in bottles larger than 10 ml.
- Pre-filled vape pods, disposable vapes and vape tanks can’t have capacities larger than 2 ml.
- The maximum legal nicotine strength for any e-liquid is 20 mg/ml.
Shortfill e-liquid was created specifically in response to the first of those rules. Because the bottle has no nicotine, it can be larger than 10 ml without violating the TPD. Nicotine shots are sold in 10 ml bottles and are also TPD compliant. When the TPD was first enacted, many people felt that it made sense to have a limit on e-liquid bottle sizes because that would help to reduce the possibility of accidental nicotine poisoning.
In those days, however, sub-ohm vaping didn’t really exist yet. People were generally using small vape pens and high-nicotine e-liquids, so a 10 ml bottle provided enough e-liquid for multiple days of vaping. In today’s age of sub-ohm vape mods and vape tanks with mesh coils, though, it’s common for people to use nicotine strengths as low as 3 mg/ml. At that nicotine strength, a 10 ml bottle may not provide enough e-liquid for even one day of vaping.
Shortfill vape liquid exists because going through several small bottles of e-liquid every day is a very inconvenient way to vape if you use a sub-ohm vaping device. It’s hard to even leave the house without a few bottles of vape juice in your pocket because you wouldn’t want to run out of e-liquid unexpectedly. It makes vaping much more convenient because it gives you a single large bottle that you can use for several days.
What’s the Right Type of Vapes for It?
If you mix shortfill e-liquid according to the directions in this article, you’re going to have a final nicotine strength of 3 mg/ml. If you want a higher nicotine strength than that, you’ll need to buy your e-liquid in 10 ml bottles. With that in mind, a sub-ohm vape mod or pod mod is the ideal hardware to use with shortfill vape juice. This type of e-liquid is for people who use powerful vaping devices and go through a lot of vape juice every day. If you hate buying e-liquid in 10 ml bottles because you find the small bottle size inconvenient and limiting, you’re exactly the target market for shortfill vape liquid.
If you use a smaller vaping device such as a pod system, on the other hand, shortfill e-juice probably isn’t right for you. Nicotine salt e-liquid is usually the right choice for the smallest vaping devices, which tend to work best with higher nicotine strengths. If you use shortfill one with a small vaping device, you’ll probably find the experience very unsatisfying.
How to Mix and Use Shortfill E-Juice?
Before you can use shortfill e-liquid, you need to add the nicotine – and to do that, you need to know how much nicotine to add. Thankfully, shortfill vape juices and nicotine shots are designed to be as easy as possible to use. For every 60 ml of capacity that the bottle has, you’ll need to add one 18 mg/ml nicotine shot to give the e-liquid a final nicotine strength of 3 mg/ml.
- Use one nicotine shot for a 60 ml bottle.
- Use two nicotine shots for a 120 ml bottle.
- Use three nicotine shots for a 180 ml bottle.
Although the vast majority of nicotine shots have a strength of 18 mg/ml, some companies do make nicotine shots with a strength of 20 mg/ml. You might want to seek those nicotine shots out if you want your shortfill one to deliver a bit of extra nicotine kick.
To mix a bottle of shortfill e-liquid, you’ll begin by prying the nozzle off of the bottle with your fingernail or a tool such as a butter knife. Squeeze one or more nicotine shots into the bottle, replace the nozzle and close the bottle tightly. Shake the bottle well, and it’s ready to use immediately.
One of the most important things to remember about using shortfill vape juice is that shaking a bottle by hand isn’t quite the same as using an industrial mixing machine. Over time, it’s possible for the nicotine to separate out of the e-liquid. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to give the bottle a quick shake every time you refill your tank. Shaking the bottle periodically helps to ensure that the nicotine content of the e-liquid will be consistent from the beginning of the bottle to the end.
