What Are Shortfill E-Liquids?
Wondering what a shortfill e-liquid is? If you’re an adult smoker transitioning away from cigarettes to a smoke-free alternative, you may have heard of shortfill vape products before, or have questions about how to use shortfill e-liquids.
Generally, a shortfill e-liquid is a type of e-liquid that does not contain nicotine. Although designed as a nicotine-free e-liquid, these products usually come with space in the bottle that adult users can fill with a nicotine shot. Shortfill e-liquids are also typically available in a variety of sizes - often ranging from 50 ml to 200 ml.
Using Shortfill E-Liquid
When figuring out how to use shortfill e-liquid, it’s important to remember that the bottles in which the shortfill e-liquid is contained are usually not filled to capacity, allowing space for a nicotine shot to be added. These nicotine shots (also known as nic shots) typically contain a high concentration of nicotine and come in 10 ml bottles so adult users can add nic shots based on their desired experience.
So, for example, a 50 ml shortfill e-liquid may come in a 60 ml bottle, which leaves space for a 10 ml nicotine shot to be added. A 100 ml shortfill e-liquid then might come in a 120 ml bottle, which allows for two nic shots to be added.
Regarding how to mix shortfill e-liquid, you typically combine the nicotine shot into the shortfill e-liquid bottle before closing the cap of the shortfill bottle and shaking it firmly. After these two components have been properly mixed, the e-liquid may then be used in a compatible vape as instructed by the manufacturer's guidelines.
Similar to typical vape e-liquids, shortfill e-liquids generally contain a certain ratio of vegetable glycerine (VG) to propylene glycol (PG). A shortfill e-liquid typically has a higher amount of VG, which may make the product slightly thicker than e-liquids containing more PG. E-liquid plays an important role in your vaping experience, as can the VG/PG ratio it contains. If you’d like to know more about how to calculate which e-liquid is best suited to you and your device, take a look at our e-liquid calculator for more information.
Can You Use Shortfill without Nicotine?
The short answer is, yes - hypothetically you can vape a shortfill e-liquid without adding nic shots (otherwise known as a nicotine-free e-liquid). That said, you should only ever vape (and therefore use e-liquids) as a smoke-free, nicotine alternative to continued smoking. The best decision any adult smoker can make is to quit tobacco and nicotine use entirely. However, if you would otherwise continue to smoke and use nicotine, a vape can be a suitable alternative to switch to - depending on the product.
Why Are Shortfill E-Liquids Used?
There are a number of possible reasons why adult users might use shortfill e-liquid. By having a nicotine-free e-liquid like this, shortfill e-liquid may give you the chance to better control the amount of nicotine added to it, and therefore vaped. Another possible reason may be that it could provide users with more e-liquid than is typically found in pre-mixed e-liquids - which come in bottles of up to 10 ml.
Alternative Products to Shortfill E-Liquids
For some adult users, the process of adding nic shots to shortfill e-liquid may seem like a hassle, adding an extra step to your vaping experience. If you’re finding that this is the case, other vape products that don’t use shortfill e-liquid might be worth considering instead, such as our VEEV products.
With VEEV, you don’t have to worry about the technicalities of a shortfill e-liquid, or how to use shortfill e-liquids correctly. Our pod-based vape VEEV ONE, for example, uses pre-filled pods of e-liquid, which can be easily inserted and removed from the VEEV ONE device. VEEV ONE pod insertion is aided by magnetic connector, and changing flavours (or pods) is easy.
VEEV ONE liquids are made using high quality ingredients. There’s no flavour taste transfer from one capsule to another either. So, you can enjoy taste consistency every time with VEEV ONE. This product also offers a long lasting vaping experience,* and a VEEV ONE pod delivers up to 1000 puffs.** What’s more, VEEV ONE emits on average 99% lower levels of harmful chemicals compared to cigarettes.***
Important information: this does not necessarily equal a 99% reduction in risk. VEEV ONE is not risk-free.
* Up to 1000 puffs on a single pod, based on a 1 sec puff duration. May vary depending on individual usage patterns.
** Based on a puff duration of 1 second. May vary depending on individual usage patterns.
*** “99% less” represents the average reductions in levels of a range of harmful chemicals (excluding nicotine) compared to the smoke of a reference cigarette. See Important Information on IQOS.com.
Learn more about VEEV ONE and our other VEEV vaping products via our Discover Vaping page.
Disclaimer: This article details what shortfill e-liquid is generally understood to be, and how it is typically used. However, details around a shortfill e-liquid product and its usage should be substantiated on a product-by-product basis.
Smoke-free products are not risk-free and provide nicotine, which is addictive. The best decision any adult smoker can make is to quit tobacco and nicotine use altogether. Smoke-free products are not alternatives to quitting and are not designed as cessation aids.
This article is for general information and educational purposes. Some of the information in this article is based on external, third-party sources and we make no representations or warranties of any kind regarding the accuracy, validity or completeness of such information.
