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The Vape Mall Blog

Why are Some E-Liquids Harsh on a Vaper’s Mouth?

Posted by David on

E-Liquids are supposed to produce vapor that feels smooth and offers glorious flavor and the ideal throat hit to satisfy us, while producing glorious clouds on the exhale. But, once in a while, we may find that when inhaling an e-juice, we feel a harsh sensation along the mouth and throat. Sometimes, this is the fault of the vape juice, and other times, it can be the result of our device’s settings, or factors that actually have nothing to do with vaping.

What Harshness Feels Like

When talking about an e-liquid that’s “harsh,” we usually mean that when inhaling it, it creates a harsh feeling along the upper respiratory system as the vapor gets inhaled into the lungs. This can feel irritating to the point that we cough, or our throat feels uncomfortable for a couple of minutes. It may feel like the vapor is too hot, or simply that there is something in the vapor causing an unpleasant sensation when we breathe in.

Why Might an E-Juice Be Too Harsh?

There are a number of reasons why you may be feeling a harsh sensation when you vape. We will list them from the most common to the least common culprits.

#1: Cheap Ingredients

Cheap, low-quality ingredients are not made to be vaporized at high temperatures, which is why they can end up burning your throat to some extent when you inhale them. Cheap sweeteners and other additives can cause you to cough, which is why you should only go with premium e-liquids.

#2: Too Much Nicotine

Another common reason is that your nicotine level is too high. If you’re vaping an e-liquid with a particularly strong nicotine concentration, you might feel a lot of harshness, especially if you’re vaping freebase nicotine at high temperatures, which is known to cause an irritation feeling along the throat due to its harsh nature.

#3: Wrong PG/VG Ratio for Your Setup

Another issue could be that your PG/VG level is not compatible with your output level and coil resistance level. PG (propylene glycol) is a thin ingredient compared to VG (vegetable glycerin) and vaping a high PG e-juice at a high output level can cause the liquid to burn a bit when exposed to heat, thus causing a burning sensation when you pull.

#4: Incorrect Output Level

Vaping at too high of a wattage or temperature is a common mistake among beginners, who often learn the hard way that to feel satisfied, you don’t need to go to the max setting. The higher the output level, the more the vape juice will burn and potentially irritate your mouth and throat. High output levels are reserved for specific configurations that use very low-resistance coils and low nic e-liquids with high VG levels. If you do not have all of these factors working at the same time, harshness may occur.

#5: An Incompatible Coil

Using a coil that’s not compatible with your preferred output setting can also cause harshness, as the heat of the coil is burning the vape juice rather than vaporizing it. It is important that when you buy a vaping setup, you consider the coils that are appropriate for its output settings that you will be using, as the resistance level (ohms) of a coil share a crucial symbiotic relationship with the wattage or temperature of your device.

#6: A Dying Coil

Maybe you are using the right coil for your setup, but the coil is past its prime. When a coil begins to die, its wick can no longer properly hold the right amount of e-liquid, and the wire’s heating potential may start giving out. This results in a coil that burns the vape juice rather than converts it properly into smooth vapor, leading to a common complaint known as “dry hits” in which instead of fluffy vapor, you get a burning sensation with burnt flavor to boot.

#7: Vaping Inexperience

Sometimes, you might feel that an e-liquid is harsh simply because you’re new to vaping and haven’t built a tolerance to the sensation of vapor passing through. Many of us remember the first time we hit a vaping device, and we ended up coughing.

#8: Hitting it Too Hard

Simply taking too big of a pull of vapor can cause harshness, especially if you’re new to vaping. The more vapor you take in per puff, the more the vapor is making contact with the mouth and throat, and this may be mildly irritating.

#9: Other Contributing Factors

Sometimes, that harshness you’re experiencing has nothing to do with the e-liquid or the mod at all. Sometimes, it is because you already have an irritated throat, due to something as common as allergies, a cold or having just eaten something that’s too hot. Or, you may just be an individual who has a particularly sensitive mouth and throat, who needs to adjust their mod by going to a lower output level to accommodate this.

The Vape Mall E-Liquid are Simply Not Harsh

At The Vape Mall, we do our part to eliminate harshness by working only with the finest ingredients that have been tested repeatedly at high output levels, and by offering formulas in numerous nicotine levels in case you find that higher nicotine strengths cause some level of irritation. By using our e-liquids with the right hardware configurations, you will not have to worry about feeling a harsh sensation each time you go in to take a nice, flavorful puff of vapor.

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