How to Choose the Right VG PG Ratio for Longfills
How to choose
the right VG/PG
ratio for longfills
The ratio decides whether your longfill produces clouds, throat hit or balance. This is the UK consumer guide to picking 50/50 or 70/30 based on your device. No chemistry jargon, no measuring.
Match the ratio to the device. 50/50 VG/PG for pod kits plus MTL vaping. Better throat hit, sharper flavour, works on low-power coils. 70/30 VG/PG for sub-ohm mods. Bigger clouds, smoother inhale, needs high-power coils to work properly. Nixer Mixer Kits ship in both ratios so you pick the right kit for your device rather than measuring VG or PG yourself. The ratio matters more than the nicotine strength for most vapers.
Two ratios cover
95 percent of UK vapers
Longfill buyers rarely need anything outside of 50/50 or 70/30. Everything else is a niche answer to a niche question.
Pod and MTL
Equal parts VG and PG. Best for pod kits, MTL devices plus nic salt users. The default for quitters.
Sub-ohm
High VG for big clouds plus smooth inhale. Runs on sub-ohm mods at 30 watts or above.
Decision to make
After picking a flavour. The ratio choice matters more than nicotine strength for overall experience.
VG and PG are the two carriers in every e-liquid. Their ratio decides the feel.
Every e-liquid on the UK market is made of three things. Flavour concentrate which is usually 5 to 15 percent of the total volume. Nicotine if any, up to 20mg per ml under the UK legal cap. Plus the VG and PG carriers which make up the remaining 80 to 95 percent and do the actual work of turning into vapour when heated.
VG stands for vegetable glycerin. It is thick, slightly sweet plus produces the big fluffy clouds you see in sub-ohm photos. PG stands for propylene glycol. It is thin, slightly sweet plus carries flavour plus nicotine more aggressively to your throat. Neither is better than the other. They each do something different plus the ratio of the two decides what your finished liquid feels like to vape.
For longfills the ratio is decided at the Mixer Kit stage. Nixer sells Freebase 50/50 kits plus Freebase 70/30 kits. The concentrate in the longfill bottle itself is PG-based so when you add a 50/50 Mixer Kit you get a roughly 45/55 VG/PG finished liquid. Adding a 70/30 Mixer Kit produces a roughly 60/40 finished liquid. Either way you do not need to measure anything. The Mixer Kit handles the final ratio.
Why does the ratio matter more than the strength?
Because the ratio decides whether the liquid physically works in your device. A thick 70/30 liquid will not wick properly through the tiny cotton pads in a pod kit, which results in burnt hits within a day or two. A thin 50/50 liquid will flood the large wicks in a sub-ohm tank which causes spitback plus leaking. Get the ratio wrong and no amount of nicotine adjustment will fix the experience.
- Pod kit user. 50/50 every time. A 70/30 will burn out your coils within 48 hours.
- Sub-ohm mod user. 70/30 every time. A 50/50 will leak through your tank plus spit in your mouth.
- MTL user. Usually 50/50. The MTL airflow plus small coil sizes suit the thinner liquid better.
- First-time longfill buyer. Pick the ratio that matches your existing device, not your ambition.
Each ratio
at a glance
How the VG and PG split plus the four properties that matter most to a UK vaper. Longer bar means more of that property.
VG split, PG split plus what it feels like
The teal bar shows the VG percentage. The amber bar shows PG. Below each split are the four properties each ratio delivers on a 1 to 10 scale.
Equal split. The default for pod kits, MTL devices plus nic salt users. Sharpest flavour plus strongest throat hit.
The middle ground. Suits MTL devices running at slightly higher wattages plus low-resistance pod coils. Rarely sold as a Mixer Kit on its own.
High-VG standard for sub-ohm tanks. Biggest clouds, smoothest inhale plus slightly muted flavour compared with 50/50.
80/20 or higher. Niche territory for high-power drippers plus cloud competitions. Not recommended for everyday vaping.
Which ratio
for which device?
The three main UK device categories plus the ratio each one needs to work properly.
Pod kit
Closed or refillable pods running pre-built 0.8 to 1.2 ohm coils. The tight draw plus low power need thin liquid that wicks fast through a small cotton pad.
MTL device
Pen-style or tube mods with a small mouth-to-lung tank. Classic cigarette-style draw with medium resistance coils. Freebase 50/50 is the most common pairing.
Sub-ohm mod
Box mods running sub-ohm tanks with 0.15 to 0.4 ohm coils. High-wattage direct-lung inhale producing dense clouds. Thick liquid needed to stop flooding.
Nixer ships in both
50/50 plus 70/30
Every Nixer longfill pairs with Mixer Kits in both ratios. Pick 50/50 for your pod kit or 70/30 for your sub-ohm mod. The compatible kit options appear next to the buy button on each flavour page.
If you want to filter longfill flavours by compatible ratio, the product pages in our Nixer longfill collection list Mixer Kit options as selectable dropdowns so only compatible ratios appear. Pick 50/50 or 70/30 plus the finished bottle arrives matched to your device.
What happens
if you pick wrong
Honest look at what goes right when the ratio matches your device plus what goes wrong when it does not.
What matched looks like
- ✓Smooth consistent draw. Liquid wicks at the right speed for your coil resistance.
- ✓Clean flavour notes. The flavour concentrate delivers at its intended strength.
- ✓Long coil life. Coils last for their expected duration, usually two to four weeks.
- ✓No spitback. Liquid stays on the coil rather than popping into your mouth.
- ✓Satisfying vape from first pull. Every inhale feels the same as the last.
What mismatched looks like
- ✗Dry hits on pod kits. 70/30 too thick to wick into a small cotton pad fast enough.
- ✗Leaking on sub-ohm tanks. 50/50 too thin, flooding the chamber plus dripping out the airflow.
- ✗Short coil life. Burnt coils within days from starved wicks or permanently saturated cotton.
- ✗Spitback into the mouth. Unburned droplets travelling up the chimney on thin liquid over hot coils.
- ✗Muted or harsh flavour. Wrong ratio disrupts how the concentrate carries through the vapour.
For the wider picture on longfills plus Nixer including strengths, mixing methods plus flavour steering, head to our complete Nixer vape review hub where each practical question has its own in-depth UK-focused article.
Back to the Nixer Vape Review hub
This article sits inside our full Nixer knowledge base. Head back to the hub for the complete index covering longfill basics, mixing, strength selection, steeping plus every Mixer Kit variant.
More on devices
& mixing choices
Once you have picked the right ratio the next question is usually which device will work best with it. Our guide to what devices work best with Nixer longfills walks through kit compatibility in detail. For the mixing process itself including the shake time plus pour method, see how to mix Nixer longfills with the Nixer Mixer Kit. Plus if cloud production is a priority for you, our in-depth piece on whether Nixer longfills produce big clouds covers the sub-ohm ratio plus coil combinations.