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What is a shortfill?
Perhaps one of the most notable differences between shortfills and nicotine-based e-liquids such as nic salts is that shortfills are entirely nicotine free; you will notice that the mg strength listed on each shortfill bottle is always 0mg.
With this in mind, they would not be our first recommendation for ex-smokers who have recently begun their transition from smoking cigarettes, as these new vapers will be looking for a more substantial amount of nicotine to quell those cravings, especially in the early stages. Considering the absence of nicotine, shortfills are favoured by vapers largely due to two key factors: their ability to produce high levels of vapour production, and the wide range of flavours on offer.
That said, for vapers who require more nicotine in their e-liquid or who are looking for a harder-hitting throat hit, nicotine shots can be added to shortfills to allow them to reach the nicotine strength you desire. For this reason, these types of e-liquids are intentionally filled short, hence the name. This will mean that if you purchase a 100ml bottle of e-liquid, it will contain 100ml of liquid, but the shortfill bottle itself will have room for 120ml of liquid. This is done intentionally to provide room for the additional nicotine you may add, in the form of nic shots, flavourless e-liquid containing larger quantities of nicotine. Similarly, a 50ml e-liquid will contain 50ml of liquid, but it will come in a 60ml bottle.
Shortfills FAQs
Shortfills first rose in popularity in 2017, when the TPD (Tobacco Products Directive) first imparted regulations on the UK and EU on all e-liquids and vape kits containing nicotine, which limited the size of bottles to a maximum of 10ml.
Of course, this had implications on pricing, as selling more bottles of less e-liquid didn't make much sense to either manufacturers, who were looking to sell more, or vapers, who were looking to buy larger quantities to save money. To sort this issue, shortfills came to be.
As they are nicotine free, they can be sold in bottles of bigger sizes, whilst still remaining in line with TPD regulations. Nic shot bottles are also compliant, as they are only sold in 10ml bottles.
For the biggest cost savings, we would recommend mixing nicotine shots with your 0mg nicotine shortfill e-liquid to achieve the largest bottle of vape juice possible.
Adding nicotine to a bottle of shortfill may feel fiddly at first, but once you get the hang of it it's like second nature. First, remove the cap from the shortfill and use a tool to then remove the nib. Pour in your nicotine, put the lid back on and shake in order to appropriately mix and combine the two e-liquids.
It's important to note that these bottles of e-liquids come in a variety of different sizes. On our website you will have 50ml shortfill, 100ml shortfill and 200ml shortfills. In each bottle there is a small bit of space left for either a single or double nic shot.
The lifespan of a bottle of shortfill e-liquid will depend on how often you vape and the size of the bottle. A 50ml bottle of shortfill e-liquid can typically last a moderate vaper around 1-2 weeks, while a 100ml bottle may last 2-4 weeks.
Shortfills are designed for sub-ohm vaping, also known as direct-to-lung vaping. Shortfills contain a higher VG content and lower PG content than other types of e-liquid, making them much better as cloud production. It's important to ensure that your device is capable of being used with high VG e-liquids as they are a lot thicker and more vicious than other types of e-liquids, requiring more power to use them.
The number of nicotine shots you need to add to a shortfill e-liquid will depend on the size of the bottle and your desired nicotine strength. A typical 50ml shortfill bottle will require one 10ml nic shot to make a 3mg strength e-liquid, while a 100ml shortfill will require two 10ml nic shots to make 3mg strength vape juice.
We would not typically recommend shortfalls to beginners for a few reasons. The first and most prominent reason for this is that shortfill e-liquids are designed for use with larger, more powerful vape devices that often require a bit more experience to use. These vape devices often come with a variety of different modes and can be quite overwhelming for vapers as a first time device.
Secondly, if you're a beginner or someone who has switched from smoking to vaping, shortfills are unlikely to provide the experience you are looking for.
That said, beginner vapers who are looking for nicotine-free e-liquid with high proportions of VG to use in an intermediate vape kit may enjoy using shortfills. It all comes down to personal preferences.
To open a shortfill bottle, you'll first need to push down on the lid and twist. Almost all caps are childproof which can be slightly fiddly, but require a very specific motion to open. After this, there will be a cap with a small nozzle that you can squeeze the e-liquid out of. Where many vapers get confused here is how to mix in the e-liquid at this cap is typically quite difficult to get off. Thankfully, we stock some tools to help you with that. For a more detailed explanation, we've put together a handy guide on how to open a shortfill bottle to help simplify your vaping experience.
Yes, shortfills are completely fine and safe to use without nicotine. The whole design of shortfills is to leave a small bit of space in the bottle incase vapers want to add a nic shot. It's important to point out that nicotine shots are completely unflavoured, so all of the flavour and cloud-production capabilities are already in the bottle, ready to be vaped.