Vegetable glycerine is a product resulting from the creation of soap. The chemical reaction that takes place in soap creation is called saponification, and it happens when lye is mixed with oil. The reaction transforms the oil into soap and glycerine. Since people need lots of soap, there’s also plenty of glycerine to go around – and like propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine has a number of interesting uses. Like PG, VG is also an excellent absorber of moisture. It tastes slightly sweet, so it’s used as a preservative and as a sweetener in shelf-stable foods and snacks. It’s also extremely common for VG to be added to lotions, cosmetics and soaps as a moisturising agent.
VG tastes slightly sweet, whereas PG is almost flavourless. For that reason, VG can enhance an e-liquid with a sweet flavour profile. VG is also significantly thicker than PG, and that thickness allows high-VG e-liquids to produce very large vapour clouds. The final major difference between VG and PG is that VG is a bit smoother when it’s inhaled. If you prefer a mild vaping experience that’s low in throat hit, you’ll want to choose a vape juice that’s higher in VG. Because high-VG e-liquids are very thick, they work best with bigger vaping devices that have very large wick openings for their atomizer coils.