A follow-up DIY question....

[Wintering]

Gluten is not water-soluble, so it is unlikely to be found in any e-liquid or cartridges but you obviously need to double check so creating your own "DIY" e-liquid is an effective and affordable alternative. If you aren't comfortable mixing it yourself (and especially if you want to add nicotine and aren't comfortable handling it), there are several vendors that offer "flavor doublers" with that can be vaped alone for 0-nicotine or mixed with e-liquids containing nicotine so you can taper down or stop using nicotine at your own pace. Here's a handy online "calculator" to help: http://www.todmuller.com/ejuice/ejuice.php

Whatever vendor you choose, be sure to send a message (or add a note to your order) to verify that all their flavorings are gluten-free. In reality, even if they used a flavoring that contained some gluten, the less-than-a-teaspoon (1tsp=5 cartridges) per day in a vaporizer is such a tiny amount that its unlikely to cause problems, but of course you need to be extra EXTRA careful so it never hurts to ask any vendor just to be certain.

ETA: To be completely honest, I'm not even sure it is POSSIBLE to have detectable amounts of gluten in glycerine or propylene glycol vapor, but it may be possible with certain "natural" flavor extracts. If you come across any, PLEASE be sure to post them, as many people want or need to be gluten-free as well as smoke-free.

Yay, I found a few vendors with certified Gluten free flavors!

Now that my order is on the way .... I have a follow up question, since that handy-dandy calculator didn't work for me. If possible, could you break it down for me, (in novice-speak!) just to make sure I'm doing it correctly? Pretty please?

If I assume an empty cartomizer holds 20 to 25 drops ..... to reduce my 12mg liquid down to 6mg (cutting the nicotine in half) may I assume I should use 10 drops of the 12mg e-liquid I already have - then add 10 drops of distilled water - but then (my question!)..... how many drops of the flavoring? And, should I sort of mix up the drops to make sure it blends okay. (I don't want 12mgs - then all water - then all flavor!) I sure hope that made sense!

Wintering

[Thulium]

The simplest way is to either make or buy some "0-nic E-Liquid" in the flavor(s) you like and then you can simply mix it 50/50 with the 1.2% (12mg/ml) nicotine liquid, to cut the nicotine by half to .6%, or step your nicotine strength down over time. Most cartridges or cartomizers hold about 1 milliliter (about 20 drops), but some of the new "XL" cartridges and tanks can hold up to 5ml (about 1 teaspoon) but they don't look much like cigarettes. Many "personal vaporizers" don't look anything like cigarettes and many people prefer to use non-tobacco flavors to help distance themselves from anything related to burning tobacco leaves.

Vegetable Glycerine (perhaps thinned with a few drops of water for consistency) or Propylene Glycol or a mix of the two can be used in personal vaporizers without any flavoring or nicotine to create the visible vapor. You can add flavoring and sweetener to taste--generally between 5-20%, depending on the strength of the flavoring 5%=1 drop flavor to 19 drops PG/VG 20%=4 flavoring to 16 base. If you aren't mixing with nicotine, all the ingredients are used in many foods (and medicines) so it really is very much like cooking--a little practice and you can become your own favorite chef.

You can, of course, mix the 0-nic DIY liquid with your nicotine e-liquid either in the atomizer/cartomizer or in a separate bottle by counting the drops. Many e-liquid vendors also carry DIY supplies like empty mixing bottles, syringes and/or graduated cylindars for measuring.

[Wintering]

Ah-ha! Thanks again Thulium. {{{hugs}}} I didn't even think to look for 0 nic (gluten free) flavored e-liquid. D'oh! (I just ordered the flavor) Oh well, I guess there's a reason why I didn't major in Chemistry! It looks like my learning curve continues.