Last fact-checked 24 April 2024
Nicotine salt is smoother and more effective than freebase nicotine shots. It’s a game-changing innovation, but a lot of vapers still have questions about it. In this article, we’ll answer the 5 most commonly-asked questions about nic salts so that you can feel confident giving it a try.
Common Nic Salt Questions:
1: Isn’t Nic Salt More Expensive Than Freebase Nicotine?
There was a time when nic salts were much better value than freebase alternatives. In fact, when we wrote this article back in 2020, the price per milligram of nicotine was identical whether you bought freebase or salt nicotine shots.
Nowadays, salt nic is more expensive. We compared the price of every 10ml nicotine booster we sell to the prices of every 10ml nic salt e-liquid we sell. Old-fashioned freebase nicotine costs the same as it did 4 years ago (£0.14 per ml), but salt nicotine now costs a lot more (£0.39 per ml).
In spite of this price difference, salt nic is a clear favourite with vapers. As of April 2024, we have 30 nic boosters (freebase) for sale in 10ml size, and more than 1,000 nic salt shots for sale. The popularity of salt nic could be down to the fact that you need fewer puffs to satisfy your nicotine cravings when you vape salt nic. We’ll explain this in the next section…
2: Is Nic Salt Too Strong For New Vapers?
Nicotine salt is considered ‘stronger’ than freebase nicotine, because when you vape it, your blood nicotine levels are much higher for a much longer period of time. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you’re trying to quit smoking.
When you start using e-cigarettes to quit smoking, you should try to get enough nicotine into your bloodstream to match the dose you were previously getting from cigarettes. It can make it much harder to quit smoking successfully if you drop your vape's nicotine dosage too soon.
The graph below comes from an old article (source: techcrunch.com), but it's a good illustrator of what happens to the nicotine levels in your bloodstream when you smoke (the yellow line), vape nic salts (the pink line) or vape traditional freebase nicotine e-liquid (the bottom blue line).
Per-puff, cigarette smoke is much better at delivering nicotine than freebase-infused e-liquid vapour. This is a problem that PAX Labs (the inventors of salt nicotine) set out to fix in 2015. PAX Labs were able to make vaping much more ‘like’ smoking in terms of nicotine delivery. Ultimately, this is why salt nic is so popular compared to traditional freebase nicotine shots.
3: Is Nicotine Salt More Dangerous Than Freebase Nicotine?
First off, nicotine, in any form, is a highly addictive and potentially dangerous substance. You should avoid nicotine if you’re not already addicted to it. If you have high blood pressure of if you have (or have had) serious heart problems, the NHS advice is to talk to your doctor before starting on any form of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) (see more on the NHS website here).
There aren’t any peer-reviewed academic studies out there that look specifically at the safety profile of nic salt compared to freebase nicotine Current evidence suggests that nic salt is no more dangerous than freebase nicotine.
There is just one chemical difference between freebase and salt nicotine: salt nicotine contains benzoic acid. Benzoic acid occurs naturally in certain foods (cinnamon, cranberries and plums, for instance); it’s also used as an additive in soft drinks and sugar-free jams.
4: Is Nic Salt More Addictive Than Freebase Nicotine?
Nicotine is an incredibly addictive substance, and when you vape nic salts, the nicotine gets absorbed into your bloodstream more effectively than with freebase boosters. This makes some people worry that they could accidentally increase their dependence on nicotine just by switching from one type of booster to another. If nicotine cravings become too strong, then cigarettes start to look tempting again, so you have to tread carefully here.
Nicotine is nicotine — it doesn’t come in varying forms of ‘addictiveness’ — but you will feel like you’re getting more nicotine per puff from salt nic, purely because of how it works in your body. Salt nicotine is smoother on the throat, too, so if you usually only stop vaping when the throat hits become too much, then salt nicotine could be a bad choice for you.
To switch from freebase to salt nic safely, our advice is to start vaping nic salts at a much lower nicotine strength (mg/ml). You can always adjust your nicotine dosage upwards if you feel you need more. Some box mods have puff counters which can help you to keep an eye on your consumption levels, too. If you have any doubts, ask your NHS Stop Smoking counsellor or your doctor for further advice.
Just remember that the reason that nicotine-infused e-liquid exists is to help you quit smoking. If you’re doing well on freebase nicotine and you’re worried you might relapse if you try salt nic, the safest thing to do is stick with freebase nicotine. You don’t have to make the switch.
5: Is Nic Salt More Hassle?
It might be harder for a lab technician to make nic salt, but for consumers and end-users like us, there’s no noticeable difference.
Nicotine salt boosters are sold in 10ml bottles, just like freebase nicotine. The process of adding nicotine to shortfill is the exact same when you’re adding nic salt as it is when you’re adding freebase nicotine. Learn how to add nicotine to shortfill here.
A growing number of pre-mixed e-liquids use nic salt rather than freebase nicotine, so you don’t have to be able to ‘mix your own’ — you can try nic salt without any pre-mixing. Just browse our nicotine salt e-liquids department and find a flavour that’s right for you.
Nic Salts Can Prevent Dilution, too!
More and more e-liquid producers are offering pre-flavoured salt shots that match their most popular lines. This is a great way to get your nicotine fix without diluting the flavour of your favourite vape juice.
For instance, you can now buy a 50ml shortfill bottle of Nasty Juice's ASAP Grape and pair that with an ASAP Grape flavoured 'Nasty Salt'. At the 20mg strength, this 10ml nic salt shot produces 60ml of 3.3mg strength ASAP Grape juice with no loss of flavour.
I hope this guide has given you a bit more information about nicotine salt. If you have any other questions, please get in touch with us. We’re not chemists, but we are expert vapers, and we’re always happy to help our customers. Just fill in our contact form and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can!
Stay safe and happy vaping!
John Boughey