Vaping for beginners: a plain-English UK guide

Most people who start vaping in the UK now start with a refillable pod kit and a bottle of nic salt. Single-use disposables were banned from sale in June 2025, so the shelf has changed, and the choices can look more complicated than they are. They aren't. There are really only three decisions: the device, the type of e-liquid, and the nicotine strength.

The device: start with a pod kit

A pod kit is a small battery with a refillable pod clipped on top. You fill the pod from a 10ml bottle, the coil inside heats the liquid, and you draw on it like a cigarette. That style of draw is called mouth-to-lung, or MTL: you pull vapour into your mouth first, then inhale.

Bigger sub-ohm tanks exist, and they produce large clouds, but they are built for low-nicotine freebase liquid and a direct-to-lung draw. For someone coming from cigarettes or disposables, a pod kit is the sensible first device.

The liquid: nic salt or freebase

Nic salt e-liquid uses nicotine bonded with a mild acid. In practice that makes higher strengths smoother on the throat than the same strength of freebase nicotine, which is why nic salts are the default for pod kits and why the bottled versions of popular disposable flavours are all nic salts.

In short: nic salts suit small pod kits and higher strengths, freebase suits bigger tanks and lower strengths. Our nic salt vs freebase guide sets out the full comparison.

The strength: match what you were using

Strength is the decision people get wrong most often. Go too low and you end up puffing constantly without feeling satisfied. Go too high and it feels harsh. Our separate strength guide covers this in detail, but the short version is: heavier smokers and ex-disposable users usually land on 20mg, lighter smokers on 10mg, and 5mg suits people who are already cutting down.

UK law caps nicotine e-liquid at 20mg/ml and refill bottles at 10ml. Anything sold as stronger, or in a bigger bottle with nicotine already in it, is not compliant.

Your first week

1. Prime a new coil: fill the pod and let it stand for five to ten minutes before the first puff, so the cotton soaks through.
2. Take slow, gentle draws. Pod kits are not built for long, hard pulls.
3. Keep a spare pod. Coils wear out, and a burnt taste is the sign it is time to swap.
4. Store bottles upright, capped, away from heat and out of reach of children and pets.

Where flavour comes in

If you are moving over from disposables, the easiest win is to find the bottled version of the flavour you already liked. Elux Legend, Elfliq and Bar Juice 5000 are all built around disposable flavour line-ups, and we review each range in full.