Humectants - enlighten me please!

[Jay-dub]

Since PG/VG is a humectant I'm curious to know exactly how that works.

When you inhale it does it immediately start drawing moisture out of tissue from the mouth, throat and lungs?

Does the VG/PG settle on tissue and increase the amount of moisture in every inhale/exhale by pulling it out of the tissue or does it just hold it on the surface with the PG/VG coating (if it coats).

On top of hydrating our bodies internally to counter the humectant would someone who vapes a lot need to increase the usage of skin moisturizers?

If my lungs, mouth, throat are coated with PG/VG humectant wouldn't it also attract moisture from the air to my tissue surfaces or would it already have saturated itself by drawing it out of that tissue?

Craziness I know. Pisses people off that I'm so curious/tedious. Sorry. Can't kill my nature.

 

[Thrasher]

Since PG/VG is a humectant I'm curious to know exactly how that works.

When you inhale it does it immediately start drawing moisture out of tissue from the mouth, throat and lungs?

yes and that moisture is expelled with the vapor when you blow out. vaping can cause an increase in dehydration and vapors need to drink plenty of fluids.

On top of hydrating our bodies internally to counter the humectant would someone who vapes a lot need to increase the usage of skin moisturizers?

dont think so, in many cases people who give up smoking for vaping notice the skin actually improves in appearance and softness.

If my lungs, mouth, throat are coated with PG/VG humectant wouldn't it also attract moisture from the air to my tissue surfaces or would it already have saturated itself by drawing it out of that tissue?

dont think so, my understanding is it has to make contact with the membrane to draw out the moisture. which would mean every puff is drawing more fluid from the surface of that membrane.

I notice if im not drinking something I get wicked dry mouth after about an hour of vaping. sometimes even less.

Pisses people off that I'm so curious/tedious.

Naa no big deal it's why we are all here (now go bother your mother or something)

 

[Jay-dub]

yes and that moisture is expelled with the vapor when you blow out. vaping can cause an increase in dehydration and vapors need to drink plenty of fluids.

dont think so, in many cases people who give up smoking for vaping notice the skin actually improves in appearance and softness.

dont think so, my understanding is it has to make contact with the membrane to draw out the moisture. which would mean every puff is drawing more fluid from the surface of that membrane.

I notice if im not drinking something I get wicked dry mouth after about an hour of vaping. sometimes even less.

Direct and concise. Thank you!

 

[str3ck]

great info. i knew vaping dehydrated us, but didn't know the exact reason.

 

[Jay-dub]

Wait a minute... why are humectants used in skin moisturizers? In vapor humectants dehydrate tissue but in soaps and skin softeners they hydrate? Anyway, I'm not sure I get.

 

[Thrasher]

Wait a minute... why are humectants used in skin moisturizers? In vapor humectants dehydrate tissue but in soaps and skin softeners they hydrate? Anyway, I'm not sure I get.

ya got me there as i often wonder this myself.

my guess would be in the case of vapor it draws moisture out of the body then we breath it out losing that moisture. in the case of skin contact the substance is staying put drawing moisture to the area of contact. (does that make sense? lol)

like in a bar of soap, we are standing in the shower, getting wet, since it absorbs moisture it would stand to reason it would add water from the shower to the skin surface.

 

[Jay-dub]

ya got me there as i often wonder this myself.

my guess would be in the case of vapor it draws moisture out of the body then we breath it out losing that moisture. in the case of skin contact the substance is staying put drawing moisture to the area of contact. (does that make sense? lol)

like in a bar of soap, we are standing in the shower, getting wet, since it absorbs moisture it would stand to reason it would add water from the shower to the skin surface.

But the air passing through the PV also has moisture in it. I assume the humectant in vapor attracts that moisture as well. If the humidity was high enough, the humectant may be well saturated before it even enters the body. Obviously, I'm making assumptions here. I'm really confounded by the humectant and how it works.

 

[yzer]

Wait a minute... why are humectants used in skin moisturizers? In vapor humectants dehydrate tissue but in soaps and skin softeners they hydrate? Anyway, I'm not sure I get.

VG on the skin draws enough moisture from the air to moisturize the skin. This effect varies with humidity. Skin is very different from internal tissues.

 

[Recycled Roadkill]

As far as vaping goes I've observed a relationship between temperature, humidity and vaping inside and outside. I have yet to figure out what that relationship is though. Flooded BCCs and such as an example.

 

[generic mutant]

Wait a minute... why are humectants used in skin moisturizers? In vapor humectants dehydrate tissue but in soaps and skin softeners they hydrate? Anyway, I'm not sure I get.

Quite a lot of uneducated guesswork here, so take with a pinch of salt:

Humectants adsorb water, so you get humectant molecules with lots of water molecules weakly bonded to them.

In e-liquid, there is a low concentration of water, so they pick it up when they enter your respiratory tract. You then exhale it, and repeat.

In emollients and things, the concentration of water might well be higher. They still adsorb it from your skin it seems,

http://www.makingcosmetics.com/articles/13-humectants-moisturizing-agents-in-cosmetics.pdf

But they create a layer of moisture which won't evaporate. If you kept applying more and scraping it off, I'm sure you'd dry yourself out...

 

[yzer]

Glycerin alone can moisturize the skin if humidity is over 80%. With lower than 80% humidity it actually draws moisture from the skin.