​The Difference Between Mouth to Lung Vs Direct to Lung Inhale Vaping

There are many terms to get to grips with when starting your vaping adventure, from the basic e liquid, e juice, e cig, sub ohm vaping and so on. These are fairly self-explanatory and you quickly get to grips with them. One set of terms that has had people confused however is “mouth to lung” and “direct to lung” vaping. We look at what these are and how they are different.

What is Mouth to Lung Inhaling?

As the name suggests, this is a way of inhaling the flavoured vapour that your e cigarette device produces. You take a draw, take the vapour into your mouth, hold it, and then inhale fully into your lungs, before exhaling. You might hear this referred to as MTL for short.

What is Direct to Lung Inhalation?
Again, as the name suggests you inhale the vapour straight into your lungs, this time without holding it in your mouth. This form of vaping is often called DTL rather than direct to lung. Some might mention “straight to lung”, this is exactly the same thing.

Either/Or
There is no wrong choice in terms used or indeed which method you use. It’s all about finding the perfect vape for you and your individual needs.There is very much a trial and error situation here. Try both and see which you feel satisfies you the most.

Mouth to Lung Benefits
New vapers, generally, tend to start with mouth to lung as it offers a good throat hit, perfect if you are just switching over from tobacco cigarettes. For delivery of vapour with a higher nicotine level, this is a good place to start. Of course, MTL isn’t just for new vapers, far from it. Many experienced/advanced vapers believe that mouth to lung offers a better flavour experience that direct to lung does, which make sense given the roll over the tongue way of vaping.

Direct to Lung Benefits
Direct to lung vaping can actually be pretty intense, and it might make you cough to start with. Many describe this way of vaping as the one that is most like the experience of smoking a tobacco cigarette, both in action and strength of throat hit.

Cloud chasers, those who love the the big vape cloud action are more likely to be direct to lung vapers as this method is the better way to produce what you are looking for, intense, flavour-filled clouds.

How To Achieve the Perfect Inhalation
How do you know that you are getting it right? These tips will help.

Direct to Lung Vaping Technique
Hold your loaded up device and take a slow, steady draw straight into your lungs. There’s no special way to do this, you simply breathe it in as you would take a deep breath when out and about. If your e cig has a feature which allows you to adjust the airflow open this up to full before vaping to allow more air into the vape.

Mouth to Lung Vaping Technique
Rather than breathe in your vapour straight to your lung, hold it in your mouth, savour it and then inhale to lung. Unlike the quick drag on a cigarette, you would normally take in a longer draw when mouth to lung vaping. Holding the vapour in your mouth before inhaling may take a few tries to get right but if it’s the right method for you it’s worth trying and perfecting.

Which E Liquids are Best?
Again, trial and error is probably the best way to go when working out what works best for you however generally, vapers choose these types of e liquids with their chosen inhalation method.

E Liquids for Mouth to Lung
High PG e liquids (those with a high propylene glycol level) tend to be most popular with mouth to lung vapers as they give a great throat hit. A 50% PG / 50% VG ratio works very well.

E Liquids for Direct to Lung Vaping
Given that vapers choosing direct to lung vaping tend to be those looking for, or certainly enjoying, the bigger cloud experience high VG (Vegetable Glycerin) e liquids tend to work best. Asides from the big cloud benefits high VG e liquids tend to offer a smoother, less harsh vape. Look for 70:30 and 80:20 rations of VG to PG in your favourite flavours.

Nicotine Levels for MTL and DTL
What nicotine levels you choose will come down to personal preference however due to the way these two inhalation methods worth it may be worth considering the following guidance, at least when starting out.

MTL Nicotine Strength
Those who have just switched over from tobacco cigarette smoking to vaping might find that they favour stronger nicotine levels. Experience shows us that those enjoying MTL vaping tend to do so with e liquids that have a higher nicotine strength level.

DTL Nicotine Strength
Due to the way that vapour goes straight into your lungs many DTL vapers tend to opt for a lower nicotine level, finding higher levels giving too much of a throat hit and therefore being too harsh.

Zero nicotine e liquids to 0.6% strength e juice maximum tend to be the preferred strength for DTL.

The Best Option?
There is no best option, there are simply two more ways that you may customise your vaping experience dependant on your individual likes, wants and needs. If switching over from tobacco cigarettes we might suggest starting with mouth to lung vaping as many new vapers report that this method is most like cigarette smoking therefore most familiar to them and most likely to help them switch over successfully and permanently.

Do experiment though as what is good for one might not be right for the other.

Do you prefer mouth to lung or direct to lung vaping? What have your experiences been?