Lockdown is almost over! At long last, we can finally start planning to get out of the house and meet friends again!
So now is as good a time as any to remind ourselves of proper vaping etiquette. Whether you’ll need to vape in public, return to an office environment or just host a vaper this summer, this guide is for you. We’ve packed the article with 9 solid tips that are easy to follow, even after COVID.
1: Near Non-Vapers? Keep on keeping your distance
Take an extra few steps away from a non-vaper before you fire up next month. If a non-vaper can smell your cloud, they’ll know they’re breathing in air that you’ve just breathed out. This feeling of ‘old air’ isn’t good for anyone’s nerves in a squeamish post-Covid world. Keep your second-hand vapour to yourself by staying at least 2 metres away from people when you vape. It will make others feel much more comfortable (which is, ultimately, what good etiquette is all about).
2: Vaping indoors? Get permission
If you’re — at long last — meeting friends indoors, ask before you vape. Even if you’re in your own home, it’s polite to at least warn non-vapers that you’re about to start puffing. When you’re in an enclosed space, smells and vapour of any kind can feel very intrusive. It’s only fair to warn non-vapers first.
Even if you do have permission to vape, don’t suddenly start cloud chasing. Keep the airflow on your vape respectfully tight. Try to exhale away from others, and if you’re going to be indoors for a while, take a seat by a window.
3: Vaping in the garden? Follow BBQ rules
Don’t let e-cigarette vapour invade your neighbour’s garden. Treat vape clouds like barbecue smoke. Seat vaping guests away from boundary fences, and if your neighbour has just hung a load of laundry on the line, be especially careful. E-cigarette vapour is unlikely to leave a smell on your neighbour’s fresh washed bedsheet, but they don’t know that. The polite thing to do is to avoid annoying or worrying them in the first place.
4: Vaping on the move? Check downstream
If you’ve ever walked behind a smoker on a busy street, you’ll know what it’s like to get an unexpected lungful of tobacco fumes. E-liquid vapour doesn’t contain the harmful toxins of a cigarette footnote 2, but for non-vaping pedestrians, it can be just as offensive as tobacco smoke. If you’re on a busy street, consider waiting to vape until you’ve reached a quieter area.
5: Vaping with smokers? Don’t oversell it.
I’m a huge fan of vaping, and I can’t always stop myself from telling my smoker friends how good vaping is. Nobody wants a lecture when they’re on their puff break, so I do have to be careful … and so should you!
As a rule, try to wait for someone to ask you about vaping before you tell them all about it. Give an honest account of your own experience. Try not to tell friends how they will feel when they give vaping a go. If they go in with high expectations and it takes them a little longer to find their feet, you could perhaps put them off.
6: Need to charge your mod? Ask first!
Most people wouldn’t think twice if you asked them to charge your vape device … but you should still ask. If you’re offered a choice, pick a plug socket out of reach of small children. Kitchen countertop plugs are usually a good choice.
Reassure any non-vapers that the vape kit you’ve brought into their home is safe to charge. Your host may have heard horror stories about e-cigarette batteries, and they’ll thank you for a little reassurance before you plug in.
7: Hosting a vaper? Make them comfortable
Having a vaper round to your house? As soon as they arrive, show them the areas of your house where it’s OK to vape. It takes a lot of the pressure off your guests when they know whereabouts they can vape guilt-free.
If a vaper stays with you overnight, try to make their bedroom as vape-friendly as you can. Give them a level surface where they can fill and charge their device easily. A small dresser or desk, ideally near a plug socket, is perfect.
8: Hitting the beach? Keep the cloud small
The UK’s beaches are going to be tightly packed this year. Few of us have booked holidays abroad, and we all want to take a break and get away from our normal lives for a few days. If you’re on a busy beach, try not to vape if you can avoid it. You don’t know how long the person in the neighbouring deckchair has had to wait for this seaside break. They deserve fresh, unadulterated sea air. Not even the tastiest e-liquid in the world is going to be welcomed by someone who has been waiting to look out over the coast for more than a year.
9: Living with a non-vaper? Thank them!
If you’ve been cohabiting with someone who doesn’t vape during lockdown, then that person deserves your full praise. For more than a year we’ve all been stuck in a holding pattern indoors together, living shoulder to shoulder in unnaturally close conditions … and few non-vapers appreciate having their indoor spaces filled with flavoured air, day-in day-out.
If you’ve been able to stay away from cigarettes for the duration of lockdown, then it’s probably thanks to the support of the people you live with. You’ve got some special non-vapers in your household — make sure you thank them for their patience and understanding!
Above all, enjoy yourself!
Gareth and I can’t wait to see the back of lockdown. It’s been a pretty disruptive and scary time for so many people, so we’re delighted that the vaccine roll-out is going so well. The sooner we can all put lockdown behind us, the better for everyone.
I hope these tips help you navigate the return to normal social life. Enjoy getting back to normal — we’re with you in spirit!