Does Vape Juice Expire or Go Bad?

“How long does vape juice last?”

When there having a great sale at vape store- or you’re just in the mood to stock up on vape juice – you might end up finding yourself in possession of more e-liquid than you can actually use in a short time frame. That may leave you feeling a bit concerned about whether your supply of vape juice is secure for the future. How long does vape juice last? Does e-liquid ever go bad?

Reading this article, you’re going to learn how long you can expect your e-liquid to last – and more importantly, you’re going to discover how to store your vape juice for maximum shelf life. Let’s begin!

How Long Does Vape Juice Last?
We’ll start by answering the questions that brought you to this page. How long can you expect vape juice to last, and when does e-liquid expire? In general, vape juice lasts for about one year after the date of manufacture. Once a bottle of vape juice becomes older than that, the quality begins to degrade.

If you’ve had a bottle of e-liquid for more than a year, the fact that the vape juice is “expired” doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t use it. However, you can expect two changes to take place when vape juice is stored for a long period of time.

·The quality of the flavour will begin to degrade. Volatile flavour components will break down and mingle with one another, and the overall flavour profile will not taste the same as it did when the e-liquid was new. If you try an old bottle of e-liquid and don’t enjoy it, you shouldn’t base your opinion of the e-liquid on that experience because the flavour probably isn’t the same as it was originally.

·The quantity of active nicotine in the e-liquid will decrease because nicotine is a volatile chemical that breaks down in storage. With a high-nicotine e-liquid, you may actually see visual evidence of the degradation in the form of yellowing. Even if the vape juice doesn’t turn yellow, though, you’ll probably find that it’s less satisfying to use after it’s been stored for a long time. After around a year of storage, the degradation of the nicotine may be quite noticeable.

When you buy a large quantity of e-liquid for long-term storage, you may find it helpful to note the date of purchase. Once you’ve reached the point where the e-liquid has been in storage for several months, it’s time to start thinking about using it before the quality begins to suffer.

These days, it’s very common for vape juice manufacturers to put expiration dates on their products’ labels. If you have a bottle of e-liquid with an expiration date, you can defer to that when trying to figure out how long the e-liquid will last. In general, vape juice makers agree with the notion that a bottle of e-liquid maintains peak quality for about one year after it’s manufactured.

What Happens to E-Liquid in Storage?
As we’ve just described, the flavours and the nicotine in a bottle of e-liquid will both start to degrade in long-term storage. The degradation happens because the various compounds in the vape juice oxidise, evaporate and intermingle with one another to form new compounds.

It’s interesting to note, however, that some people actually store their e-liquids in a way that actively encourages those processes to happen. Storing e-liquid with the intent of accelerating the aging process is called steeping, and you might want to steep vape juice if you’re unhappy with the initial flavour when you first purchase it. During the steeping process, you’ll repeatedly open the bottle to expose it to oxygen, and you’ll also shake the bottle periodically to encourage the compounds to mingle.

Steeping e-liquid has two primary effects that may be beneficial.

·It encourages alcohol-based flavours to evaporate. If you don’t enjoy a bottle of e-liquid because you find that the flavour has a harsh edge, it’s likely that the e-liquid uses some alcohol-based flavours. Steeping will make those flavours less evident.

·It encourages the flavour molecules in the e-liquid to interact with one another. If you don’t enjoy a bottle of e-liquid because it somehow tastes “incomplete” or because an individual flavour note seems to stick out over the others, you may find that steeping improves the e-liquid.

It’s important to remember that, because steeping accelerates the aging process, it’ll also shorten an e-liquid’s shelf life. Once a bottle of vape juice reaches the point at which you’re happy with its flavour, you should use it right away because the flavour will only degrade once it’s reached its peak.

How to Store Vape Juice for Maximum Shelf Life
If you’re thinking about buying vape juice in bulk, you need to have a plan for how you’re going to store your e-liquid for maximum shelf life. In general, your goal when storing vape juice should be to minimise the e-liquid’s exposure to heat and oxygen, as those are the two factors that primarily influence the rate at which an e-liquid’s quality degrades. Follow these tips to ensure that your vape juice will be as tasty several months down the road as it is right now.

·Don’t open a bottle of e-liquid until you’re ready to use it. Keeping the bottle closed helps to prevent the nicotine and delicate flavour compounds from oxidising.

·Store your e-liquid in a cool, dark place that’s protected from sunlight. A high cabinet in an air-conditioned kitchen, for example, is a good storage place for vape juice.

·If you don’t expect to use a bottle of e-liquid for a very long time, consider storing it in your refrigerator to slow down the molecular changes happening within the e-liquid as much as possible.

·If you’re stocking up on vape juice for long-term storage, consider looking for e-liquid in glass bottles. You’ll typically pay a bit more than you would for vape juice in plastic bottles, but glass is chemically inert and won’t react with the volatile compounds in the e-liquid.