Does e liquid have a shelf life, can it spoil?

[sofarsogood]

Been vaping for a month and my collection of little bottles is growing (a 120ml bottle of juice is on order). Do I need to be watachful for spoilage? If yes, how should the liquid be stored?

Another issue I've seen raised in the forum is cleaning tanks. My intuition is to soak the componants in water and denture tablets. (It works well for getting stains off insulated stainless coffee mugs.) Is there something better?

 

[stevegmu]

I have had opened forgotten bottles lose their flavor...

 

[Avid]

Do I need to be watachful for spoilage? If yes, how should the liquid be stored?

In a cool, dark place. Some people keep it in the fridge, but I'm not sure that is necessary. Just don't expose it to light and a lot of heat and it should be fine. From my understanding, eliquids have a shelf life of about 2 years if kept properly, but I imagine some may go funky before then. If it becomes cloudy, smells or tastes odd, don't vape it.

Another issue I've seen raised in the forum is cleaning tanks. My intuition is to soak the componants in water and denture tablets. (It works well for getting stains off insulated stainless coffee mugs.) Is there something better?

I usually just run hot water over the parts, some people dip them in vodka or 99% isopropyl alcohol. All my tanks are either glass or stainless. I've heard of using denture tablets but haven't done that myself and I'm not sure how it works on the plastic tanks.

 

[daleron]

Been vaping for a month and my collection of little bottles is growing (a 120ml bottle of juice is on order). Do I need to be watachful for spoilage? If yes, how should the liquid be stored?

Another issue I've seen raised in the forum is cleaning tanks. My intuition is to soak the componants in water and denture tablets. (It works well for getting stains off insulated stainless coffee mugs.) Is there something better?

Eventually it will degrade but should be good for up to a year or two depending on if it was freshly made or not.
Keep it in a cool and dark place.
What you're doing to clean your tanks is good or you can soak in cheap vodka for an hour and rinse well with hot water afterwards

 

[Harlen]

I find hot water works just great . The mouthpiece gets cleand every day some times 2 or 5 times .
One time a week on the tanks but I kneep the same typ of juice in each one .

 

[PaulieD]

I have 2.5 year old juice that is fine, I am vaping it now.
I have kept it in my dark closet.

 

[CardinalWinds]

I started vaping in...2009 I think it was. Fell off the wagon in 2011 but started again a week ago. I'm still waiting on my first juice re-order, but had a lot of juice left over...a lot of it unopened (threw away the opened juice). These are BWB and Johnson Creek juices. Some was in the fridge and some was in a dark pantry on the lowest shelf, so both stayed dark and cool. Anyway, with the exception of one bottle of 555 that I think may have gone off, everything I've opened seems just fine. No discoloration, separate layers or particulates. It's all 24mg juice and I can vouch for the fact that the nic strength is still good. Of course, your mileage may vary.

 

[WattWick]

Had a bottle of e-liquid sit for 6+ months before opening it. It had picked up a real nasty plasticy flavor. Now I store all liquids not intended for immediate use in glass bottles.

 

[sofarsogood]

Cardinal, it sounds like most liquids are going to last indefinitely but probably some flavorings are more perishable than others. If government tries to put any sort of tax on the liquids I'm going DIY. The strategic ingrediant would be nic so one of the things I would research is its shelf life and how to store it long term. Thanks for the feed back.

 

[Sgt.Rock]

Kept Nic base and unflavored in glass and away from sunlight it oughta last several years.

Any flavored juices may have a shorter shelf life..they would be the first to go south.

 

[skoony]

i have only seen 2 vendors use expiration dates.
both dates where one year after the production date.
i assume using standard quality controls the juice
would be good far beyond that point. at least a half
year maybe up to two years.
barring the nicotine completely oxidizing(unlikely in a sealed bottle) or the flavor
going bad(?possible) the ingredients wouldn't spoil per say.
most likely settle and separate. i would think a good shaking
would reconstitute it.
no one really knows as i haven't heard of anyone having juice around
long enough.
regards
mike

 

[jdrewry]

I have a number of bottles at the one year mark; they're vaping just fine...