Juice lifespan?

[440BB]

Just like food products, the manufacturer's estimate of shelf life is for an unopened package. Once you crack a bottle open, the air exchanges will accelerate the degradation of the liquid. I think six months from when you open it is optimal, and the next six likely OK.

Here are some things I've found promote long liquid shelf life:

Light colored, transparent liquid
VG less than 50%
Full bottles
Glass bottles
Cool dark storage

 

[Lafingriot]

Thanks for all the advise! If I haven't finished a bottle in 6 months then I must have not liked the flavor (like peanut butter) then it's heading for the trash!

I got a bottle of ecto cooler (high citrus) from MBV and after two weeks it's already stained the bottle. But it's one of my favorites so it wouldn't last long

 

[RT88]

i'm thinking if you store them in a ziplock in the refrig, they will last twice as long

 

[hvac999]

I had some old Tasty Vapor juice that I found so I emailed them about shelf life. They told me that e-liquid will last two years. Of course, I would think, it will be quite a bit weaker.

 

[RT88]

after a month in the cabinet steeping

 

[JJOOHHNN]

If kept in a cool and dark place, roughly a year. After that their quality and nicotine potency begin to diminish. Steeping is often misunderstood; please read this thread for more information:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...hould-i-steep-before-after-i-make-my-mix.html

Thanks for that link.

It looks like I have to ask some more questions on the board.

 

[JJOOHHNN]

I have been doing this all wrong. How do I determine if I should air out or not and if so how do I figure out how long. I have 14 bottles that arrived today with the tops off. I wonder if I am doing a bad thing now.

 

[Tayne]

The first time I tried the whole e-cig thing was over two years ago (it didn't last long...my first e-cig was pathetic). I purchased a sample pack of CASH from Puresmoker...how long has THAT been off the shelves? Seals were broken on all of the bottles as well. Anyway, didn't attempt vaping again until last January...I smoked that whole sample pack and all I can say is: AWESOME. Only problem is I was able to switch to vaping for good and fell in love with discontinued juice. So that sucks.

I'm in no way promoting this or saying it's a good idea. I'm just saying it's vapable and didn't kill me.

 

[PLANofMAN]

I have been doing this all wrong. How do I determine if I should air out or not and if so how do I figure out how long. I have 14 bottles that arrived today with the tops off. I wonder if I am doing a bad thing now.

Yep. People confuse steeping with breathing all the time. If you need to let a juice "steep" put it in a dark place. If you need to let it "breathe" to get rid of an alcohol taste, uncap it for 10 min. to an hour each day, until the alcohol taste is gone.

As an interesting side note, Mad Murdock is talking about making a LE batch of Pluid that has been aged for a year. That being said, he can add the nicotine right before bottling, so that won't be an issue.

Personally, I've heard that some juices turn into unvapable messes after a couple of years. This was from a vendor that had a bunch of random bottles of mislabeled or sample stock laying around anywhere from 6 months to 3 years old. He cleaned out his shop and gave them all to one of his workers. The worker is the one who told me that some juices start tasting really weird after a while. Since all e-juices are acidic, I transfer all of my juice into glass bottles. I feel that this helps them keep their flavor longer, that is my opinion. I know some vendors charge more for "top shelf" pre-steeped juices.

I doubt that 20 year old juices will ever command a premium, so if you were thinking of putting some down to be vaped on your newborn child's 18th birthday, you may want to reconsider.

 

[Ryedan]

I had some old Tasty Vapor juice that I found so I emailed them about shelf life. They told me that e-liquid will last two years. Of course, I would think, it will be quite a bit weaker.

I found this about nicotine concentration over time on the MadVapes website a while back. In a nutshell, keep your juice out of the sun at room temperature and it will take a long time to see any noticeable change. Keep it in the fridge and it will take even longer.

 

[Ryedan]

The PG that I buy from the pharmacy has a marked shelf-life of 4 years. I have not tried it, but it would not surprise me to find 2 years is reasonable for juice with PG in it.

 

[Ferrel1134]

I have no idea but I do know I'm a pack rat and my untried samples are pilling up. Might have to give them away.

 

[Racehorse]

I dunno how some natural organic juices can last 2 years. Or even a year. Since some of the actual flavoring manufacturers state the flavoring must be kept refrigerated. I ordered some Natures Flavors (Kona Cream, Caramel Cream, etc.) and it says to refrigerate after opening.

So whoever said 6 months for those kinds of organic juices is probably close to the mark.

although I don't know what the "preservative" quality of PG or VG does to the flavorings put into them.

 

[Ryedan]

Organic juice is interesting Racehorse and not something I'm into so I never considered it. What is in Natures Flavors flavorings? Are they extracts?

 

[miraclejoy]

If kept in a cool and dark place, roughly a year. After that their quality and nicotine potency begin to diminish. Steeping is often misunderstood; please read this thread for more information:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...hould-i-steep-before-after-i-make-my-mix.html

Any advice of where to get started when it comes to mixing your own juices??I'am interested in learning how to mix my own juices,but dont know where to begin.Like how do you know who has good tasting bases to even get started, what Co's have quality bases,w/o going though the trial and error process?ADVICE?

 

[Ryedan]

miraclejoy, the do it yourself juice forum on ECF is a great resource. It is here. There is a lot of information in the 'Sticky Threads' at the top which is a good place to start. You will need 5 posts before you can post there, but you can read the forum now. Have fun!

 

[Satava]

I'm not sure about actual shelf life, but I do premix some 10mg Vanilla 50/50 in my old Nicotine bottles (125ml Amber Glass) and it sits for quite a while. I typically make 3-4 bottles at a time and add menthol to them when they go into a clear dispensing bottle. I then use this mix in my eGo clearo/carto tank as a backup device when my RBA is acting up on the go. These bottles have sat as long as a year and still taste/look great, though the Vanilla pinks up after about a month, by the 3 month mark it's pretty much done changing color after its a deep salmon color. Keep in mind I make this backup batch maybe once a year at the most, right when my DIY supplies come in from my vendor and I have extra bottles cleaned out and laying around.