Juices... What Storage Life?

[bucken]

As a newbie, I've been trying to learn as much as I can through the enormous information available on the forums. There is one topic, however, that I haven't seen discussed much, yet...

What is the proper way to store juices? And what is the typical storage life of juice? I'm beginning to accumulate a variety of different flavors, in my search for that elusive, ADV, so how should they be stored, and how long can I expect them to last?

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[Talyon]

Some people store in the refrigerator, some in a cool dark place. Keep out of direct sunlight. Most liquids have a born date or a best by date this can be between 1-2 years but that's somewhat subjective.

Happy Vapeing to yah!

 

[jayyco]

I keep my just in my desk drawers, anyplace room temperature is fine, anywhere away from UV rays, this includes sun light, light bulbs, ect. In room temperature climates juices typically tend to last anywhere from 6-12 months (depending on your pg/vg level and flavor). Like Taylon said you can keep them in a refrigerator, and when you keep them there they tend to last between 1-2 years.

Just as long as your juice is away from heat and UV rays your fine. And most bottles tell you there exp. dates, just incase you haven't checked.

 

[brannagh]

I have always heard/read that it is somewhere around 1 year.

 

[Stosh]

Flavored juices will deteriorate faster than unflavored nicotine juice. Mostly it's the flavors that will change and often not for the better. In a cool dark spot you can get at least a year for flavored. The flavorings are much more volatile and subject to evaporation than any other juice ingredients.

Unflavored in the freezer will last for years, not sure anyone has a definite answer of exactly how long, but 2 years is often sited.

 

[fredman0007]

As a newbie, I've been trying to learn as much as I can through the enormous information available on the forums. There is one topic, however, that I haven't seen discussed much, yet...

What is the proper way to store juices? And what is the typical storage life of juice? I'm beginning to accumulate a variety of different flavors, in my search for that elusive, ADV, so how should they be stored, and how long can I expect them to last?

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I've heard it depends on the juice + how long it takes for said juice to steep ... any juice that I like gets used fairly quickly, any not and it is used for carbon layers on wicks lol

 

[C4M3120N]

I'm fairly new myself, what I heard from the grapevine is you can definitely expect it to last about a year. Some people seem to have some fairly odd rituals when it comes to storing them or caring for them. This one guy I saw on youtube opened the bottle for an hour, closed it, shook it up, locked it in a dark closet for a week, opened it up again for an hour and shook it again then locked it back in the darkness for another week before he even took one drag of it. This was his steeping method, steeping is argued to bring out more flavor over time.

I heard storing it in the fridge can damage the flavors, also keeping it in a brightly lit room can effect it negatively.

I would have to imagine, keeping it somewhere out of the light would be best!

 

[Katya]

If it tastes and smells good, it's OK to vape. There's nothing in the eliquid that can go bad. It may lose its potency and flavor, but it won't hurt you. I have 3-year-old juices that are still vapable. Some may even improve with age.

 

[bucken]

LOL, 3 years sounds like some serious steeping. Thanks, all, for your input. Sounds like I needn't worry.

 

[Bunnykiller]

Im lucky if I can keep a bottle ( 100ml) around for 3 weeks....

 

[mraymer]

From personal experience, I can tell you that the quality of some juice I had was bad, very bad, after 5 years of sitting in a drawer. The taste was horrible and made me cough uncontrollably for several minutes. I'm all for steeping when necessary, but I'll try to keep 'em fresh from now on.

 

[Mimi Hen]

I have 3-year-old juices that are still vapable. Some may even improve with age. [/QUOTE]

3 years?!! LOL

 

[MarkD77]

Well, given the fact that "natural flavors" could mean anything, I'm sure we don't know 100% what's in that ~20% of the tasty juices we vape. That said, I'm sure there is something in many flavored juices that could go bad eventually.

I'm still somewhat new to vaping, so I don't have anything laying around nearly that old. I'd probably feel weird with using anything that sits a while. I dunno that I'd ever use anything a year old. But that doesn't mean it's bad. I think that if it smells and tastes fine, it's not likely to hurt you.

I've also heard that freezing the unflavored DIY juice can double it's life, and that storing flavored juices in the fridge can reduce life for some reason.

 

[Katya]

Im lucky if I can keep a bottle ( 100ml) around for 3 weeks....

I know. I don't usually vape 3-year-old eliquids.

From personal experience, I can tell you that the quality of some juice I had was bad, very bad, after 5 years of sitting in a drawer. The taste was horrible and made me cough uncontrollably for several minutes. I'm all for steeping when necessary, but I'll try to keep 'em fresh from now on.

Correct. I had juices that turned disgustingly brown and horrid after less than a year. But then they were never very good to begin with...

3 years?!! LOL

Seriously now. I don't vape 3-year-old juices--and I don't endorse it. What happened was I was cleaning my closets and I found some forgotten bottles, 3- and 4-years old... Most of those juices were promptly flushed down the toilet--they really didn't look or smell appealing. But a few of them, the clear and clean ones, seemed OK so I gave them a try--and they were perfectly vapable.

Well, given the fact that "natural flavors" could mean anything, I'm sure we don't know 100% what's in that ~20% of the tasty juices we vape. That said, I'm sure there is something in many flavored juices that could go bad eventually.

I'm still somewhat new to vaping, so I don't have anything laying around nearly that old. I'd probably feel weird with using anything that sits a while. I dunno that I'd ever use anything a year old. But that doesn't mean it's bad. I think that if it smells and tastes fine, it's not likely to hurt you.

I've also heard that freezing the unflavored DIY juice can double it's life, and that storing flavored juices in the fridge can reduce life for some reason.

I agree.

From an expert (and chemist):

(snip)

Shelf life for eliquid, I believe, is a purely notional thing.

There is no reason that a sealed bottle of USP PG or VG should ever go bad or change in any perceptible manner. Yet, you'll typically see expiration dates on these items. When you add a component such as nicotine or tobacco alkaloids, you now have something in the mix that's subject to oxidation.

(snip)

As far as how long you can effectively keep an eliquid is a topic I've blogged on in the past. The truth of the matter is that the topic is really being over-thought. There is nothing that a year or two of storage will do to an eliquid that vaporizing at high temperature on an atty won't do many times over.

In other words, for all the care that we can give to preserving our eliquids, the final step in using them is vaporizing them on a hot coil in the presence of oxygen and inhaling the result. The alkaloids in the eliquid undergo more oxidation during the process of vaping them than probably any amount of storage time could do.

Have you ever over-dripped an atty and vaped awhile and found that a bit of liquid has leaked out the bottom of the atty and collected around the base of the atty? Mop it up with a tissue and check the color, it's pretty dark. That's what the atty is doing to the alkaloids in the liquid.

Two years is a good amount of time to assign for expiration since it's better practice to assign something than nothing for expiration. Would I vape a two or three year old WTA I made? Probably, but it never lasts nearly that long.

And from another resident chemist, Kurt:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...ic-storage-without-freezer-3.html#post9291291

There are many threads on this forum dealing with the issues of long-term storage of nicotine eilquids. Most of them conclude that 2 years is perfectly fine, even without freezing. Longer than that is somewhat debatable.

 

[Stosh]

Posted by DVap And from another resident chemist, Kurt:
....

Wow Tweety, that brings back memories....must be from some of the original "stock up now, it's gonna be banned" times. I think I have a 250 mL bottle of nic concentrate from back then...

 

[Katya]

Wow Tweety, that brings back memories....must be from some of the original "stock up now, it's gonna be banned" times. I think I have a 250 mL bottle of nic concentrate from back then...

Hiya Stosh!

 

[Stosh]

Tweety....

These threads seem to pop up every time there's a couple of "FDA" threads. I've always wondered if some of the vendors were just finding a way to boost sales....

 

[Katya]

Oh no. Just visit our Legislation forum. The FDA is about to rule again--and it's not pretty. The ANTZ don't like vaping.

back atcha!

 

[Stosh]

I follow the Legislation forum, would explain the 4,500 mL of unflavored liquid in my freezer....

 

[MarkD77]

It's like when they call for snow here in GA, and everyone thinks for some reason they just have to go out and buy a bunch of bread and milk... Except I don't think I could go through a couple gallons and loaves in the day or two that snow usually lasts here. And with anti-vape legislation, there could actually be real need for getting it while you can.