Noob questions - how long do ingredients last?

[skoot]

Does VG expire or go bad? What about the plain e-juice (100mg/ml)? Should they be stored in glass, in the dark, refrigerated, frozen, etc? Any reason not to buy the largest quantity of either to use over a long time?

(I know about the dangers of 100mg, I have a fair bit of experience with chemistry and will take all precautions.)

Also, how much do you typically mix up at once? Seems like a good idea to make a few 15ml batches all at once, so they can steep. I suppose once you get the recipe dialed in, you could make a quart or so?

 

[Thrasher]

well vg is a natural plant based substance so i would imagine eventually it will go bad.
long term i would put it in the fridge, even longer maybe the freezer.
i usually have a qt or two of pg and vg sitting in the cab for weeks and dont notice any problems.

I suppose once you get the recipe dialed in, you could make a quart or so?

with one of my faves this is exactly what i do then transfer it into 30ml bottles so im always popping a fresh one from the back of the cabinet.

 

[yzer]

The best VG (Glycerin USP) has an expiration date. The 6 oz. bottles I purchased at a drug store recently have an expiration date of 12/2017. That's four and a half years from now.

These Glycerin USP bottles have a plastic cap and underneath that is a tough plastic seal that must be pulled off prior to use. That seal is essential to maintaining the USP grade. Once the seal is broken the product is no longer USP after having been exposed to moisture in the air. Once the seal is broken the Glycerin should be used within twelve to eighteen months.

Glycerin USP says Glycerin USP on the label. The label also has an expiration date and a lot number.

Now, if I buy a 55-gallon drum of Glycerin USP, stick a pump into it and fill 55 one-gallon jugs of it for resale I can't call the product Glycerin USP any longer because it has been exposed to open air. The glycerin will no longer store up to five years: it should be used within twelve to eighteen months.

That's why quality sellers of VG nicotine base made from Glycerin USP will recommend using their product within twelve to eighteen months. Freezing or refrigerating the base liquid may help to extend that storage time as many here on the DIY forum will attest.

 

[Thompson]

After emailing Essential Depot about best storage methods for their PG & VG, they told me about a year shelf life. Along with no difference between storing them in glass or HDPE plastic, and apparently no need to freeze it. I've not opened either yet, keep them in the dark in an area that stays around 68F.

Goes against what WL told me about storing their nic bases though.

 

[skoot]

Good info. So don't buy more than a year's worth. I can vacuum seal it as well once frozen, too.

Does that apply to both pure VG and the 100mg/ml VG I'd use as a base?

 

[yzer]

Good info. So don't buy more than a year's worth. I can vacuum seal it as well once frozen, too.

Does that apply to both pure VG and the 100mg/ml VG I'd use as a base?

Yes. 100 mg VG base I buy has an expiration date and lot number printed on the label. It is made from Glycerin USP. The expiration dates have been in the one year range. "Pure VG" really has no meaning. "Glycerin USP" is USA pharmaceutical quality and it has a very specific meaning.

 

[yzer]

Incidentally skoot, I like your avatar. Movie avatars are pretty popular here on ECF and that one from Blue Velvet is cool. One of the ECF moderators uses an avatar of a stern-looking Army guy. It's Sgt. Maj. Plumley from We Were Soldiers.

 

[JUDGMENT AFFIRMED]

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...omsday-prepping-possible-fda-restriction.html

 

[skoot]

Yeah, if it comes to that I'll figure out how to extract it from tobacco leaves, patches, gum, whatever. It's so fracking ironic, because something else just got legalized in my state, and it's now a bigger fine to be caught smoking a cigarette on our pedestrian mall than something else.

 

[Carole]

I got some PG and some VG from the local pharmacy (in sealed glass bottles); the PG is good for another 3 years and the VG for 2.5 years, according to the dates on the bottles. The pharmacist ordered it from the lab for me, so I imagine that the products were packaged recently and are good for 3 years after having been sealed by the manufacturer. When I picked these up, I asked what nicotine concentrations he can get and he said he can make any concentration since he can get nicotine in powdered form. Might be worth looking in to what your local pharmacist can do for you if the liquid stuff becomes unavailable or needs freezing for long term storage.

 

[skoot]

Yeah, that's not going to happen in the US.