Storing Unflavored Nic Liquid in Freezer

[beckah54]

I saw a post about storing your unflavored nic liquid in the freezer. Do you use the bottle it comes in or put it in a special container? Does nic liquid freeze solid or stay in a liquid state?

Thanks for any help.

EDIT: By the way, mine is 100% PG, if that makes a difference.

 

[zoiDman]

How much e-liquid were you planing to store? Why do you want to freeze it?

The reason I ask is I put some e-liquid in the freezer once and after I took it out, it had a funky taste to it.

If your going to freeze it, maybe you should try doing a small bottle first before you freeze 1,000ml or what ever you have.

 

[beckah54]

I only have 60 ml right now. I'm planning on buying up quite a bit of unflavored high nic liquid to DIY before the federal tobacco laws start taxing the heck out of it. Thought maybe freezing helps keep it fresh over a longer period of time or so I assumed from various posts I've read.

So you had a bad taste from storing your unflavored nic juice in the freezer?

 

[Old Chemist]

Well... those "various post" describe quite theoretical storage. Unflavored nic solution kept in the fridge (not freezer!) will last for some years. More important is keeping it away from light and oxygen (ie air).

 

[Liv2Ski]

Here are some answers for you about the freezing point of PG:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/general-e-liquid-discussion/132085-freezing.html

For the record I have over 2 liters and store mine in the man cave away from light and in a cool cabinet. Since I have children in the house I would not want 100mg/ml nic in the freezer where it could get knocked out and have a bottle smash on the floor.

 

[beckah54]

Well... those "various post" describe quite theoretical storage. Unflavored nic solution kept in the fridge (not freezer!) will last for some years. More important is keeping it away from light and oxygen (ie air).

Thanks for the info, Old Chemist. That's exactly what I needed to know.

Thanks Liv2Ski, also good info.

 

[zoiDman]

I only have 60 ml right now. I'm planning on buying up quite a bit of unflavored high nic liquid to DIY before the federal tobacco laws start taxing the heck out of it. Thought maybe freezing helps keep it fresh over a longer period of time or so I assumed from various posts I've read.

So you had a bad taste from storing your unflavored nic juice in the freezer?

If I was you I would wait until this tax you speak of is a reality. I didn't say it was "Bad". It just tatsed off in some way. If I was desperate I guess I could have used it. But it was only 15ml I did as a test. I thru it out.

Well... those "various post" describe quite theoretical storage. Unflavored nic solution kept in the fridge (not freezer!) will last for some years. More important is keeping it away from light and oxygen (ie air).

OC is correct. Light and Oxygen are not good for e-Liquids. I store Nicotine Liquid Base in a GLASS bottle inside a cardboard box in a hall closet for long term storage.

 

[Kurt]

My unflavored 100 mg VG is stored in small glass bottles in the freezer. The nic is very pure, and the VG sets up like rubber cement, but does not freeze solid, and does not expand. After over 18 months, that liquid is as fresh as the day I got it.

That said, my TW unflavored 36 mg PG, which was sitting in the freezer for as long developed a strongish tobacco flavor, probably because the TW nic is not high quality, from China, probably less than perfect extraction and purification, so there were tobacco compounds (actually listed in the ingredients) which will inevitably "bloom" in flavor over time, cold or not, because the PG stays quite liquid in the freezer.

Also from TW, I had some Decadent Vapor 54 mg PG unflavored, also the same time in the freezer. Didn't freeze, of course, since its PG, and also didn't change at all, in color (none) or flavor, since they use pure nic for that.

So I would definitely recommend storing unflavored VG nic liquid, if its high qualtiy nic, in the freezer, in glass. PG, being more mobile, will likely keep longer than at room temp, but depending on the purity of the nic, might turn a bit...probably not enough to reduce the nic significantly though.

60 mL, however, is probably not enough to worry about, other than keeping it in the dark and dry. I generally have a 50 mL amber glass bottle of 100 mg VG I am using for my DIYs, and it can be at room temp for months and be ok.

Plastic for high nic, especially in PG, for long term storage is not a good idea. Depending on the plastic, the PG can leach the plasticizers from it. Glass is best for almost all vaping liquids, for very loing term storage.

Is the freezer overkill? Maybe to an extent, although my obsessive side likes it, and there is something about pulling out another cold bottle for DIY that is very satisfaying because I KNOW it will be as good as when I got it. But much of the reaction with oxygen is from O2 that was already naturally dissolved in the VG or PG using to make the nic liquid, and more is introduced with high stirring when the liquid is mixed. With VG, the freezer sets it up to be so thick that molecules just don't get around much, which greatly slows the kinetics of the inevitable reaction of nic with O2. You can tell this reaction has happened as the liquid will yellow or even brown. No color change at all with my frozen liquid.

 

[beckah54]

Thanks for your input Kurt. I knew I had read somewhere in the Veterans forum about freezing eliquid but I was having trouble finding the thread.

 

[salemgold]

I agree with Kurt 100% I have been freezing mine for about 8 months now with no issues at all.

 

[Kurt]

The original thread was one started by momacat in The myfreedomsmokes forum:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/myfreedomsmokes/43742-smoke-juice-storage-tips.html

The equipment is listed close to the beginning of the thread, then I process 35 mg VG, then at about post #34 I describe how I do 100 mg VG, which is unthinned, BTW.

This was when I started really thinking about all the chemistry that can take place in unflavored nic, and what the very best way a research chemist would make sure the liquid was unchanged over the long haul. the thread is a bit longish (6 pages) but kinda follows the evolution of my method, what to get, where to buy the stuff from, and most importantly what I do to process and store this dangerous stuff in bottles designed for syringe dispensing, in the safest way possible. That was over 18 months ago, and I still use the method for storage and safe dispensing. Some people get 100 mg and then immediately mix it down to safer and more manageable levels for diy. I do not, for the simple reason that I do not want to introduce anything, like water or PG or alcohol that might bring other unknowns into the liquid that is sitting for months and months. Realize that this was also at the time when every day we were watching to see if the FDA was going to win its case against NJoy and SmokingEverywhere, and drop the other shoe and ban the whole industry, so the method is meant to make sure the precious liquid stores unchanged with no uncertainties for a long long time, as every purchase we made might be our last. That is not the case anymore it seems, or at least its less threatening, but as they say, desperation is the mother of invention, and so this is what I came up with. There is lots of talk there about desiccants to ward off ambient water...not an issue at all with a sealed glass bottle...and vacuum sealing the bottles in a vac-container...also not at all needed, and expensive. Glass bottle, euro-dropper insert as a gasket and syringe septum, little head-room above the liquid in the bottle, a tight sealed cap, and very cold environment, and you immediately have on-demand, ready to dispense, perfect nic, for many many months...depending on how much you buy, of course. I have total about a liter of 100 mg VG, and about 500 mL of 35 mg VG. I go through a 50 mL bottle of 100 mg in about 6 months, so it will be a very long time before I have to worry about having good nic.

And, as a bonus, the euro-dropper inserts that came with my 50 mL bottles from SpecialtyBottles.com also fit PA's 15 mL glass bottles she uses for flavors, so many of my flavors now are spill-proof, almost as good a thing as spill-proof 100 mg nic, and they are syringe dispensed through the insert. How often during DIY do you keep saying to yourself "Please don't knock over the flavor bottle before the lid is back on!!" Well, with this, its moot.

Better vaping through chemistry. Safe, effective, accurate, clean, least expensive, and long-term stable chemistry.

 

[randyith]

for many many months...depending on how much you buy

Kurt,

The key to your statement is for many months. Folks need to realize you cannot store it for many YEARS.

 

[unmatter]

How often during DIY do you keep saying to yourself "Please don't knock over the flavor bottle before the lid is back on!!" Well, with this, its moot.

Never, I use waxed paper and if I spill any it's easy to fold a crease in it and pour it right back into the bottle!

Oh and BTW I also have been storing my PG based 60mg liquid in the freezer for about a year with no noticeable change in color or potency.

 

[TomCatt]

Hey Kurt, if I ever run low, can I swing by and borrow a cup of juice?

 

[beckah54]

Oh and BTW I also have been storing my PG based 60mg liquid in the freezer for about a year with no noticeable change in color or potency.

Good to know that long time storage in the freezer has not affected the color or potency of your liquid. Thanks for the information.

 

[Kurt]

Time will tell, of course. But if after 19 months there is no detectable change, one can extrapolate to quite a long time.

@tomcatt: borrow?