Does Vape Juice Go Bad? — E-liquid Expiration Explained

Does Vape Juice Go Bad?
Yes. Like that forgotten orange you packed in your bag for work only to retrieve it 5 weeks later… it goes bad.
Often, when you see liquids packed in small containers, such as food colouring, you think it will never run out;  however, like any other product that you consume, vape juice has an expiration date that we would recommend adhering to.
Unfortunately, Sometimes the bottle might get dirty or you might lose the label, meaning that you will need to look out for some key signs to check whether or not your once delightful, ambrosial vape juice has gone “stale” and chuck it out.
Luckily there are a few signs which can easily indicate dodgy vape liquid. If you check for these, you will be able to throw away liquid that needs to go and hold onto liquid that you can still use.

Signs that your e-juice is going bad 

1.Discoloration
We all pay attention to the colour of the food that we consume… I mean, nobody would ever eat that mouldy pizza gone grey sat on the kitchen surface for a month so why would you consume vape juice that looks out of the ordinary?
In order to know whether the colour of your vape juice is dodgy then you should know what colour it should look like.
Naturally, your vape juice will change colour as the nicotine meets molecules of air. It is a natural process that you can’t prevent happening.
Don’t be afraid though.
Although in the world of vaping oxidation is normally associated with problems such as the oxidation of the coil which releases toxic chemicals, oxidised nicotine does not alter your vaping experience.
However, as the nicotine becomes over-oxidised the colour will change significantly. I recommend taking a picture of the original color of the vape juice.
If the bottle is coloured, making it hard to see your vape juice, you could always pour a few drops on a piece of paper taking a picture of your vape liquid when you get it. That way you can compare the original vape colour with the vape juice at a later date if you are concerned about it.

2.Thickness changing
You’re probably sick of my disgusting imagery of rotten food but hey-oh, I think it gets the point across…
Like that milk you bought from walmart and left in the back of your car, only to rediscover next august, expired vape juice can look more-like a block of moisturised lard.
On the other hand, vape juices can get a little bit thick as they are left without shaking for awhile but this is not problematic. If you know that this is something normal, you can avoid chucking out your vape juice when it is not necessary, saving you money. Just give it a little bit of a shake.
Remember this little aphorism: if it looks like a block of lard, throw it in the yard, if it looks a little thick, give it a bit of a kick and a shake and it’ll be alright.
As with the color of your vape liquids, you should be aware of how viscous your vape juice is supposed to be.
Each flavour of vape juice should have its own unique consistency. In general, fluids rich in PG will be less viscous (more liquidy) than fluids rich in vegetable glycerin.
VG fluids are much thicker because, in general, they are used for more vape smoking tricks like oh’s and whatever weird shapes you can make with your vape.
One easy way (very obvious as well) to check whether the vape juice is at the right consistency is to just try pouring your vape as usual and counting how long it takes to come out of the bottle.
If it takes too long to pour out of the bottle, it is more than likely that it has gone bad.

3.Bad smell
Remember that scene in ratatouille where he teaches the other rats in paris about which cheese isn’t poisonous? Well hidden in that scene is some excellent advice about how to check whether your vape juice has gone bad (who would have thought ey?).
It is very simple stuff: If it smells iffy, it is definitely bad.
That moisturised block of green lard I talked about, which you would call “bad vape juice”, also stinks.
Unfortunately there is not yet a WordPress plugin that lets you apply smells to your blog so I can’t really accurately describe how it smells. But if your vape juice smells weird, you will know about it….

How to throw away a bad vape bottle sustainably?
It is dangerous to carelessly throw away vape bottles. Unless you want to get all the local pets and children addicted to nicotine or whatever else you mix with your vape juice (which we highly discourage), you should avoid just pouring your bottles into the trash or the basin.
If you pour vape juice down the basin, it is likely to get into the water supply.
Just imagine if you had CBD or THC mixed with your vape juice.
Moreover, If you throw your vape juice into the bin, it could be easily accessed by house pets. We recommend mixing vape juice with kitty litter or grounded coffee as both of these materials can absorb the vape juice, making it harder to get to. It would then be safe to throw away.
You could also put the spare, expired vape juice into a spray bottle. Since bugs and other pests do not like nicotine, the spray can be used as a pesticide.

How to store your vape bottle better?
Sunlight speeds up the process of nicotine oxidation by giving the chemical reaction more energy. To avoid this, you could cover your vape juice bottles in a dark material and keep it out of the sunlight.
We also recommend making sure that all vape juice is tightly sealed and put into a cabinet to prevent exposure to sunlight.