E-Liquid Storage: Tips for Preserving Your Extra Vape Juice

Following many months of building your vape juice collection, you now have several bottles of e-juice to turn to. That’s always a good feeling. Question is, are you storing the juice the right way to preserve the integrity of the flavour? The last thing you want is to invest in bottles of e-liquid only to find out one or more have gone stale from a lack of proper storage. E-liquid does expire, you know… It doesn’t come with a nailed-on expiration date but the general consensus is that it should be used within roughly a year, although some like to push the edge of the envelope and drag it out to two years. For best taste and results, though, it is a good idea to keep it within the one-year ballpark. Now, since you have a bunch of flavours to make a pick from, you want to make sure you keep everything fresh. Here are some tips on how to store your e-liquid properly to safeguard the flavour (and investment!).

Avoid Direct Heat (and Air)

Heat and flavours – e-juice or otherwise – don’t mix. When heat comes into contact with perishable items, it sparks a chemical reaction that has a negative effect on the item. Like most consumables, e-juice is perishable. The more heat it is subjected to, the more accelerated the chemical breakdown. This greatly alters the flavour, and more often than not, it is for the worse. The best way to store e-liquid is in a cool and dry place away from direct sunlight. Avoid placing your bottles near heat sources like stoves, heaters or even spots where candles are frequently burned. If e-liquid steeping is a pastime of yours, consider investing in a vape juice storage box. It helps keep your e-liquid cool and dry, and comes with a lock for safety as a bonus. Storing e-liquid in the car should be avoided, especially during the warm months. As well, exposing your juice to air will have a negative effect on it. As with AV rays from the sun, too much oxygen will compromise the flavour of the juice. A little air is fine if you intend to use the juice in the near future. But too much of it will lead to the production of cotinine, a process that occurs over time and weakens the nicotine in the juice – and in the process, impacting on flavour as well.

What about the Refrigerator?

Sure, you can store your juice in the fridge, but that is not necessary especially in the case of e-liquid bottles that have been opened or you are currently using. The frequent changes in temperature when you take the bottle out of the refrigerator and then back again are not ideal conditions for maintaining e-liquid flavour. We are not the biggest fans of refrigerated e-juice, but if you must, you can stash it away in the freezer for when you want to preserve it for a prolonged period of time. It will not freeze, but it will become a bit thick. You can read that in more detail here: Does E-Juice Freeze?

More E-Liquid Storage Tips

The best way to store your vape juice is to use tinted glass bottles. These not only help keep out direct sunlight, but also glass has zero effect on flavour. And that’s what we want. Plastic bottles are fine, provided you don’t intend to store the juice for months. Ensure the bottle(s) is screwed on tight so that no air can get in. Actually, if the juice isn’t much, consider pouring it in a smaller bottle if it is in a larger bottle so as to lock out excess air. While you are at it, it never hurts to label your bottle(s) with the date of purchase – and flavour if you are not using the original bottles or probably mixed your juice from a larger short fill e-liquid. This way, you are able to keep track of the older bottles and distinguish between the various flavours.