Last Updated on February 6, 2016 by

Spinfuel’s Guide To Vaping – Properly Storing e Liquid

Introduction

One subject that I think we can all appreciate, as Vapers — and one that many of the people I’ve personally introduced to vaping ask me about — is how best to store their eLiquids so that they steep best and last longest.

There is a host of other questions that, whether many people know it or not, relate to how a Vaper stores his or her e Liquid: Why does your liquid turn from relatively light in color to dark? What’s the best way to steep e Liquid? How can I make my e liquid last longer on the shelf? How long is too long to let an e liquid stay stored?

Those questions, and more, are the ones I’m going to tackle here today.

Steeping & Longevity

Steeping is one of the biggest benefits of e Liquid storage. But there’s more involved in just “letting the eLiquid sit” than many people realize. This is where some of the questions surrounding e Liquid arise.

For example, “Why did my light colored e Liquid turn dark?” The answer to that is oxidation. Oxidation occurs due to excessive heat or in strong light. This is why your clear e Liquid will darken in a clearomizer, as well — exposure to the heat of the coil, as well as direct light through the clear wall of the clearomizer, will cause rapid oxidation of the e Liquid inside the clearomizer, the effect of which is that the liquid darkens.

Will this process negatively affect the flavor or potency of the e Liquid? The answer my research has led me to is: not in the short term. But as I could find no answers regarding potential negative effects on flavor or potency in the long term, here are what I believe is a set of generally accepted best practices for long term e Liquid storage:

1. Store your liquid with the cap on in a cool and dark place.

2. If you buy large bottles of e Liquid — that is, the bottle is larger than 30ml in capacity — transfer 10ml at a time into an empty 10ml bottle for regular use in order to minimize the number of times you open the larger bottle. This will minimize the larger supply’s exposure to the open air, preserving its freshness.

3. Do not refrigerate, and do not freeze e Liquid. There is no substantial benefit to refrigerating eLiquid over simply storing it in a climate-controlled area, and some liquids could experience negative effects such as loss or distortion of flavor at too low a temperature.

To my mind, the ideal place to store e Liquid is in a closet, on a top shelf. This is where I store much of my collection of liquids — in my walk-in closet, on the tall shelves on either side where nothing else gets put. The bottles are within reach but out of the way, staying cool as cucumbers and resting in pitch darkness day and night. I have liquids that have been up there for about a year that is still as fresh and delicious as they were when that first week of steeping had finished.

Child & Pet Safety

Now we reach the part of this article that had me apprehensive about writing it. Part of me is still nervous about giving the anti-vaping alarmists ideas for propaganda; but I’m going to go ahead and put this out there, for two reasons:

First, if the alarmists do manufacture boogeyman propaganda out of this, you can bet your bottom dollar that we will be right there to expose the lies and counter the disinformation. Second, because this is absolutely important, and it absolutely must be put out there for the safety, well being, and happiness of Vapers and their loved ones.

I’m talking about e Liquid storage safety tips for houses with pets and/or children. For those of you who have children, I don’t doubt that this is something you’ve already considered. But for some folks — and here’s the reason why I’m including this, because I’m one of you — who have friends with children visit every so often — we tend to consider our dwellings to be “child-free”, and so we don’t always secure our eLiquids as tightly as we should. That’s not finger pointing; I’m saying that I have been guilty of this. And if it can happen to me, it can happen to others.

So that recommendation for storage just above, there? That’s not just for the freshness of your e liquid — it’s also for the safety of your guests’ little “plus ones.” When there are children in the house, whether yours or those of people visiting you, you must keep your eLiquid in one of two places — either high on a shelf that a child can’t reach, or within your reach so that grabby little fingers can quickly be intercepted and relieved of something they shouldn’t be grabbing.

Second tip: Always prefer e Liquid the bottles that are secured by childproof caps. Every really good e Liquid vendor bottles their liquid with tamper-proof caps.

Third tip: When you vape from a smaller 10ml bottle (as in the advice a little ways back in this article), keep that little 10ml bottle in a shirt or jacket pocket and out of the line of side of inquisitive tots, or pets. Junior might give up when he can’t get the cap off, but Rover will just chew his way through that plastic bottle until he ends up with a mouthful of the juicy stuff inside.

Let me balance the preceding with something of a counterpoint:

There are dozens of things in your home that can be toxic to children or pets. While it’s incumbent upon each of us who has either miniature people or four-legged furry people in our homes to secure all of these things to the best of our abilities, eLiquid should rationally and responsibly be considered to be just one more thing to be secured against grubby little fingers and wet, sniffing noses.

The media may at some point raise up a squawking, screeching cry that e Liquid is some terrible new menace (in their already-established fervor to generate guilt and fear to prop up and justify draconian regulation.) It’s not. It’s simply one more thing to handle and store responsibly.

Conclusion

So there you have it, tips to keep your e Liquid fresh, flavorful and safe. Thanks for reading; as always, hit me up in the comments with questions, criticism, and any tips you may have found that I may not have covered here. Happy vaping!

John Castle