An open bottle of e-liquid
can be quite an unsettling sight. If you
stock up on e-juice in bulk, you might find that once in a while you discover
that a bottle has been sitting without its cap on your shelf for quite a while. Or, maybe, you lost the cap and have been
letting it sit somewhere, hoping to use it up before it’s no longer good.
If your bottle of vape juice has been without its cap
for a while, you don’t necessarily need to panic. There are a lot of things to
take into consideration before determining whether or not that juice is simply
no good anymore. This guide will help
you figure out what to do.
What
Happens When You Leave Your Bottle of E-Liquid Open for Too Long?
Vape juice likes to stay in a closed bottle. That’s because oxidization occurs when oxygen
enters the e-liquid. This changes the
molecular composition of your e-liquid, meaning that certain molecules
evaporate, allowing other types of molecules to exist in stronger
concentrations.
So, what does that mean? If your bottle of e-liquid has been open for
too long, certain flavor and nicotine molecules will eventually dissipate into
the air. This can leave you with a vape
juice that has a poor flavor and doesn’t deliver nearly enough nicotine to
satisfy your needs.
But, before we explain how long it takes for your vape
juice to be “unvapeable,” we have to explain how oxidization works.
Steeping
vs. Leaving a Bottle Open
Most of us have figured out the importance of steeping
a vape juice after purchasing it. This
process involves storing e-liquid bottles in an environment that promotes the
perfect amount of oxidization to occur.
Most juices are not properly steeped before they make their way to your
home, meaning that there’s a lot of unnecessary molecular activity going on in
there.
Steeping an e-juice is a lot like aging a wine. Over time, trace amounts of oxygen allow the
flavor to become more concentrated as unnecessary molecules bond with others
and evaporate. Steeping your juice,
therefore, brings out its best flavor and makes the nicotine more potent.
But, there’s a difference between steeping your vape
juice and letting it over-oxidize due to leaving off its cap. While wine tends to taste better with age,
simply leaving an open bottle on your kitchen counter can leave you with a
vinegar-like flavor that’s disgusting, not to mention a total evaporation of
its alcoholic content. This is a lot
like what happens when we leave our e-liquid bottle unopened for too long. As oxidization goes on, its flavor weakens,
and the nicotine evaporates into the air.
Does
Vape Juice Actually Go Bad?
Just because your e-juice has over-oxidized doesn’t
mean that it’s gone “bad.” It doesn’t
actually go rancid because none of the ingredients are prone to
decomposing. Instead, it just won’t
deliver the vaping experience that you want.
When
is it Time to Throw Out a Bottle of E-Liquid That’s Been Open?
If your bottle of e-liquid has been open for a while,
give it a good sniff. Can you still
smell the flavor profile that it’s supposed to have? If so, try vaping it. Does it hit properly? Does it taste harsh or unpleasant? Does it produce any vapor? Are you getting a good amount of nicotine?
Another way to tell if your e-liquid has over-oxidized
is by looking at it. If the color is
unusually dark, it’s probably been left open for too long.
By answering these questions, you’ll know if that
e-liquid is still worth vaping.
It’s
Not All Waste
If you do decide that your e-liquid is no longer worth
vaping, at least you can save the bottle.
Pour out the remaining vape juice and give the bottle a good rinse in
hot water. It might come in handy at a
later time.
Don’t
Be Too Worried
While e-liquid can over-oxidize if its cap is left off
for too long, it won’t make you sick.
It’s up to you to decide if it’s still worth vaping or not.
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