Safely storing your E-Juice liquid for vape is paramount for the safety of everyone in your household. That's especially true if you have children living with you or children who visit you frequently. Keep these quick tips in mind to preserve the quality of your e-juice while keeping it safe from small hands.
1. Store your E-Juice in a cool, dark place.
Light and heat both can affect how your E-Juice tastes over time. Any vaper who has accidentally left a vial of vape juice in a hot car on a summer day knows the taste is different forever. To keep your E-Juice collection tasting great, you should store it in a cool, dark place.
Even just the heat of the sun can cause the molecules of the e-juice to break down and react with other molecules in a different way than intended. The UV rays from the sun can also affect the nicotine, breaking it down into a substance called cotinine. Every time this reaction occurs, you're left with less nicotine in your juice.
There are UV-proof bottles available and storing them in a locking safe will help ensure they are kept out of reach of any children in your home.
2. Cabinet vs. Fridge Storage
When finding a cool, dark place to store their e-juice, the options usually boil down to keeping the bottles in a cabinet or the refrigerator. Both will help preserve your e-juice, but the refrigerator will work best for long-term storage. For example, place the flavors that you are retiring from your current rotation, but will circle back to eventually, in the fridge.
People often choose the cabinet to store their e-juice bottles because it’s the space furthest out of the reach of children. If you do choose the fridge, it is strongly suggested that you place your bottles in a lock box in the refrigerator, especially if you have children with open access to the fridge. Accidental nicotine poisoning has been on the rise as the popularity of vaping skyrockets, so keep your children safe while you enjoy vaping.
3. Use glass bottles for long-term storage.
Most E-Juice bottles you buy at your local vape shop arrive in plastic bottles. That's fine for short-term storage, but if you bought a large quantity of E-Juice, you'd want to transfer this to a glass bottle immediately.
This is because the plastic can interact with the molecules in your juice. Glass is an inert substance that will not react with the juice it holds. Glass is also impermeable, meaning air cannot pass through it. Some plastics are permeable, which allows air to reach your juice while storing it.
For extra long-term storage, storing your E-Juice in a fridge or freezer is fine. The E-Liquid probably won't freeze, but you should leave enough room for expansion should it occur. Some people report a loss of flavor from E-Liquids stored in the freezer, so do that at your own discretion. E-Juice that has been stored in the freezer must be returned to room temperature before it is used in any vape.
4. “Child-proof” caps are not really child-proof.
Your primary method of keeping your E-Juice out of the hands of your children shouldn't be relying on the child-proof caps that most juice bottles have. Children left alone for even five minutes can find ways to open these caps and consume the content inside, especially if it smells like candy or desserts.
Keep your e-juice in a place where your children and pets cannot get to it, preferably in a lockable safe that only you can access. Never leave your e-juice laying around where a child or pet could grab the bottle, as these liquids are not intended to be ingested in high quantities.
5.Stick to the expiration date on your vape juice.
Because vape juice is a combination of compounds, it comes with an expiration date that should be monitored. As the e-liquid gets closer to the expiration date, molecules begin breaking down, and the flavor will change as the liquid loses key components that make it safe to consume.
You can prolong the life of your e-liquid by following the safe storage techniques mentioned above. Avoiding oxidation, heat, and light will help your e-juice reach its expected expiration date. Any exposure to heat will speed up the expiration process, so avoid leaving your e-liquid in your vehicle even while on a short trip.