When you stock up on vape supplies, it's important to plan ahead. You need to know how much to buy and when you need to buy it – and to know those things, you need to know how long vape juice lasts. That question is actually more complex than it might seem at first glance. Here’s what you need to know.
How Much Vape Juice Should You Use Per Day?
The higher the nicotine strength of your vape juice is, the less you’re likely to use per day.
The first way to think about how long vape juice will last is by considering how much you’re likely to use per day. A simple rule of thumb here is that the lower your nicotine strength is, the more e-liquid you’re likely to use per day in order to attain the same level of satisfaction.
- If you have a small vape like a pod system, you’ll probably use about 1-2 ml of vape juice per day since you’re most likely using high-strength nicotine salts. Nicotine salt e-liquid is usually sold in 30 ml bottles, so a bottle will last about 15-30 days.
- If you have a larger vape like a pod mod or vape mod, you might use anywhere from 10-30 ml of vape juice per day depending on the nicotine strength of your e-liquid and how heavily you vape. You’ll be using low-strength freebase e-liquid, so a 60 ml bottle will last about 2-6 days.
If you’re using freebase e-liquid, one of the best ways to make your vape juice last longer is by buying it in large bottles. Some of the brands that sell their vape juice in 120 ml bottles include Humble Juice Co, Beard Vape Co and Nomenon.
How Long Does Vape Juice Last Compared to Cigarettes?
Every time you use 2 mg of nicotine when vaping, that’s approximately the equivalent of smoking one cigarette.
Another way to think about how long vape juice lasts is by comparing it to cigarettes. It’s common for people to use a little more nicotine per day when they vape than they previously used as smokers due to the difference in bioavailability. The nicotine in cigarette smoke reaches the bloodstream very efficiently, while vaping is a bit less efficient. Still, it’s helpful to compare the two as a starting point.
Speaking in terms of what’s actually delivered by smoking, the nicotine content of a cigarette is approximately 2 mg. Therefore, if you’re a pack-a-day smoker, you’re consuming approximately 40 mg of nicotine per day. So, if you want to make a direct comparison as a pack-a-day smoker:
- A 30 ml bottle of nicotine salt vape juice with a strength of 50 mg/ml contains 1,500 mg of nicotine and should last about 37.5 days.
- A 60 ml bottle of freebase nicotine vape juice with a strength of 3 mg/ml contains 180 mg of nicotine and should last about 4.5 days.
Once again, it’s important to note that many vapers use a little more nicotine per day than they previously used as smokers because the nicotine doesn’t reach the bloodstream with the same efficiency. Still, this comparison can provide a good starting point.
How Long Does Vape Juice Last in a Disposable Vape?
Read More: How Long Does a Disposable Vape Last?
Modern vapers don’t just buy vape juice by the bottle. Increasingly, people are using disposable vapes that are pre-filled with e-liquid and ready to go right out of the box. If you prefer disposables, it’s still important to know how long the vape juice in your device will last because that’s how you know when you’ll need to stock up on vapes again.
Disposable vapes have estimated puff counts marked on their boxes, but we recommend not paying too much attention to those because you’ll only reach a disposable vape’s advertised puff count if your puffs are extremely short. Instead, we suggest using the e-liquid content as a more accurate way of understanding how long the vape juice in a disposable vape will last.
Based on a ballpark estimate that you’ll be using around 1-2 ml of vape juice per day, here’s about how much usage you can expect to get from some of today’s longest-lasting disposable vapes.
- Juice Head Flex Freeze: Contains 24 ml of vape juice and lasts 12-24 days if you’re using 1-2 ml per day.
- Geek Bar Pulse: Contains 16 ml of vape juice and lasts 8-16 days if you’re using 1-2 ml per day.
- Fifty Bar V2: Contains 14 ml of vape juice and lasts 7-14 days if you’re using 1-2 ml per day.
- Dojo Sphere X: Contains 20 ml of vape juice and lasts 10-20 days if you’re using 1-2 ml per day.
- Bodega Bar: Contains 17 ml of vape juice and lasts 8.5-17 days if you’re using 1-2 ml per day.
When Does Vape Juice Expire?
Unopened and stored at room temperature, vape juice expires after about one year. However, it may still be usable after that time.
Vape juice “expires” about a year after it’s produced, and you can usually find an expiration date on the bottle or box as a point of reference. If you don’t see an expiration date on vape juice when you buy it, you should consider writing the purchase date on the bottle to give yourself an idea of when you need to use it.
When we say that vape juice expires after a year, it’s important to understand that the bottle doesn’t just self-destruct on that date. When manufacturers say that their vape juice lasts a year, what they’re really saying is that you can expect it to deliver top-quality flavor and maximum potency for that amount of time. After a year, the e-liquid won’t taste the same as it did when it was new and will probably be noticeably less potent as well. You can still use it, though, if you still find it enjoyable.
How Can You Make Vape Juice Last Longer Before Expiring?
Read More: How to Store Vape Juice
To make vape juice last as long as it can, you need to store it properly. If you do all of the following, you can expect that a bottle of e-liquid will still have excellent flavor and potency after a year.
- Leave the e-liquid tightly closed and don’t break the seal until you’re ready to use it. Opening a bottle of vape juice exposes it to air, which will cause it to expire much more quickly. An opened bottle of vape juice most likely won’t last a year.
- Store the e-liquid in a cool, dark place. Along with protecting your vape juice from air, you also want to keep its temperature cool and keep it away from light. Heat and light both hasten the oxidation and other chemical processes that cause e-liquid to degrade and break down.
If you want to store vape juice for an extremely long time, try putting it in the refrigerator or freezer. The low temperature will slow down the chemical degradation of the e-liquid to the point where it can potentially last years without any noticeable change in quality.
How Long Does Vape Juice Last Once Opened?
Once opened, vape juice degrades quickly and will only last a few months before you’ll notice significant changes in the potency and flavor quality.
The reason why it’s so important to leave a bottle of vape juice closed if you want to store it for a long time is because e-liquid starts to go bad very quickly when it’s exposed to air. As long as the bottle is tightly closed, the internal environment is relatively stable – but everything changes when you crack the seal. Once you’ve opened the bottle, you’ll begin to notice a significant degradation in the e-liquid’s quality after just a few months.
You can continue using vape juice after opening it as long as you’re happy with the experience. After a few months, though, you’ll begin to notice significant changes.
- The e-liquid may begin to turn yellow due to oxidation of the nicotine. This indicates that the potency of the vape juice has begun to decrease. You can still use it, but you may need to use more than you normally would in order to feel satisfied.
- The e-liquid’s flavor quality will drop noticeably. More volatile flavor notes will fade away completely. The notes that remain will meld together until they become difficult to detect individually. This doesn’t mean that the e-liquid is unsafe to use, but it does mean that it may not be as enjoyable as it once was.
How Can You Tell When Vape Juice Has Gone Bad?
At some point, an old bottle of vape juice will have degraded so much that it becomes unwise to use it. Here are some of the signs that e-liquid has gone bad. If your vape juice shows any of these signs, it’s time to throw it away.
- You no longer feel any nicotine satisfaction at all from using it.
- It no longer tastes good.
- It smells foul, which can be a possible sign of microbial growth.
- It looks cloudy or has visible masses floating in it. These are also likely signs of microbial contamination.