Does wax, wicks, fragrance oils, etc. Expire - Should I throw away?

[Laura C]

Hello Everybody.

I recently got back into making candles and I have lots of old supplies on hand. I searched the site but couldn't find anything on this issue. If this is already covered somewhere then please let me know. I feel funny asking this because it's probably obvious but I wanted to get some answers from people with first hand knowledge, especially before I start throwing stuff away. Do candle making supplies such as wax, fragrance oils, wicks and additives go bad and at what point?

 

- For instance if soy or coconut wax is 3 years old (either sealed or unsealed) does it go bad? Could you get unreliable results if you used it? I know natural wax suppliers say their wax should be used within a year and that seems logical but is that true?

- Wicks seem like they should last forever as long as they are not damaged or crumpled up.

- If fragrance oils are stored in a cool dark place with lids tightly closed and in zip lock bags can they last for 2-3 years and still be just as effective?

- If wax additives are stored in a cool dark place and sealed up can they last for 2-3 years and still give reliable results?

 

Should I throw away all the stuff that is 2-3 years old and start fresh? Or any ideas with what to do with this stuff?

 

Thanks,

Laura C

Edited August 27, 2018 by Laura C

[birdcharm]

Most likely, all of your stuff is still good to use! 

 

If fragrance oils have lost their potency completely, there are recycling centers that would probably take those, although if in nice glass bottles, you might save those.  These chemicals would go with your household chemicals and not go down the drain.  If they are just a little weaker than how they started off, you can often times find a strong scent that works with that scent, blend the two (with the stronger one the higher %) and come away with a nice scent.  I have some oils that are older than five years old, kept in amber glass and they are just as strong as when I purchased them.

 

I have some soy wax that is a couple of years old, it doesn't smell odd or anything and my guess is if I use it, it'll make a candle.  😊

[Laura C]

Hi @birdcharm. Oh good, thank you so much for your feedback and ideas, really appreciate it. Yes, most all of the scents still smell strong. My old wax doesn't smell odd either and one bag still has the factory seal.

[Sarah S]

I can give you my limited personal experience - I was cleaning out my daughter's closet a few weeks ago, and came across an old bottle of FO. She has a huge closet, so I use half of it to store random craft supplies. Now, this bottle is so old, it wasn't with the rest of my oils, which I have been keeping in one place for the past five years or so, and it's from a company that I don't order from anymore and haven't used for at least six years. So, minimum, this oil is six years old, but I think it's closer to eight. Still smells just like the day I purchased it. Granted, it's a disgusting fragrance, which is why it hasn't been used, but the fragrance hasn't changed (more's the pity, maybe it would improve, lol). 

Before I started making candles, I had FOs for making soap that would take me at least a couple years to use up. Never had an issue.

Now, all that being said, I did have a soy candle that I didn't like and only burned maybe once before I put the lid back on and set it aside. It sat for a good 8-10 years collecting dust on a shelf before I finally decided to reclaim it's jar. The wax had gone off, with that rancid oil smell you get from bad vegetable oil, and the top was greasy and gross. I did not make the candle, btw. 😉

So I would guess that the natural waxes do have somewhat of an expiration date, but at 2-3 years I'm sure you're fine! 🤓

[Shari]

I can only speak to FO's.  I have some at least 6 years old that still work great and still perform well in my products (Soap, B&B).  As long as they don't smell off you should be fine.  Can't speak to wax though.

[ShelleyF]

I bought an oil recently from a destash. It smelled amazing and then I noticed it have a date on it. I am not kidding it says 2006. It is one of the best smelling oils I have. and I put it where it goes in alphabetical order and now I can't remember the name of it lol I'm going to try to find it but I have so many oils it may take a while. lol I want to use it so I'm going to look for it. I never pay a lot of money when I buy the stash it most of the time they are almost new stuff. I bought over 150 bottles from this lady and that is the only old one. And it was the best one lol

 

One lady in a destash  group on FB is upsetting me. she is very nice but she is telling everybody to throw away your oils when they get 6 months old and you can buy new ones from her! I told her they do not expire after 6 months. She said why chance it just buy for me because all my stuff is very fresh. All you have to do is mix a weaker oil with a new one and voila! problem solved. not all new scents are  strong so even if the scent isnt  old you can do that. But if the scent smells nasty throw it away. I've only had two do that out of all the oils that I have bought from people. 

[Laura C]

Hi @Shari, thanks for your advice.

[Laura C]

Hi @ShelleyF, thanks for sharing your advice too. Yes, I'll do that. If supplies pass the visual inspection and sniff test then I'll use them for test candles. I do that with food too. LOL 😜

[ShelleyF]

Just now, Laura C said:

Hi @ShelleyF, thanks for sharing your advice too. Yes, I'll do that. If supplies pass the visual inspection and sniff test then I'll use them for test candles. I do that with food too. LOL 😜

lol I do that with food to except eggs. We don't eat those past the best buy date.

[AudraT]

This post is old but I was curious if opinions have changed at all about the shelf life of candle making supplies... specifically fragrance oils? Now that the fall season is coming back around I am realizing some of my fragrances are between 6-10 months old. All the FO manufacturers say 6-12 months. I'm currently doing a test burn on fragrances 7+ months old but I am curious if everyone here still agrees FO's can last 2-3 years if stored well?

I do like the idea of mixing some of your older FO with new FO. I actually did that with a 7-8 month old FO that still smelled good and strong in the bottle. I mixed about 1/3rd old with 2/3rd new FO to the candles. I think they will burn just fine.

[birdcharm]

16 hours ago, AudraT said:

This post is old but I was curious if opinions have changed at all about the shelf life of candle making supplies... specifically fragrance oils? Now that the fall season is coming back around I am realizing some of my fragrances are between 6-10 months old. All the FO manufacturers say 6-12 months. I'm currently doing a test burn on fragrances 7+ months old but I am curious if everyone here still agrees FO's can last 2-3 years if stored well?

I do like the idea of mixing some of your older FO with new FO. I actually did that with a 7-8 month old FO that still smelled good and strong in the bottle. I mixed about 1/3rd old with 2/3rd new FO to the candles. I think they will burn just fine.

 

I'm starting to get the feeling that we're told that because they want us to buy new, lol.  I have many that are a few years old and they smell the same out of the bottle as they did when I got them, and perform just fine.  It's probably a matter of how they're stored or maybe what types they are, maybe certain ones fade more rapidly than others.  Also, I have some samples from years ago, I mean YEARS, and they may be a little weaker, but the scent is still there, would just need some kind of blending or boosting to do anything with it, but works fine mixed and can still be used for room sprays.

[Laura C]

Great answers and great points @birdcharm, I agree.

[TallTayl]

Great discussion.  So much depends on what it is, and what’s in it.

 

wicks: primed wicks are sealed within a somewhat impermeable coating and resist oxidation. Unprimed wicks (spools) seem to change a bit with variations in humidity.  I have some older spools that developed mold from being exposed to high humidity. Those just won’t work well since the strands of fiber are not clear.

 

wax: organic substances oxidize over time.  Paraffin and similar are inert and seem to last forever.  I’ve had some soy wax that aged to a stiff state that no longer wanted to burn, but have also had some that survived for many years with no apparent ill effects. 
 

fragrances:  some of the discussion can lean toward the solvents and diluents used at the time it was made.  We’re substances in the bottle once considered “ok” to use, but now not so much? (Phthalates for one).  I’ve had some bottles that seemed to use soybean oil as the diluent,  those smelled horribly rancid within a year. Vanillas and other resins oxidize to deep browns with time.  The chat I had with the labs suggest fragrance oils be used and rotated within a year or two just because of the chemical degradation that happens within the bottle.  This is especially true when there’s a big air space. Seems like a lot of the life span of these fragrances depends on the original quality of what went into the bottle. 

before the big supply issues it was fairly safe to use just in time inventory management, but then we all resorted to overbuying and hoarding just to have what we needed.  The accountant prefers we use it up, lol.  The project manager wants a nice big supply to pull from.  For candles and wax melts where skin contact is not a worry of the IFRA folks, I’m less worried about aging of the ingredients if they appear and smell fresh.  Skin contact, though, I like to be a bit more careful and use as fresh as possible. 
 

 

 

[Laura C]

Great answers @TallTayl and even more great points to consider. Thanks.

[KrisS]

18 hours ago, TallTayl said:

fragrances:  some of the discussion can lean toward the solvents and diluents used at the time it was made.  We’re substances in the bottle once considered “ok” to use, but now not so much? (Phthalates for one).  I’ve had some bottles that seemed to use soybean oil as the diluent,  those smelled horribly rancid within a year. Vanillas and other resins oxidize to deep browns with time.  The chat I had with the labs suggest fragrance oils be used and rotated within a year or two just because of the chemical degradation that happens within the bottle.  This is especially true when there’s a big air space. Seems like a lot of the life span of these fragrances depends on the original quality of what went into the bottle.

 

I have a couple of OLD FOs dating back to 2005-ish--yup, you read that correctly.  Vanillin has discolored one--still smells as good as it did 15 years ago.  A few others are as fresh as the day they were bottled.  I'd never make candles for someone else with them. However, it performs without issue for me in wax melts. These were in amber glass bottles, so there wasn't leeching from the plastic bottles.

[TallTayl]

On 9/20/2023 at 5:02 AM, KrisS said:

 

I have a couple of OLD FOs dating back to 2005-ish--yup, you read that correctly.  Vanillin has discolored one--still smells as good as it did 15 years ago.  A few others are as fresh as the day they were bottled.  I'd never make candles for someone else with them. However, it performs without issue for me in wax melts. These were in amber glass bottles, so there wasn't leeching from the plastic bottles.

I have some at least that old. I’m really trying to just purge old stuff. If I didn’t like it enough to use by now, why keep it? It’s hard. It feels good when it’s gone though, as if a huge weight has been lifted.
 

back to skin contact stuff, the latest revision of IFRA (50th), has much more stringent restrictions in the expanded categories. Many of my formulations had a drastic reduction in common categories. Most are still listed as AOK for no contact, like candles, melts, air freshener, etc. 

[KrisS]

15 hours ago, TallTayl said:

I have some at least that old. I’m really trying to just purge old stuff. If I didn’t like it enough to use by now, why keep it? It’s hard. It feels good when it’s gone though, as if a huge weight has been lifted.
 

back to skin contact stuff, the latest revision of IFRA (50th), has much more stringent restrictions in the expanded categories. Many of my formulations had a drastic reduction in common categories. Most are still listed as AOK for no contact, like candles, melts, air freshener, etc. 

 

You should list the old stuff.  Some of us may be dumb enough to take it off your hands.  I genuinely miss some of the oldies.

 

I've said it elsewhere, but I'm waiting for the day when it's acknowledged that while IFRA is definitely needed, it was utilized by the big fragrance companies to force manufacturers to utilize their synthetic chemicals with IFRA as a tool to make that happen. The forced reformulations have been a challenge.

[TallTayl]

38 minutes ago, KrisS said:

 

You should list the old stuff.  Some of us may be dumb enough to take it off your hands.  I genuinely miss some of the oldies.

 

I've said it elsewhere, but I'm waiting for the day when it's acknowledged that while IFRA is definitely needed, it was utilized by the big fragrance companies to force manufacturers to utilize their synthetic chemicals with IFRA as a tool to make that happen. The forced reformulations have been a challenge.

Oh man if you lived close by I would load your car right up.