So I've been using this same liter bottle for a year or 2 now, last time I used it was a few months ago and it smelt sweet and normal, now it smells like iso or some other alcohol. (I put half a drop on my tongue and it just tasted off, not sweet or anything.
Can PG go bad? Or turn into something else? I have another bottle coming since I didn't wanna use this, it's currently airing out in a well ventilated room since I saw a few other posts saying to do that. Thanks,
edit: almost 0% chance of contamination, I use fresh syringes for each use, as I said it's been fine up until now from a few months ago.
edit2: checked many hours later, I finally nailed the smell it's like nail polish remover (pardon the pun lol)
edit3: received fresh bottle, not a smell to be smelt, slightly sweet ending in slightly bitter after-taste. Will keep in a dark place and I'd advise to always smell your PG just in case it turns. Seems like 25c-nb nailed it and part of my old bottle had degraded to acetone. Thanks for your help! https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/75988/propylene-glycol-degradation-due-to-sunlight/75998#75998
I would buy some new pg and compare. I've never known it to smell like isopropyl, but it is pretty bitter by itself
Just cracked open and tasted a fresh bottle that I have from nicriver. No chemical taste to me, but kind of bitter. That's all I got from it. Does not smell like alcohol at all. No way shape or form.
I've noticed a similar thing happen with a couple old high pg liquids and about 50ml of 50/50 premix that had been sitting around, the premix smelled pretty much exactly like acetone and the old liquids tasted very off and gross and produced very little vapor. Wasn't the best tasting thing to drip into an atomizer, find what I think was my old favorite liquid, find out it's turned to acetone
Glad wasn't just me, I was like what the heck is going on here
I've had some PG go bad before. It was a bottle I got second hand from a late friends stash. It had been sitting for I dont know how long. It was good, smelled and tasted normal, when I got it but after a bit I noticed my juices were off. Little harsher than usual and tasted more chemically. I smelled everything it was the PG that smelled just as you describe yours does. I bought some new and all is well. Dont risk it. Pg isnt that expensive.
I have remains in an old 5l canister which smell very much like acetone too, so yes. I think it eventually can go bad. Within a couple of years at room temperature in my case while being opened now and then, exposed to light. I could not find much about this either but the smell is most def acetone.
It is quite possible that PG will degrade into a few components , one of which is acetone ( nail polish remover):
"also, this link shows the decomposition products of propylene glycol which are all acid based:
The main degradation product of propylene glycol was lactic acid (2-hydroxypropionic acid), with formic, acetic, and oxalic acids as minor products.
So, mainly degradation of propylene glycol in sunlight would yield a bunch of acids and small amounts of acetone" from here
An example of this occurring is when the Pg bottle is exposed to sunlight for long periods. It would seem that may have happened with your PG so I would get rid of it and not use it if I were you, it can't be good to vape any concentration of acetone!
That's fantastic exactly the info I was looking for, I didn't know if it could degrade into anything so this helps a lot. I've got a new bottle coming soon so I'll throw this stuff out, it was exposed to light and is nearly 2 years old. So it's degradation makes sense. Thanks very much!
Same happened to a bottle of 70PG that I had paying around. Apparently the top cap broke and I didn't notice. Then when I wanted to use it again and also noticed the cap was broken I smelled it and it strongly smelt like acetone / nailpolish remover
I made a bottle of liquid with it and the liquid I made was completely fine. But just to be save I threw it all away and bought some new base
> edit2: checked many hours later, I finally nailed the smell it's like nail polish remover
Well acetone notes are quite a different matter from what you had said before. That's not normal, and not good. This has also come up before:
https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/comments/2laxe1/propylene_glycol_uspbp_tastes_of_acetone/
Like I said in the post. I have searched and found little info, I've read that thread.
Alright I can't call a substance just by smell! I'm not good at this if you can't tell. If you can't help, go away
edit: pretty sure the title just says "very chemically-ish, could be acetone/iso"
PG does not taste or smell sweet, that's VG.
PG is an alcohol and tastes similar to, but milder than, grain alcohol upfront, followed by a mildly bitter aftertaste. Nothing sweet at all about it, unless of course you mix it with VG.
Propylene Glycol from Wikipedia:
. It is a viscous, colorless liquid, which is nearly odorless but possesses a faintly sweet taste. Containing two alcohol groups, it is classed as a diol. It is miscible with a broad range of solvents, including water, acetone, and chloroform. In general, glycols are non-irritating and have very low volatility.[5]
The person who wrote that has obviously never actually put a drop of pure USP grade PG on their tongue. Try it, and you'll see...