ShelfYears

Does super glue expire?

Yes, and the clock starts at the factory rather than at the checkout — Loctite prints 12, 18 or 24 months from date of manufacture depending on which of its own super glues you are holding, and the lot code on the bottle tells you where you are in that window.

Updated

Super glue
Sealed
12–24 months
Opened
Weeks, once air gets in
MOISTURE-TRIGGERED CURE
Degraded performance

Sealed: 12–24 months Tier 1

All three figures are Loctite's and they are all from the date of manufacture, unopened: 12 months for Super Glue Pro Gel, 18 months for Super Glue Liquid Control, 24 months for Super Glue Gel stored at 68°F. One brand, one chemistry — ethyl cyanoacrylate — and a two-to-one spread, so the product name on the card matters as much as the age.

By manufacturer — the disagreement is information
Brand Sealed window
Loctite Super Glue Pro Gel 12 months from manufacture
Loctite Super Glue Liquid Control 18 months from manufacture
Loctite Super Glue Gel 24 months from manufacture, stored at 68°F

After opening: Weeks, once air gets in Tier 1

Loctite publishes no separate opened figure, but its storage note says what shortens the window: humidity and high temperatures may decrease shelf life. Cyanoacrylate cures on contact with moisture, and ordinary room air carries plenty — so every opening of a small bottle admits the one thing that sets it. The residue in the nozzle goes first, then the glue behind it, and a bottle left uncapped in a humid garage can be a solid lump in weeks.

How to tell it's gone off

  • Glue that has thickened from water-thin to syrupy, or a gel that has gone stiff in the tube.
  • A nozzle plugged with a hard cured bead that keeps re-forming after it is cleared.
  • A bottle that has bonded its own cap shut.
  • Cloudiness or a yellow cast in a glue that should be clear and colorless.
  • Read the lot code stamped on the bottom of the bottle or the crimped end of the tube against Loctite's window — the decoder is below.

If you use it anyway

Degraded performance

Old super glue is a non-event for whatever you were fixing. It either bonds slowly and weakly or refuses to come out of the nozzle at all, and the worst case is a repair that comes apart in your hand a day later. Nothing is damaged and nothing is at risk — the failure is the repair not lasting.

Why it goes off — MOISTURE-TRIGGERED CURE

Super glue does not dry, it polymerizes, and the trigger is the thin film of water on almost every surface — including the water vapor in the air over the glue in the bottle. Sealed and cool, the reaction barely starts. Opened, warm and humid, it starts at the nozzle and works inward: first the tip plugs, then the glue behind it thickens from water-thin to syrup, and finally the bottle sets solid. Heat speeds every step, which is why Loctite's optimal storage for an unopened bottle is refrigerator-cold.

Every page here commits to one of four states — Harmless · Degraded performance · Equipment damage · Safety issue. How the verdicts work.

How to store it

Loctite's storage note is specific and slightly counter-intuitive. An unopened bottle is not damaged by freezing, and optimal shelf life comes from storing the unopened container between 36°F and 46°F. After it has been opened, do not store it cold or frozen — keep it tightly sealed in a dry place away from heat sources and sunlight, because humidity and high temperatures both shorten what is left.

Reading the Loctite Super Glue Pro Gel date code

Loctite stamps a lot code on the bottom of the bottle or on the crimped end of the tube. On Super Glue Pro Gel it is five digits: the first two are the year of manufacture, the last three are the day of that year. Watch for the other Loctite variant, which prints a single digit for the year before the same three-digit day and ends in two characters to ignore — a code like 6061XX is the 61st day of 2016, not a year 60 anything.

Worked examples
Printed code Made on
22060 March 1, 2022
23215 August 3, 2023

The decoded day is what's printed on the container — it tells you the product's age, nothing about this page. More formats.

Sources