Shelf Life for Acrylic Hobby Paint?

[Whiterook]

The answer to this question sought on the Internet is wildly varying! The range seems to me from 5-years (Vallejo guidance) to Infinity! …the majority of answers I find tends towards the latter. Environment stored and keeping cal tight factor in, but I noted several of mine that are probably nearing a decade are still fine, though with some settling at the bottom of the bottle. I have Tamiya bottles that are a little older that are similar.

I did find the following, which seems a good rule of thumb…

An easy way to tell if gouache or acrylics have gone bad is to smell them. They often develop a sour, mildew stench when they're past their prime. They may still be useable, but you can tell they're on their way out when they start to smell sour and off. Shelf life: 2-5 years, until they start to smell sour or dry.

I did, recently buy a Badger Paint Mixer (see here) that I bought a couple months back, but I’ve not used it yet.

What’s your experience with paint life?

[tcoat]

The more air in the bottle the less time it will last no matter what the storage conditions may be.
I have bottles that are pushing twenty years but they have only had a few brushfulls out of them. I have had bottles go bad in a month once they are half empty. The flat paints seem to last far longer than the gloss ones though. If the seal of the top is bad all bets are off on how long it will last. I have been dumb enough to leave a lid ajar and ruin a bottle of paint overnight.

Slightly off topic but I still have 3 little tins of Humbrol enamels that are probably well over 50 years old by now and I still use them for small jobs. Mind you those old enamels can take 50 years to dry even when new so they need a long shelf life.

[mustang1989]

I'm like Tony. Most of mine vary and I've got acrylics that I've had for 5+ years that are still good. I too have found that the flat colors seem to hold on longer than the gloss ones. Funny thing about the seals and lids is that I make sure all the lids are tightened when I put the paints back on my paint carousel but I'll be danged if when I go to grab a commonly used jar of paint that the lid is not necessarily loose but it sure aint as tight as when I last put it back on the rack. Weird.

[chromdome35]

I put small stainless ball bearings in every paint pot and have a vortex paint shaker. Every few months, I will go through my paints and stir all of them. That really seems to help keep them viable.

[Leon]

I just ordered some ball bearings and plan on doing the same thing!