Tea Tree Oil Shelf Life

by Jeff Byess
(South Carolina)

Jim,
How long does Tea tree oil stay effective if stored properly ?
Thanks,
Jeff Byess
S.C.

Editors Reply:

The generally accepted shelf life of tea tree oil is around 12 months if stored properly.

As tea tree oil breaks down, several compounds develop which may be irritating to the skin, namely p-cymenes and peroxide,

When studies have been performed on high quality tea tree oil, oils that were stored away from UV light and heat were still far below the acceptable levels of cymenes and peroxide.

How do you store tea tree oil?

First off, there are only a few oils that absolutely must be kept in dark glass bottles, and tea tree oil is not one of them.

There has been an effort by some glass manufacturers to claim that green, amber, or cobalt blue bottles are the only color that the oil should be stored in. Truthfully, the only real requirements are to keep tea tree oil out of sunlight for any period of time, and to store it in a cool dark place.

Keeping the bottle capped to prevent unnecessary oxidation is a must as well.

Do these couple of things, and you can expect to have good tea tree oil available a up to a year after purchase.

Tea Tree Oil in Plastic?

Never!

You won't find plastic bottles of tea tree oil at TeaTreeWonders.com, because the volatile tea tree oil passes on many of its strengths and properties directly through the plastic.

Tea tree oil breaks down in plastic, and greater concentrations of cymene develop, which is known to cause skin irritation. Any tea tree oil product stored in plastic has a shelf life of 90 days or less because of this.

Free Tea Tree Oil Safety and Effectiveness Report

I have made available a PDF of a full color magazine that was produced by the Australian Tea Tree Oil Industry Association. It is a beautiful production, and full of answers to all sorts of tea tree oil questions. You can get a free copy of the
Tea Tree Oil Safety and Effectiveness report here