# Is expired sunscreen totally worthless.......

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-expired-sunscreen-totally-worthless/540141>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 20, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-expired-sunscreen-totally-worthless/540141 "2010-05-20T16:04:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-expired-sunscreen-totally-worthless/540141/1 "2010-05-20T16:04:13Z")

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…or is it just less effective?

If I have an old bottle of 30 can I use it and expect it to provide less protection like an 8 or something??

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**Author:** ![Vaevictis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f04885/32.png) [@Vaevictis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vaevictis)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-expired-sunscreen-totally-worthless/540141/2 "2010-05-20T18:04:24Z")

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I used out of date sunscreen once and got horribly burned.

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**Author:** ![born\_too\_late](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba9def/32.png) [@born\_too\_late](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/born_too_late)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-expired-sunscreen-totally-worthless/540141/3 "2010-05-20T19:30:47Z")

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> [@Vaevictis](#):
>
> I used out of date sunscreen once and got horribly burned.

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**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-expired-sunscreen-totally-worthless/540141/4 "2010-05-20T19:59:08Z")

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On many products, the “expiration date” means only that the maker has tested it up to that age, and it still works properly. It may continue to work just fine beyond that date, or it may still work but with reduced effectiveness, or it may not work at all. They haven’t tested it, so they don’t know for sure.

And they don’t test it because testing is expensive, and the delay in getting the product to market is expensive – they have to wait for it to get past that date to do the tests.

Plus there isn’t that much incentive for a maker to do that. Better for them to say that it is expired, throw it away and buy more.

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**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-expired-sunscreen-totally-worthless/540141/5 "2010-05-20T21:47:05Z")

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My Consumers guide said sunscreen stayed well for about a year after the “use by” date, but not longer.

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**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-expired-sunscreen-totally-worthless/540141/6 "2010-05-20T23:58:36Z")

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So after a year I have to reapply it? Geeze…