Do acrylic paint expire?

my husband bought me some acrylic paint last year for Christmas. ( i was 37 weeks pregnant) now my daughter almost 1 i am using them for the first time. some of the tubes have been open are ruined, they wont come out of the tube. but some that have been opened are fine. and there are some tubes that have never been opened, you have to break an aluminum seal, are trash. what makes them go bad?Do acrylic paint expire?
Avery's Mommy,


All paint will eventually dry out. Some brands have a clear liquid component that separates. You have to mix that with the pigment to create paint, and when it separates in the tube you just mix it together until it's smooth. The dry paints whose seal was unbroken should have been returned the first year, I doubt that the company would exchange it now. Those all happen with the cheaper brands. You could go to their websites for more information.





I prefer Liquitex or Golden. They are consistent, stay mixed, don't dry out for a long time (I have some of their original paints from 40 or 50 years ago that are still viable.Do acrylic paint expire?
I'm not sure what makes them go bad. Maybe it is the pigments used, or the quality of the manufacturer who made them (if you have some from different manufacturers). I have the same problem. I used to paint ceramic animals years ago before my daughter was born. Every year around Christmas time, she wants to make craft gifts for the family, so we get them out. What's strange is, they're all acrylic (according to the labels), but some will actually be dried up or really lumpy, while others have a strange oily substance (I thought they didn't contain oil?) around the paint...like they separated. But then most of them are good. I usually bought bottles rather than tubes, and most of mine are usually fixable...like the oily ones can be remixed or shaken, and the ones that are lumpy can be remixed with a toothpick or popsicle stick.





Maybe the aluminum seal on yours is breaking down a bit and the chemical reaction is ruining your paints? I never thought about it, but some of mine have aluminum 'caps' under the lid, while some are styrofoam...maybe the aluminum ones are the ones that are clumping and separating.
Acrylics have a water base for one. I have noticed with both the acrylics and the oils certain pigments dry out faster than others. I also think the grade and quality have something to do with it as well. Student grade seems to go bad faster than artist grade. The paint sets tend to go faster than buying the individual tubes.
Acrylic paints don't ';expire'; or ';go bad'; per se, as they are inorganic and only something containing organic material ';expires'; or 'goes bad.'.





However, over a few years some of the cheaper acrylics may start to separate. Also, some of the ones with cheaper packaging may begin to dry out.





If the paint has separated, just give it a stir and maybe add a bit of water. If it has started to dry out, consider putting it in an airtight container.