---
title: "Does Condoms expire? Unsafe or ineffective after the date"
description: "No. Latex degrades, the date is regulated, and there is no visible warning before failure. What actually changes over time, whether it matters, and how to store it."
url: https://atoneplace.net/does-it-expire/condoms/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Does Condoms expire?

**Does Condoms expire?: No. Latex degrades, the date is regulated, and there is no visible warning before failure.**

Latex: up to 5 years from manufacture. Polyurethane: up to 5 years. With spermicide: 2 years

Condoms are regulated medical devices and the date is based on tested material performance, not a guess. Latex loses elasticity with age, heat and ozone exposure, and a degraded condom looks completely normal until it fails. Storage matters as much as the date: a wallet is one of the worst places, because friction and body heat accelerate degradation, and the same is true of a glovebox. Spermicide-lubricated condoms have a shorter dated life because the spermicide degrades faster than the latex does.

## How to store it

- Cool, dry, away from light and friction. Not a wallet, not a car.
- Keep them in the original wrapper until use.

## How to tell it has gone

- Brittle, sticky or discoloured, or a wrapper that has lost its air pocket.
- There is often no sign at all, which is exactly why the date matters here.

> "Use by" and "best before" are legally different. Use-by is a safety date and should be respected; best-before is about quality, and food is usually fine well past it. Where the two diverge matters, the page above says which applies.

## Common questions

### Does Condoms expire?

No. Latex degrades, the date is regulated, and there is no visible warning before failure.

### How long does Condoms last?

Latex: up to 5 years from manufacture. Polyurethane: up to 5 years. With spermicide: 2 years

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## Sources

- US Food and Drug Administration — FDA (https://www.fda.gov/) [Public domain (US Government)]