Be it OEM, generic, or remanufactured, toner cartridges typically have an average shelf life of about 2 years.
Whether you use it or not, that cartridge of laser toner should be thrown away within two years after you bought it.
How in the world can printer toner spoil? Before we can answer this question, though, we have to pose another: what is printer toner? Toner was designed for one reason: to print things on paper.
It is as simple as that.
Toner works in a very different way than printer ink.
They were made to do the same thing but they are far from being the same thing.
Carbon and plastic are the main constituents of Toner.
When the heating drum in a laser printer comes in contact with it, the particles fuse together and actually melt into the paper.
Though it seems simple, printer toner took decades to perfect.
It is truly a modern marvel.
Plastic was introduced to the carbon particles to allow for smaller particle size.
With smaller particles, a toner can produce higher resolution.
How, then, can printer toner go bad? To understand, you need to take a look at how toner comes packaged.
The cartridge comes wrapped in a specially designed package that resists moisture and light.
To a certain degree, it even protects against heat.
The sad fact is that toner is very sensitive.
If it is exposed to moisture, light, or heat, it can be easily ruined.
Too much moisture, for example, can turn your toner into a soggy mess.
If the toner is exposed to even a slight source of ultraviolet light, it is just as bad.
Yet another way your toner can be ruined is by leaving it near a heat source.
Since it is designed to fuse when exposed to the heating drum, the toner can melt together and clog in the cartridge.
As you have seen, toner is very sensitive to adverse environmental conditions.
If you keep it in the perfect conditions, though, toner can probably last forever.
If you bought a bunch of toner to get the bulk discount and keep them in an environmentally controlled room or container, disregard the "expiration date".
If they are put in a room or storage container that maintains a constant temperature of 75 degrees Fahrenheit with a humidity of around 50%, they could theoretically last forever.
Keep them for a few decades in the "perfect" environment, take one out, and print a few documents.
You will see that it still outperforms cheap ink.
Even if you do not use your toner all the time, it will get great results.
If you use cheap ink, make sure you clean the print heads on a regular basis if you do not print documents every day.
When stored in the proper environment, the one and a half to two year shelf life does not apply.
They can possibly last forever.