Dates don't spoil the way soft fruit does, but they do change. Left too long in a warm kitchen, they harden, the sugar on the skin crystallises, and the texture that made them worth eating in the first place is gone. That's usually the point where they get binned — which is a waste, because a hardened date still has plenty of use left in it.
Soaking brings them back
A date that's gone tough from air exposure softens again after 10-15 minutes in warm water. Drain it well and it's back to a texture close to fresh, ready to eat on its own or chop into something else. This works on dates that have dried out from being left uncovered; it doesn't fix mould, which means straight in the bin regardless of how much is left in the bag.
Turning them into paste instead of eating them whole
Once texture is the issue rather than taste, blending is more forgiving than eating a hardened date straight. Pit them, soak briefly if they're very firm, then blend with a splash of water into a thick paste. That paste keeps in the fridge for about a week and works as a sweetener stirred into oats, yoghurt, or a homemade granola bar mix — no need for the dates to look presentable once they're going into a blender.
The bag-management habit that actually prevents this
Reseal the bag tightly after every use and keep it away from the stove or a sunny counter — heat and air exposure are what harden dates in the first place, not time alone. A bag stored properly can sit for months; one left open in a warm kitchen hardens within weeks. That's a storage problem, not a shelf-life one, and it's the difference between finishing a bag and throwing half of it out.
For the difference between fresh and dried dates in the first place, see fresh vs. dried buah kurma, and demand for dried dates tends to spike around festive periods — our note on seasonal demand for dates fruit covers why stock and storage habits matter most right after those peaks. Pricing context is in our piece on the price of Medjool dates.