chemicals and cold

House of Wax

House of Wax

Active member
Is there a certain temperature that once it falls below you guys bring your chemicals inside?  My garage is insulated but does not have full time heat and I've been debating whether or not to bring my stuff inside.  I'd rather not empty out my detailing cabinet, but I don't want to ruin anything either
 
Other than a "pure solvent", keep in mind that the components are held together by various other chemicals, normally referred to as "emulsifiers". One freeze/thaw cycle, they start to "come apart", two or more, the products are usually ready to be thrown away. 


Not in all cases, but just to be safe, "never allow any car care chemical to freeze".


Low temps like 40 don't really hurt them on the other hand, any long term exporsure of most at temps over the high 90'sF, may contribute to the same break down.


You spent good money, so treat them with these things in consideration.
 
I never risked it when I use to store my products in my home garage. Everything got brought inside and stored in the basement. Too much money invested in products to have them ruined.
 
Which brings up another related topic: receiving car-care chemicals via ground delivery during the winter. I know a lot of you Autopians have bought car-care chemicals on "Cyber Monday" and will be receiving them shortly. I live in the "Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field" in Green Bay, Wisconsin (Literally next door) and it will get cold: like below zero degrees Fahrenheit.


If storing chemicals in cold weather caused problems, so must shipping them.


 


I do know that 303 Aerospace Protectant is very susceptible to chemical change if frozen: it ends up smelling like bad body odor when thawed. I bought some from a local retailer whom this must have happened to and ended up returning it.


 


Just a heads-up on cold weather and shipping car-care chemicals.


(My apologies to the Original Poster for getting slightly off-topic)
 
99.9% of the time, while products are in transit, they do not become exposed to freezing temps long enough to totally freeze. However, if they are delivered to a house in the early morning, and it's 25 to 20F outside temp, and some wind can blow on them for 4 to 8 hours, they will freeze.


Not saying that in every case, products are not left setting on a rail car or truck over night, which may result in the freezing of them, but not "normal".


Usually, one freeze/thaw cycle does not affect most products. It's when they get a second "freeze/thaw" cycle that the emulsifiers break down.
 
Cold is okay, freezing is not. We've been below freezing here since Thursday afternoon so I've removed everything from my car and brought it inside. FWIW, Armor All freezes before anything else so its definitely water based! 
 
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