Product Storage Alert for Cold Climates

This thread is aimed primarily at those of us living in parts of the world that are prone to cold temps at various times throughout the year and who store our products in unheated locations.

I'm rather new to detailing and was hoping to store my growing product arsenal in my unheated (but attached to my house) garage.
Rather than see my various brands' goodies get spoiled by questionable temps, I emailed my various brands: Chemical Guys, Poorboy's World, and Optimum.

Here's the same question email template I used for each vendor, with just the specific product names being swapped in for that given vendor's line:

**** I'll post all replies below this line as they are received ****​

Steve from Poorboy's World was an immediate responder:

Cheers to Steve for great customer service rendered!

Dee from Chemical Guys got back to me today:

Optimum's CEO David Ghodoussi has just replied:

 

Never leave your stuff in the cold... end of story.

 

Some have more flexibility with available heated space than others: this PSA thread is them.

 

I sleep with my detailing supplies, my bed is nice a cozy

 

Until the day that a bottle of QD gets loose on your sheets and you unexpectedly slide outta bed at 15mph one fatefull morning :giggle:

 

I store mine in my basement. year-round. it never gets too hot down there in the summer, and in the winter, I just plug in a space heater and keep it near the cabinet. I keep it just warm enough, probably around 60-65*. Haven't had a problem yet.

 

A space heater for your detailing products..wow.

 

well it's nothing big. very similar to this: De'Longhi at Lowe's: Electric Oil Filled Radiator

 

From what I have been told, its always best to avoid both extremes of weather, hot and cold, when considering exposure of your detailing supplies to these temp variations.

In the South East I have the opposite problem, extreme heat in the summer months. Even now in early October, my thermometer in the garage registered 90 one day. In the summer, I have seen in excess of 110. Because of this, I just always keep about 95% of my detailing supplies inside in a temperature controlled environment at all times. When I do a detail, I just take the individual items out for use. Pads and microfiber i do store outside most of the time. I know its probably not feasible for some people, but given how much we invest in some of these products, it seems worth it to protect them.

Cant say that I have ever had an issue with product damage from cold (it doesnt get that cold here), I have some products ruined by extreme heat. I still have this bottle of 303 aerospace that smells kind of funny after sitting in a garage for the summer. I just use it on my tires now.

It will be interesting to see each of the vendors responses. Thanks for taking the time to do it and posting the responses!

 

Let's talk about warm weather climated: my garage is usually always above 90F here in Texas, so far only Megs #16 has suffered!

 

My pleasure

Just trying to give a little back to the community.

 

Very cool thread here. With OPT stuff I have had things left in my car when I have picked them up - forgot about them then just brought them in and thawed them out. They worked flawlessly and didnt separate. But again thats just my experience with OPT

 

I'm glad I live in SoCal hehe

 

Storage

The chemical composition of waxes rarely ever change regardless of what form it is in, whether it is melted to a semi-liquid or remains as a semi-solid. Temperature has little to no effect as far as inhibiting the shelf life of wax, a cool temperatures and constant humidity will slow the evaporation of solvents from the wax, thus keeping the wax softer and easier to use over a longer period of time. Do not allow to freeze and avoid temperature swings

Storage Temperature (Product)

Car care products should not be stored at temperatures below 35 - 40oF, if they freeze they will become unstable and therefore unusable, ideal storage temperature range- 50- 75oF with an average humidity range. Most car care products have a ‘useful life’ of approximately 2-3 years provided they are stored as above.

Do not store at temperature extremes (i.e. very hot or cold) and avoid extreme temperature swings as the chemicals will become unstable. Most car care products (inc
Polymers) will separate and are no longer usable after being subjected to freezing temperatures

Shelf-Life

a) Polymers have a shelf life of approx 3-5 years if kept in their original containers and stored at temperatures as above

b) Waxes will last almost indefinitely, provided that they are stored a sealed in their original containers and in the refrigerator once opened. The liquids should last 18 months if stored at normal room temperature.

Detailing School Article (TOGWT) - http://www.detailingbliss.com/forum/f8/carnauba-brasil-wax-7886.html

 

wait...what?

I don't think I recalled any instructions on my Collinite 845 mentioning to refrigerate. Would that product count as a wax that should be refrigerated?

 

OP updated with Chemical Guys response.

 

Hmmm, not so sure about freezing products becoming unstable. I've ordered gallons of cleaners, in the middle of winter, and some were near frozen when I received them. I didn't notice any difference in performance of those products.

 

Collinite are synthetic waxes (polymers) and are not as sensitive to colder temp as natural waxes, but detailing products do not do well after being frozen (chemical technology, not just specific to detailing products)

 

Does AutoGeek have their 845 product description wrong?

 

yes, they have it wrong. It's not a carnauba. At least, not primarily a carnauba. it's more synthetic than anything.