Collinite shelf life

Whitewater25

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I just found several bottles of 845 & 925 in the back of my cabinet. The bottles have turned brown from age. I'm sure they are at least 15 years old,closer to 20. I soaked them in warm water for 10-15 minutes and shook them up. The product inside still looks good. I'm thinking it's still good enough to to use on the boat anyway. Or should I just chuck it? Anyone else have thoughts on it?
 
I would chuck it that's along time.14.99 and you have some fresh product to apply with your hard labor.why take that chance of hard labor with a inferior product.
 
Throw them away. 3-5 years for shelf life on products generally.

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Where was this cabinet? Unless it's seen a lot of temperature extremes, I'd say it's fine, and if you have looked at it and it looks good I say it is good. I have plenty of old wax and it's still fine--it's the newer water-based stuff you have to worry about, the old stuff that's just solvent and wax lasts forever unless you get something growing in it but you've already said it looks ok.
 
Setec maybe right shelf life of collinite in a metal can sealed could be good,they give it 5 years sealed.How ever 15 to 20 is along time.Try a section and see how it works.waxes in plastic bottles and plastic tubs 3 years tops.a big factor is where has it been stored.
 
I recently had a customer of mine wash his corvette with some car wash soap he had for over 15 years. I did a full detail on his Vette 2 months ago. He contacted me and said something was wrong. When speaking with him and questioning him he had told me about the product being maybe 20 years old. His Vette had a coating of grime and residue after his wash with this product.

He's a good customer of mine so I went to his home, assessed it, did a waterless wash, and then applied Collinite 845 free of charge. This removed the layer of grime and restored the shine and protection.

Moral of story is products go bad and can wreak havoc. If there is a question just toss it.

Also, if you live in a colder climate and the product freezes, toss it.

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I recently had a customer of mine wash his corvette with some car wash soap he had for over 15 years. He contacted me and said something was wrong.

Car wash soap is different from Collinite. That's comparing apples to oranges. Detergents have water in them and do grow stuff, although that's not a given, either.
 
The cabinet is in my garage. I have a 24" fan running 24/7 so it doesn't get all that hot. SoFlo= No frozen products,just consistent warmth. I may try doing one side of the boat & see what it does. It goes on & comes off so easily it won't be much time wasted if it's not as good as it's supposed to be.
 
Car wash soap is different from Collinite. That's comparing apples to oranges. Detergents have water in them and do grow stuff, although that's not a given, either.
I realize that. I would interested in contacting Collinite and other manufacturers to see what they say regarding shelf life. It's just not worth it to me to gamble it. Kind of like my mentality on oil changes. You can go 10,000 miles on an oil change, I just choose not to wait that long. It's cheap insurance.

In the end people need to do what they feel is right for them.

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I would interested in contacting Collinite and other manufacturers to see what they say regarding shelf life. It's just not worth it to me to gamble it.

Most manufacturers will tell you their product has a short shelf life, there is no upside for them to do otherwise. At the best, they lose an opportunity for you to throw you bottle away and buy a new one, at worst there IS something wrong with it and you are unhappy and never buy anything from them again.


Kind of like my mentality on oil changes. You can go 10,000 miles on an oil change, I just choose not to wait that long. It's cheap insurance.

That's not even apples to oranges, that's apples to toasters. With your engine you risk thousands of dollars in repairs, and perhaps more thousands in diminished value to the vehicle from having the engine replaced, not to mention possibly being stranded by the side of the road and without a vehicle for weeks. What would happen with a bad bottle of wax? Perhaps you as a pro could lose a customer if the wax didn't "work", but the OP has already said this is for his own use, so if he tries it and it doesn't work as expected...not much downside IMO.

Throw them away. 3-5 years for shelf life on products generally.

If I threw out everything I had that was over 5 years old, I'd lose 95% of my detailing products, including ones I used last week.
 
As long as you don't eat it, its fine. A minor oxidation of the product is expected, so do a test spot if it's fine then you are good to go.
 
Yep. I'm gonna do one side of the boat and see how it does. If not up to par,next stop is trash can.
 
I just did my hood and two front fenders with a seven year old sample bottle of Collinite 845. Worked like a charm, I had forgotten how easy this was to use. Car looks great.

We'll see how it holds up. The sample bottle smelled OK, the texture felt OK, it spread like it was butter and, once it glazed over, came off easily.
 
I have some Collinite that is at least 15 years old. maybe as old as 20+
It has sat on shelf in my house all that time. Still looks, smells, and works the same as a new bottle.
And that goes for 845, 476s, and Marque D' Elegance. They were all sitting on the same shelf. Summer high temps are in the mid 90's. Winter lows down to 38.
 
While not 15 years old, my bottle of Collinite is 3~4 years old and still works great. I've not noticed any difference in the behavior of the product at all.

I don't think many of these products age as quickly as some think. I did have a bottle of Meguiars Gold Class Shampoo start to go bad after about five years, but I've also got bottles of the Klasse twins which are at least 10 years old and they still work great.
 
I don't think many of these products age as quickly as some think. I did have a bottle of Meguiars Gold Class Shampoo start to go bad after about five years, but I've also got bottles of the Klasse twins which are at least 10 years old and they still work great.

I think this is just a general perception with everything having expiration or "best by" dates on it, from food to drugs, etc. As I mentioned earlier there is no upside for product suppliers to put long shelf lives on things. I mean, they used to put canned food in fallout shelters, and that was before they coated the inside of the can. Now you buy a (coated) can of soup and it says it's only good for 2 years.
 
I'm old school. Collinite smells like a chemical factory, so I know it works. Lol

But really, I work with many, many chemicals, epoxies, solvents, resins, well, you get the idea. All these things last a very long time if not exposed to their two arch-enemies:

Air

Extreme temperature/changes.
 
Did the hull of the boat and a black truck with it. Came off easy, didn't seem any different than a new bottle except the color of the old bottle. I guess time will tell if the durability was compromised by the age of it.
 
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