Will freezing temps ruin compounds, polishes, and waxes?

[StuDLei]

I just read a post on Meguiar's FB page claiming such, along with a warning to their readers to bring these products out of the garage and inside.

Last year I did this, but to be honest this year it didn't really occur to me to bring all my stuff inside. The comment on their page said "A hard freeze will ruin virtually all compounds, polishes, and waxes." I'm not sure if they meant hard freeze as in 28 degrees or letting your products literally freeze solid.

Anyone want to chime in here?

And before anyone goes there, yes, I know water freezes at 32 degrees; however, a hard freeze takes place @ 28 degrees.

 

[StuDLei]

Our garage isn't heated, but it's pretty damn well insulated. Still, I'm sure the temp as dropped below freezing in there.

 

[Euphoria64]

I don't have personal experience in the matter and don't feel like chancing it so I bring all my products inside. From what I've read from others, both very cold temps and very high temps can potentially ruin your products. If your garage is well insulated it definitely helps, but for me it's just not worth the risk.

 

[StuDLei]

I don't have personal experience in the matter and don't feel like chancing it so I bring all my products inside. From what I've read from others, both very cold temps and very high temps can potentially ruin your products. If your garage is well insulated it definitely helps, but for me it's just not worth the risk.

I hear you. I've used ONR occasionally this winter and I used Optimum Car Wax a few days ago with no issues. I brought all of my products in tonight and none were separated from what I could tell. Put a little SF4500 on my finger and it looked and smelled the same, so hopefully everything is fine.

Back in the day when I used OTC stuff I left it in the garage year round and never seemed to have any problems.

Dumb mistake on my part. Weird because it's not like I don't see the stuff sitting there in my garage everyday. For whatever reason it just didn't occur to me this winter, such is life. Can't afford to replace half of my stock, so fingers are crossed.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

As a general rule of thumb you don't want to expose your car care product to extreme heat or extreme cold.

If this happens, take the product and shake the heck out of it and then check it for a uniform consistency. If it looks to have a uniform consistency, not curdled, separated, extremely thin, etc. it's probably okay to continue using.

I have products that date back to the 1930's and 1940's that are still good to use.


Some Vintage Meguiar's Products from my Collection (Lots of pictures)

 

[Desertnate]

My garage is unheated and the products I have are exposed to near freezing temps year after year.

To-date, I've not noticed any failing or going bad. Like Mike mentioned, many of them need a good shake to correct the seperation that might have occured. Since I'm a twice-a-year detailer on my personal fleet, I always equated the seperation to the products sitting unused for months on end.

 

[VP Mark]

Had plenty of stuff freeze over the years, generally doesn't bother it. Too many freeze and unfreeze cycles however will break down the emulsifiers which hold everything together. Better to not things freeze but for the most part it is pretty harmless.

That being said... I never let my coatings of expensive compounds/polishes freeze. Why take the risk?

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[KenR]

I put my Autogeek supplies in a large plastic tub and put it in my basement electrical closet for the winter. A lot of money sunk into those goodies.

 

[StuDLei]

As a general rule of thumb you don't want to expose your car care product to extreme heat or extreme cold.

If this happens, take the product and shake the heck out of it and then check it for a uniform consistency. If it looks to have a uniform consistency, not curdled, separated, extremely thin, etc. it's probably okay to continue using.

I have products that date back to the 1930's and 1940's that are still good to use.


Some Vintage Meguiar's Products from my Collection (Lots of pictures)

Thanks Mike; I'll be sure to shake the heck out of them all tonight when I get home. They should be at room temp.

Also, sweet pics. Those are pretty cool items to have man!

 

[StuDLei]

Thanks for the input guys. Eased my mind a bit.

I brought my stuff into the utility room already, hopefully next year I don't forget.

 

[inDetail]

I kept all my detailing stuff inside until I started expanding business wise. Here in the NE especially this year I always bring everything in except MF's and applicators which are sealed in plastic. Everything else comes inside. You never want to reach for something during a job and have it fail.
The only thing I keep cold are my waxes and those are in the fridge all year long.

 

[tpr1634]

I have no heat in my garage with the temps this winter it's been colder than usual some where in the 40's garage is attached to the house. The only product so far that does not like the cold is optimum car wash, so I brought it inside. What's weird is a gallon of Mr. pink is right next to it and it's fine.:buffing:

 

[custmsprty]

I do the direct opposite down here in Florida, put them out in the garage in the winter and bring them in during the summer because of the excessive heat.

 

[A2D Signature]

As a general rule of thumb you don't want to expose your car care product to extreme heat or extreme cold.

If this happens, take the product and shake the heck out of it and then check it for a uniform consistency. If it looks to have a uniform consistency, not curdled, separated, extremely thin, etc. it's probably okay to continue using.

I have products that date back to the 1930's and 1940's that are still good to use.


Some Vintage Meguiar's Products from my Collection (Lots of pictures)

This may be a dumb question, but how well does 60 to 70 year old product work with today's paint systems? I'm wanting to imagine it works just as a fine aged wine tastes lol.


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[Andr3wilson]

Another thing you need to understand is companies need to be very black and white with instructions. Claiming freezing may ruin everything is really a safe blanket statement. If they said freezing will not ruin your products and a bunch of people's stuff was ruined in the cold, then it would blow back. Better safe than sorry. Generally, things are pretty safe, I have had everything off mine freeze solid, nothing lost.

 

[StuDLei]

In Edmonton? Get out!!!

Haha!!

Good point Wilson!

 

[PiPUK]

Another thing you need to understand is companies need to be very black and white with instructions. Claiming freezing may ruin everything is really a safe blanket statement. If they said freezing will not ruin your products and a bunch of people's stuff was ruined in the cold, then it would blow back. Better safe than sorry. Generally, things are pretty safe, I have had everything off mine freeze solid, nothing lost.

That is a good take. If a product fails in the extreme cold then the manufacturers has warned you and you would have little ground for complaint as it is a good general rule of thumb for any chemical product.

What actually is effected will tend to depend on the complexity of the product. A lot of simple products will separate out in the cold but they are manufactured with a cold processes and simple mixing so it should not surprise you that a good shake will bring them back to life when heated. Then there are products which are manufactured at elevated temperatures or which have specialised mixing/emulsification/homogenisation. So it should be equally unsurprising that, once separated, you will struggle to bring together again unless you can replicate the processes which were required to manufacture them. As it happens this sort of process is what tends to be required for compounds, polishes and (liquid) waxes. So, if it were me, I would try to pay attention to this specific advice (if possible).