Shelf Life

daArch

While going through some old stock, I remember a question when I did retail that I never really knew the answer to (but BS'ed my way through)

Does good acrylic paint go bad? It's been kept in a cool basement, never froze, has no growths in it, and don't smell bad. I mean, if it looks mahvelous, then it IS mahvelous ???.

Yes, there is separation of pigment and vehicle, but it stirs right up.

TIA

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Wallcovering Installations by Bill Archibald|paperhanger|Eastern Mass|Greater Boston Area|Dover|Wellesley|Franklin|Sharon|MA

jackrabbit5

There are some products like shellac that supposedly have a shelf life. I think in the case of shellac it doesn't dry properly or some such thing. I've never personally had any problems with latex paints as long as they, like you say, look good, smell good etc.

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Stacy

S B Bolson & Sons

slickshift

It can....you'll know it when it does though
It doesn't sound (look/smell) like this has

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Signature Quote

Quote:

Originally Posted by ModernStyle I have never used this crap before and I pray to the paint gods that I never have to use it again, I would rather use Behr

daArch

Thanks guys, that's basically what I have told customers, both painting ones and retail ones, "you'll know if it's bad".

Now, if it has froze, toss it.

And Stacy, besides shellac, oil paint, from my understanding, does hava shelf life. I think it was about 1984 that my pardner and I noticed the trim looked like a sand finish after we applied a local company's Alkyd S-G. (Hancock #400 - for all my fellow Ma$$holes on the forum ). The company rep came and looked and said the paint had "seeded" meaning some ingredients (pigment and driers ???) had bonded in the can (out dated according to the code) and thus formed a finish looking like the dustbag was not in the vacuum when it was used as the paint was drying. It was a spectacular mess, but an easy sanding to fix. Yup, they paid for it, but only in credit toward material equal to our time to make it right. - we were going to give a second finish coat anyway

The lesson learned was more valuable than the time to alleviate.

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Wallcovering Installations by Bill Archibald|paperhanger|Eastern Mass|Greater Boston Area|Dover|Wellesley|Franklin|Sharon|MA

mikenewman@fron

I had that seeding problem in 1972. It was a local company as well. It looked like nonskid was added. That was right off the shelf. It's always the painters fault though. I have never ran into it again. Mike in Moab

daArch

1972 !!! That's the year after I first picked up a brush for money. And I thought I had some experience behind me

Yup, JUST LIKE noskid, really evenly distributed too.

Now mind you, it was the factory rep that said it was outdated paint. But haven't we all applied alkyd paint that we know is OLD !!!!. I've never seen this phenomenon again either. I wonder what the real cause was. Wouldn't be surprised if the "outdated" line was a ruse when they knew a contaminent got in the vats.

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Wallcovering Installations by Bill Archibald|paperhanger|Eastern Mass|Greater Boston Area|Dover|Wellesley|Franklin|Sharon|MA

gideond

I think the biggest issue with latex paints or more specifically the 100% acrylics is rust. The newer paints especially seem to make short work on the lining in a metal can and start to rust in no time. If you can avoid that latex should last for quite some time. I have seen some extremely old cans of latex that have gummed up even under optimal conditions but this could be caused by a pinhole in the can and not the age of the product.

From what I've seen with shellac, at least the clear ones, you'll see flakes on the plastic resin floating in it once it gets too far past it's shelf life. I can't see it being a major problem with a pigmented shellac but with a clear it shows badly. It still seems to dry okay though but you get white or amber spots.