Living in the great northeast, my garage gets pretty cold in the winter (no Heat). I am wondering if I need to move all of my Prima products in the house for the winter, or if it's ok to stay in the garage all winter, and possibly freeze?

 

i move all my detailing stuff into my utility area inside the house once
the garage's average temp is near 35F. i bought this wire rack from
target last year (kinda like the cheezo version of what the container store
sells) and it works just fine for storage.

 

Excellent question for this time of year!

As a rule, you should prevent your car care chemicals from freezing. If that means storing them inside, then that's the best scenario.

Here are some related tips and more detailed information about freezing:

• Are my chemicals ruined if they do accidentally freeze? It actually depends. The problem with freezing for most chemicals is that the product separates- sometimes the product will remix with no problems and sometimes it will not. *To see if your product is ok after a bout of freezing, just allow it to get to room temperature and shake it really well. If it combines and stays that way, the product is fine. If it just separates again, then it is ruined. Freezing doesn't damage most chemicals beyond the separation issue. We've performed several versions of freeze tests on various products (sometimes on purpose and sometimes accidentally!) and have not seen any change in the chemical's performance or results as long as it has not permanently separated. Here's our rule of thumb, based on the advice of our chemists as well as our own experiences: If a product freezes then thaws three times, it is very likely ruined. In other words, it's not the amount of time it is frozen or how frozen, but instead the freezing and thawing back and forth which seems to create the permanent separation problems. That said though, sometimes even 1 freeze will permanently damage a product.
• What about cold but not freezing temps? Most chemicals have no problem at all with cold temps. The real problem is that sometimes temps will dip into freezing unexpectedly! That's why it's better safe than sorry regarding winter storage. Again, permanent separation is the real issue. This kind of separation is typically caused only by a true freeze of below 32 degrees F.
• Special note about carnauba waxes: Carnauba paste waxes tend to have the hardest time recovering from freezing temperatures. So, for your carnauba paste waxes I would definitely store them inside just to be safe. On the flip side, FYI, they can also have problems if they get too hot. Many people actually store their carnauba paste waxes in the refrigerator to ensure safe temps! Just make sure you don't accidentally spread some carnauba wax on your bagel in the morning.

Thanks for the great question. I will bet that you're not the only one wondering about winter storage of your car care chemicals.

-Heather

 

 

I was just wondering about this.

Went to the detailing forum ... typed "frozen" in the search window, and voila!

I love NAM. Thanks for the question and replies!

 

The power of the internet and a bunch of Mini crazed people.

 

-Heather