With cold weather comes certain problems, especially when speaking about paint. As the weather in the UK has been cold for some time now, we thought it would be a good time to give you some tips about frozen paint.
There are plenty of things that you should know before you set out to paint on a freezing cold day. If you have any questions about frozen paint or if you weren’t aware that paint could even freeze, feel free to read on or get in touch to speak to someone who knows what they are talking about.
Some Helpful Tips For Our Readers
Firstly, you should really try to avoid allowing your water-based paints to be subjected to freezing temperatures. If you store water-based paints in the garage, shed or outhouse, try to store them off the floor and high up where the temperatures are a little bit higher. It’s best to keep stored water-based paints as close to room temperature as possible, to achieve maximum effectiveness.
Solvent-based paints are much more resilient, however, although it’s worth avoiding cold damp areas that can easily rust metal containers, in order to avoid spoiling your solvent-based paints. Damp or rusting containers can cause your paint to be contaminated, thus rendering it useless when you attempt to use it to paint with, even on a small surface area.
Freezing paint left outside isn’t always a bad thing. Water-based paints left out in freezing temperatures don’t always have to be thrown away. Freezing does indeed ruin water-based paint over a prolonged period of time, but it can sometimes survive a few freeze/thaw cycles, so you never know, you might be a little bit lucky! It is always worth it to store your paints in a good condition to ensure maximum efficiency when you come to use it. After all, Promain are more than aware that there is nothing worse than setting out to redecorate and having to stop because your paint isn’t up to scratch.
What To Do If Your Paint Freezes
Before you simply give up on it, there is something you can do to help rejuvenate your paint:
Allow the paint to slowly warm up to room temperature (this is crucial to saving your frozen paint), then stir it well. If the paint colour and consistency appear normal and homogeneous (meaning all the same), then it should be all right to use. If it still looks lumpy and a bit frozen, then chances are it has been frozen for far too long and should be disposed of. When you dispose of your frozen paint, be sure to do it in accordance to your local community guidelines.
We hope this short blog has been of assistance to you. If you still have some unanswered questions about frozen paint, feel free to get in touch with us and speak to one of our knowledgeable team. We are always open to calls and ready to provide expert advice.
