Do waxes and polishes go bad?

[rocketraider]

I hadn't considered this, and haven't experienced it myself. Friend got out a 20+ year old bottle of liquid polish and even after several minutes of vigorous shaking, all that came out was clear liquid. He ended up dumping 9 bottles of various brand car cleaning products as unusable. Well-known name brands, stored in his constant-temperature basement all this time.

 

Granted, we don't use the stuff like we did at one time. I had one can of Brasso metal polish get a little watery couple years back but it still cleaned metal well. It was probably close to 40 years old, no UPC on the can. 

 

Your experiences?

[CHuDWah]

I've had liquid polish separate - sometimes shaking will remix it, sometimes not.  I've also had paste wax dry out and harden to the point it was unusable.

[Flivverking]

Classic types of real paste waxes of the tan or brown kind often sold as floor or bowling alley wax "johnson and others" and also sold and labled for use on automobiles since the earliest days can be reconstituted with mineral spirits.

[TAKerry]

I have seen car waxes dry out and go bad, as well as liquid separate. I have a couple cans of paste wax for furniture in my shop that I have been using for prob 10yrs or more. I suppose if you keep them 'active' they will be ok, but let them sit a long time without 'stirring' anything up and they will go bad.

 

[SC38dls]

Everything eventually goes bad. If you want proof just look at my body!  Once a young vibrant specimen and now a broken down shell of its former self. Even my wife of 50+ years will tell you that! 
dave s 

 

ps in my eyes she hasn’t changed a bit. Still has great legs!😀

Edited February 6, 2021 by SC38DLS (see edit history)

[capngrog]

Everything has a shelf life ... including me.

 

Cheers,

Grog

[John_S_in_Penna]

I have had several cans of Astro Shield polish,

which I believe is no longer manufactured.  After

the cans sat for a long time, only liquid came out.

However, after very vigorous shaking for several

minutes, the solids which had congealed on the

bottom of the can started mixing with the liquid--

making the polish useful again.

 

At first it looked like shaking wouldn't work;  but

a dedicated effort at shaking produced results.

[46 woodie]

Yes, some waxes over time will separate. One thing that should never be done, is to leave a detail bag filled with waxes and other detail products in your car or garage and let them freeze. Freezing is not recommended for any detail type product.

[MotiveLensPhoto]

My garage used to get nasty cold. So I insulated and drywalled the whole thing, new door, polyurea sealed the floor, etc. Now it never gets below 35 in there, even when the outside is zero. But yes, take all your cleaning products AND YOUR POWER WASHER and hoses inside in the winter to keep from freezing.

[Billy Kingsley]

Yes. Some time in the 1990s when I was a kid, my dad pulled out an old can of polish and had me go at the fender of his daily driver Volkswagen Rabbit. It ended up turning the fender brown, the car was sky blue. 

 

He didn't actually look at the tin, just told me how to do it while he was working under the hood. I had never done it before, I was about 7 or 8 years old so I had no idea. 

 

That fender stayed brown the rest of the time he had that car.

Edited February 6, 2021 by Billy Kingsley
Autocorrect attack (see edit history)

[caddyshack]

Back in the early '70s I bought four small paste wax cans of "Vista". It has been at least 25 years since I used the stuff. I found the last can a year ago, so I added a little water to the dried wax and proceeded to wax my Tahoe last summer. That is the easiest wax to apply and the results are still quite good. I don't know when they quit producing it. Anybody else remember this wax?

Skip in frigid MN.

 

[Roger Zimmermann]

I experienced that myself. It was about a can of 3 or 4 liters. For years all went well until it began to separate. Shaking or mixing it would end to nothing; I discarded it.

[60FlatTop]

I have been heating my garage for the past 7 years. I can tell everything is doing better for it. The chemicals, polishes, the cars themselves. And some days I go out and crank up the heat as I just walk around wiping and shining stuff. I tend to use the products up quicker. That's the best thing.

 

There is half a gallon of Liquid Ebony that I bought in 1981 left. I shake it up every once in a while. The rest of the old stuff has been used or thrown out unless it had a neat looking can. The new polishes are so much better. The 3M system products are great and I have a whole row of Detail spritzers, Mothers and Meguiars are good. Get some new stuff. Walmart has a good selection.

[Roger Zimmermann]

I agree that with some heat, product's life could be better. However, that old barn is just impossible to heat. It can happen during the winter that the temp is getting to =°C or lower.

The '56 Sedan de Ville on the picture has been sold for 3 years. The picture is probably about 10 years old (the guy in front -me- was younger too!), but the barn did not change a lot. I'm calling it my "refrigerator"! It's also not very practical as to drive the third car, both in front must go out first...

[rocketraider]

13 hours ago, caddyshack said:

Back in the early '70s I bought four small paste wax cans of "Vista". It has been at least 25 years since I used the stuff. I found the last can a year ago, so I added a little water to the dried wax and proceeded to wax my Tahoe last summer. That is the easiest wax to apply and the results are still quite good. I don't know when they quit producing it. Anybody else remember this wax?

Skip in frigid MN.

 

My Uncle Gene liked it. Simoniz product. Used to help him wax his Ford wagons using it, he liked me to help him because I buffed the wax out of crevices and didn't leave it. Wasn't it kind of a pinkish tan color?

[Paul Dobbin]

At age 13 I would Simonize neighbors cars for $10.00.   The fun part was that I did it

at our house and the neighbors let me drive their cars down the street to do it.  The

fun was driving the 55 Ford Sunliner next door and the 57 Olds Coupe down the street.

At that age driving anything was fun.

[Marty Roth]

22 hours ago, caddyshack said:

Back in the early '70s I bought four small paste wax cans of "Vista". It has been at least 25 years since I used the stuff. I found the last can a year ago, so I added a little water to the dried wax and proceeded to wax my Tahoe last summer. That is the easiest wax to apply and the results are still quite good. I don't know when they quit producing it. Anybody else remember this wax?

Skip in frigid MN.

 

 

Yes, I used VISTA on a regular basis on my parents' cars, as well as my own through the 1950s and 1960s

 

Currently unavailable:

https://www.amazon.com/Simoniz-V8-Vista-Paste-Car/dp/B000SLX0X0

[AURktman]

I have a couple bottles of Stuart Shine wax that I use on my 60 Bonneville that are 7-8 years old. They separate, but I shake the snot out of them and they mix right back up.  I have been trying to find more, but I can’t find his website anymore.