Shipping products in winter (freezing question)

bumpus

bumpus

New member
This may be a stupid question, but I thought I'd ask. I plan to make some purchases from PakShak and Autogeek in the next few days, and I was wondering if there's a chance that they'll freeze during shipment? Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I know that if detailing products freeze, they tend to be worthless afterwards. Does it get cold enough in the belly of a cargo jet for them to freeze? Does the UPS truck/warehouse ever get cold enough to affect them? I haven't heard anyone else mention anything about not having products shipped in the winter, so I might just be worrying for nothing.
 
Yes it gets very cold in the plane, and on the UPS truck. But... even in the summer the plane is going to get really cold. Amazingly cold actually. I get stuff all winter, and as long as it doesn't sit on my front step all day its fine. :D
 
UPS may be different, but stuff sent via USPS (international orders) does freeze, and does leak all over the other stuff and does make for a sad arrival day. :( Water based products are, of course, more prone to freezing than petroleum solvent type products.
 
I've gotten stuff during the winter months and never really had problems with them freezing, or being damaged. They we're carnuabas so that might be why. I usually try to do most of my ordering around October/November to decrease any chance of it freezing on my doorstep.
 
I also do any product ordering in the fall. I don't order anything once we start getting consistent high temperatures in the mid-30s. Besides, I don't use many products in the winter anyway. It's about limited to QEW, S&G, #16, WG tire gel, NL, Total Eclipse, 1Z Lederpflege, and VM.
 
For me it depends on the product. Usually every product I get shipped to me gets frozen. Therefore, I'll order my wax/polishes during other months. Products like Quickshine, or S&W I don't worry about, as if they freeze it won't damage the product. Having said that, I still try and order these products during non-winter months.
 
wait for a warm spell or ask for ground shipping if possible. I've had stuff freeze - - it's a bummer.
 
I just got some Tropi-Care samples in the mail today and the sample of TC-3 xP polish had been subjected to freezing temperatures, as I had been out of town, and when I got back, they were in the mailbox. I e-mailed tech at Tropi-Care to see what they suggested. Boo.
 
I believe the idea is that the various chemicals/compounds that make up any product, have different freezing points and will separate under freezing conditions. I don't know if the various chemicals/compounds would re-combine to the proper solution when thawed. The solvents in the waxes and other products evaporate after application, so those do not remain on the paint to face the huge temperature variations.



But regardless of that, there's always the problem that a product could freeze and burst the container.
 
White95Max said:
.....But regardless of that, there's always the problem that a product could freeze and burst the container.
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That is a good point I had not considered. I have not searched for the answer but would we not see a lot of threads about damage caused by freezing conditions.
 
Steve from Tropi-Care e-mailed me back and said to simply let the products warm up to room temperature, give them a good shake, and continue on my way. Since I've never used TC products before, I won't have anything to compare with, so I guess I'll go ahead and use the sample on the skins of my V-Rod and see what happens.
 
Funny, I was thinking the exact same thing! My order for the entire Optimum line and the giant jug of AIO is due today and it's freezing outside with snow on the ground. I ordered to take advantage of the discounted prices.
 
Lowejackson said:
That is a good point I had not considered. I have not searched for the answer but would we not see a lot of threads about damage caused by freezing conditions.
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We might, but many people probably cut back their ordering a lot during the cold months.



I'd be particularly concerned with water-based products like tire gels and such.
 
I wouldn't normally be ordering products during the winter either, but like spilchy, I wanted to take advantage of some sales. I ended up skirting the problem by having the order sent to my sis in North Carolina, where the temps are still nice. She'll just bring it with her when she comes for Christmas.
 
Last winter i talked to Irene at TOL about Hi-Temp PPG and she said it would seperate if frozen and would not be the same. I also later talked to a Canadian distributor of the product and he said most products freeze during shipping and not worry about it.



I did order from TOL and it made it ok. It says right on the bottle "DO NOT FREEZE"



I think it would vary with different products and solvents wouldn't freeze as fast as water based products.



Try and wait for a warm weather forecast and find a closer distributor.
 
bumpus said:
I wouldn't normally be ordering products during the winter either, but like spilchy, I wanted to take advantage of some sales. I ended up skirting the problem by having the order sent to my sis in North Carolina, where the temps are still nice. She'll just bring it with her when she comes for Christmas.
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I couldn't resist that 20% off sale Autogeek had the other week either. My order's due tomorrow. Also, I saw Spilchy's collection in another thread. I don't care if stuff was on sale that guy has way too many products already. Who am I kidding? You can never have enough.
 
I just received my frozen Natty's Blue today. It seems to be fine now, after a few hours at room temperature. Is is supposed to have white swirls in it? Mine does. It feels fine. I think it will work fine too.
 
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