Shelf Life of Toyota Touch Up Paint

[oua]

Those little bottle with the small brush cap. I got one on the same day I took delivery of my 4runner in mid 2005.

What is the shelf life? Is it still good? How can I tell?

 

[Uneek]

Depends on where and how you store it. I keep mine in the living room where it's cooler and it last for about a year and half to two years. After that it starts to get thick. Also it depends how often you use the paint, if you're doing a lot of chips with the bottle open, it'll accelerate the drying of the paint. I shake mine up periodically when I remember. I say it goes bad when it starts to thicken up instead of being thin making it easier to flow into chips and scratches.

 

[Gromulus]

Solvent Evaporation

Since these touch-up paints are usually based on modifed thermoplastic acrylic resins, the shelf-like is influenced by viscosity increase due to solvent evaporation more than any "chemical" change - at least in the short term.

Frequency of opening and closing the bottle as well as environmental storage conditions will have an impact on useable shelf life.

As the previous poster indicated, as the viscosity increases the paint becomes harder to apply and exhibits decreased flow. The various brands of touch-up paint have somewhat different solvent blends in their formulations. "Most". however, are soluble in acetone. Acetone is a very fast evaporating solvent and will lower the viscosity faster than most solvents.

When your paint gets thick, try addig a few ml of acetone (nail polish remover) to improve flow.

 

[jrs2]

Acetone or automotive paint thinner will thin it out. Don't use paint thinner like you would buy at Home Depot. It won't work.