Pay attention to shelf life....

[Coderedpl]

Got one of my cars all prepared for a detail, apc strip wash, dwc decon, clay, etc then came the polishing. 

 

I have a bunch of panels covered in ppf, most of the car actually, but contaminants and swirls/scratches can still occur so I went ahead and did one pass with the correcting and microfiber. 

 

Looked ok, so I moved onto actual paint. I started with the orange as it wasn't that pretty. Kept working and working and 2 or 3 passes later wasn't getting far, tried a pass with finishing (white) and it still was meh....

 

Then I remembered, shelf life, bought these in 2014. Cannot believe it's been that long since I needed to use them. 

 

Ended up going over the rest of the car with just the finishing polish to make it presentable. 

 

Wish I thought about this before I started all the prep. Would of saved a ton of time and frustration. 

 

 

At least it came out somewhat decent

[GXPaycheck]

Which begs the question, what is the shelf life on polishes, opened and unopened?

[RayS]

There is an older thread that gets referenced every once in a while.

 

I keep all my products in a climate controlled room and go by a 2 year product lifecycle and so far I haven't had any problems.  I do this by keeping track of my usage and ordering in a reasonable time so I don't run out.   I buy gallons where it makes sense, but if I only go through a bottle or so a year of a product, then I buy the individual bottles.   As an example, one bottle of Undercarriage Spray is plenty since I might go through a bottle every year or two, whereas Detail Spray, Glass Cleaner, APC and Ultra Shampoo are bought by the gallon and they might last a year.  

 

Inventory control for a professional or in my case an amateur not only ensures you have fresh products, but it also saves you money from spoilage and the expense of having excessive quantities of a product.  Finally, products are updated on a regular basis and do you really want a 5 year supply of a product that has had a major makeover - I'm thinking of Ceramic Boost 1.0 compared to 2.0.  I'm glad that I didn't buy the gallon of 1.0, because 2.0 is so much better, in my opinion.

[GXPaycheck]

Thanx. Forgot about that thread. I have some stuff that needs to go I guess.