I have 2.5 gallons of Sherwin Williams acrylic indoor paint that I stored in my detached garage. I was in the middle of a project last Fall and only used half of one can. Since I live in Pennsylvania and it was a cold winter, I'm worried about the paint freezing. I just checked on it and found that the pigment is solid with the solvent sitting on top. I attempted to remix it, but the pigment turns into little flakes and won't emulsify. Is there anything I can add to fix it, or is it no good now?
3 Answers
Even though paint isn't meant to be frozen, sometimes it happens. I’d suggest using a mixer attachment for your drill to really blend it together. Just stirring may not do the trick, especially if it’s been sitting for a while. I’ve had paint freeze on job sites before and it still worked after a good mixing. Give that a shot!
Sorry, but frozen paint generally doesn’t recover. Just so you know, a lot of paint you buy during winter could have been frozen during shipping. Think about it—full trucks can get left out in snowstorms and that paint doesn’t just get tossed. While it’s not ideal, some of that paint can still work if you warm it up and mix it well after freezing. Sorry for your luck, though!
Bummer! I guess I’ll have to get new paint for my project then.
Honestly, you might just want to let it go. Sometimes it’s better to accept it and move on than to waste more time trying to salvage it.
That's a good point! I hadn’t thought about all the shipping conditions. Thanks for the info!