Frozen Glue

[Sal Kurban]

I have an unheated workshop. Yesterday I noticed my glue was frozen in the bottles. I had one 16 oz and two 8 oz bottles. (Glad did not have the gallon size). Thought they could be used by warming them up and brought them home set them next to the stove. Even though they were defrosted, the texture was funny. I did a test joint and it failed miserably. Have you had this problem before?
Sal.

[Tai Fu]

Well, the glue does say "do not freeze"...

[Rob Feldner]

Yeah, never let glue freeze, if it does its done. When it looks like cottage cheese, toss it. Oh, and of course you won't notice until you've already been to the store to pick up some things for your project and come back.

[Sal Kurban]

Well, the glue does say "do not freeze"...
But it does not say, "do not let it get frozen", so I am contacting my lawyer for damages :)

[phil harold]

I have been freezing glue for multiple decades...
most of the time it comes back fine sometimes not and then it is two thick to squeeze out the container


“Most wood glues are designed to withstand a minimum of five freeze/thaw cycles. With each cycle,
http://www.titebond.com/news_article/13-09-18/How_to_Store_Your_Wood_Glue_for_Longer_Life.aspx

[Keith Hankins]

Throw it in the garbage! I use to have an unheated workshop and kept my finishes and glues in my wash room above the dryer in the house. Many moons ago, I bought some glue by the gallon because it was "cheap". Learned the hard way that I could never use it all before it got old. Now, I only buy enough to do the project at hand and chuck the unused portion so I never get in a position of using old or damaged glue. Something else, buy your glue from a source you can trust moves a good bit of glue so you know it's not been setting on the shelf for a while. After all the work I do to get a project done, having a glue failure would totally ruin everything and it's the cheapest part of the project (at least for me my projects are larger). But thats just me.

[phil harold]

Freeze-thaw Stability
The ability of a product to remain usable after it has been frozen and thawed.
Some wood glue will have a "cottage cheese" look after freezing. If this happens,
shake/stir glue to original form

http://www.titebond.com/Libraries/LiteraturePDFs/FF683_GlueGuideTB.sflb.ashx

[Bill Bukovec]

The problem we (in Minnesota) have is, it never gets warm enough for the glue to thaw.

[Peter Quinn]

I've left it in my van over night...never really the same after that. I think its an emulsion, you freeze it, you break the emulsion. Then you get the thin sections and the lumps. Maybe you can beat it back into something that appears usable, but for me, a bottle of glue is way cheaper than my time and lumber, so if I even suspect its been frozen, its a tosser.

[Myk Rian]

I bring all my paints, glues, finishes, anything I don't want to freeze inside for the winter.
Even though I keep the garage at 40º, I'm not taking any chances.

[Steve Peterson]

I recall seeing something about wood glue being good for up to 5 freeze-thaw cycles before it would go bad. It may have just been one brand. I agree with the others that it is the cheapest part of the project and not really worth taking a chance with. Replace it. If you have kids, let them use it for projects.

Steve

[phil harold]

living in south dakota I freezed many in my van overnight over the years

[Jamie Buxton]

Frozen glue -- nature's way of telling you to move south.

[Keith Hankins]

Amen Brother! I'm gettin there as quick as I can, but my son who's at Fort Stewart Ga, called this morning and it's super cold even there!