WiseBond Epoxy Blog
What happens if my epoxy freezes/crystals during delivery?

By Roderick Kabel

As the seasons begin to change and get cooler, it’s the perfect time to tackle those big epoxy projects that you've been planning to get to all year. It’s nice to stay inside the workshop where it's warm away from the sub-zero temperatures.

However, when your portion of the country begins to feel the grip of Old Man Winter and transitions into freezing temperatures, epoxy delivery could be held up by the weather. Your order could go from a warm warehouse to sitting in a UPS truck somewhere on I-80 in Iowa.

Ideally, epoxy should be kept as far away from the cold as possible but with all of the holiday craziness, winter storms, and shipping schedules, we all can't always be home to grab our UPS deliveries. This means your epoxy order may end up sitting outside in the cold, whether we like it or not.

The issue here is when epoxy goes from warm to cold and visa versa in a relatively quick manner. Consider how your epoxy order might pass through all sorts of different climates during its trip to you.

In this situation, two things can happen. Most often we hear from customers who see white crystals or a white sludge in the epoxy jugs.

This is due to the molecules bonding together naturally when they condense in the frigid temperatures. When this happens, it may appear cloudy all over or you may see clumps of particles floating in the liquid epoxy resin or hardener, even after it returns to room temperature.

Or the epoxy is frozen in the jugs because it was left outside and very cold weather. Although both your resin and hardener seem unusable, it's very easy to return them to a usable liquid state.

Initially in either case, you should simply bring your epoxy inside and let it warm up to room temperature slowly. Most often as the epoxy temperature warms up, your epoxy will return to normal and it will work fine without any adverse effects. Remember, optimum working temperature is between 70 F and 85 F.

Submerge the entire bottle(s) of resin in a tub of hot water (120F) up to about mid-handle area only. (Do not fully submerge. The temperature difference from outside the bottle to internal could draw water into the container around the lid.) This extra hot water bath heat will cause the epoxy crystals to slowly break up and return to its clear liquid state. Now you can carry on using your epoxy for your river table project or flood coat.

NOTE: Allow the liquid epoxy A&B containers to cool back to room temperature before using. Otherwise an overly warm/hot mixture will prematurely cure and cause drastic results during the exothern.

That's it, simple as that. We hope this helps to set your mind at ease about getting your epoxy delivered in the winter months and helps you keep your project schedules on-track through the holidays and beyond.  

What not to do:

We have heard that placing epoxy bottles in a black garbage bag and setting them in the sun, will thaw them. Typically the sun is not a good option and may only prolong the thawing process.

Likewise, heating the epoxy material in a microwave is not recommended because, well, it’s epoxy and microwaves should be used for heating chili dogs.