From reading here it seems to be difficult keeping the stuff fresh after opening. At one time I built models professionally and used this tip to keep volatile Floquil paint fresh and now it's habit on anything like paint. I have a bottle of Perma Gloss I first opened in February, have opened it 4-5 times since, and it's still factory fesh. That's in spite of it being very humid here in Georgia

Use a can of common "canned air" used for blowing off keyboards, etc. During this brief process keep in mind that your goal is to replace the air in the bottle with a dry gas. Pour out the amount of Perma Gloss you need then gently blow the "canned air" (using the long nozzle) into the empty space of the bottle/can AS you lower the cap/lid. Press the trigger GENTLY to get a slight flow , you DO NOT want to use full pressure. As you continue to flush out the air, including the inside of the cap, finish lowering the cap and tighten her up.

This sounds more complicated than it is. It may take a time or two to get it right, but it does work.

David




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2006 12:50AM by David Wells.

Great tip. Very easy. I thought that there is a few types of 'canned air' or are they all CO2 based? (At least I think they are CO2).

Thanks,
Mo

READ THE LABEL - IF IT IS NOT AIR, it will extend shelf life so long as the gas has less water vapor than the room air. THAT's why you do not want to FREEZE BLAST the displacing compressed gas into the jar.

ANY EXPANDING GAS (shot out from a pressurized can) will COOL upon expansion, and may cool down the jar chamber too much if used too liberally, thus forming CONDENSATION of the room air's water vapor if you blast the gas intothe jar too fast and use too much of it.

Like David Wells said, it is a matter of TECHNIQUE. It is not difficult - you are just flushing out the room air and replacing it with a dry inert gas. Great idea.

The can of PC Duster that I have is 100% TetraFlouroEthane. With TFE, that liquid / gas is virtually INCAPABLE of absorbing any water vapor, so a brand of canned PC Duster gas that uses 100% TFE as its pressurizer would be a "best choice". IMO, -Cliff Hall, Chemist.

That's a good tip. Canned air is much cheaper than 'Bloxygen', which is made to prevent a 'skin' of dried varnish forming on top of varnish in the can during storage after opening. Ralph

If at first you don't succeed, go fishing, then try, try again.