When the colder weather starts to creep in, there are a whole range of essential maintenance work to complete to fully prepare. You need to top up on de-icer for your car, turn up the heating in your home, and replace your summer tee-shirts for your winter jumpers!
There is one essential check you might have missed: have you prepared your adhesives for winter?
Colder temperatures affect the physical properties of adhesives, and therefore if you notice any of the signs below, your adhesive might be underperforming due to the weather:
- Inconsistent spray pattern
- Adhesive is spitting
- Flash off times increase
- Materials coming out of solution
- Foaming in the adhesive
If you notice any of these signs, you need to reconsider how to store your adhesives throughout the winter. It’s super easy, just follow our top tips and keep your canisters in working condition, whatever the weather!
Temperature
Spray adhesives work best at room temperature, so where possible don’t store in temperatures lower than 10°C.
Storage
Where possible, keep the canisters off cold, concrete floors. Instead, store them on top of a pallet, on top of a piece of foam or in an MDF box with caster wheels. Try not to leave outdoors overnight, move the canister indoors so they are ready to use first thing in the morning.
Warming up a cold canister
If you have no choice but to store in colder conditions, then you can warm up the canister before use by placing it in a bucket of warm water for 15 minutes, and then rock back and forth on the base shoulder of the canister and gently agitate the canister.
If these tips don’t work to resolve your spraying issues, or if you notice your adhesive underperforming in a different way, make sure to get in touch with our technical team for support.
