Preserving glues, adhesives & finishing in unheated shop

[julian abram]

I was wondering how you guys keep your glue and finishing materials from freezing in unheated shop. My shop is heated when I am working but I have 2-3 day periods not working. I don't leave the heater on during those non work periods. I carry some products into the house to keep them warm. Be thinking I need to build some type of insulated heated cabinet for storage during freezing weather. Any novel solutions on keeping products warm in unheated shop?

[Jerome Stanek]

I have an insulated cabinet that I have a 60 watt light bulb in. It keeps everything nice and toasty

[Lee Schierer]

My shop is heated so I don't have the concern, but in your case anything with water in it should be taken in the house or store it in a heated cabinet. Some oil based finishes may also jell at colder temps.

[Keith Westfall]

I too had an insulated cabinet in my previous shop. (Now I have heat all the time). What I did was take a cheap knock down/put together Big Orange DIY small storage cabinet and lined it with 1/2 rigid foam. Put a light socket underneath the bottom shelf, and depending on the temps, either a 40 watt or 60 watt bulb. Worked great.

[Dan Keeling]

Perhaps a small kegerator/dorm sized fridge with some heated pipe wrap??

[Howard Acheson]

While some materials can freeze in cold areas, keep in mind that manufacturers ship their products over the road at any time of the year. Therefore, finishing products are formulated either not to freeze or not to be adversely affected by freezing temperatures. This includes so called 'waterborne" finishes. The chemicals used in these products acts as an anti-freeze. In fact one of the chemicals in the formulation is glycol which is the primary component of automotive anti-freeze.
That said, it is imperative to warm most products or finishing materials to 65-70 degrees for application.

[William C Rogers]

Like the insulated cabinet, I had an old refrigerator that I wired the lights on to store my materials. I only needed 20 watt bulbs to keep things warm. However you need to keep watch that the bulbs don't burn out. I thought of installing a second bulb as backup, but never did.

[Keith Westfall]

I also found that depending on the temperature, I would use either a 40 watt or 60 watt bulb. When it started to warm up outside, the 60 would warm up the cupboard pretty hot!