{"id":4516,"date":"2024-03-27T10:06:55","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T08:06:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coatinginstitute.org\/?p=4516"},"modified":"2025-07-28T14:23:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T11:23:13","slug":"shelflife_potlife_workinglife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatinginstitute.org\/en\/shelflife_potlife_workinglife\/","title":{"rendered":"Shelf Life vs Pot Life vs Working Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shelf life<\/strong>, pot life<\/strong> and working life<\/strong> are used in describing the life expectancy of a paint of coating, but they don\u2019t mean the same things. Let\u2019s take a look at what each of these terms mean and how they impact the use and application of paint and coatings.<\/p>\n

Shelf life<\/strong> is, quite simply, how long an item can remain on a shelf and still be usable. For paint and coatings, it means how long a can of paint can last on your shelf and still be used to paint or do touch-ups.<\/p>\n

Pot life<\/strong> tells you how long multiple-part paint and coating can be applied to a surface after it has been mixed. Technically, it is how long the paint\u2019s viscosity takes to double and the paint and coatings become too thick to apply. If the paint and coatings has been poorly mixed or has been left unused for a while before the project is started, then the pot life is off.<\/p>\n

Working life<\/strong> is similar to pot life, as it refers to a multiple-part coatings system after it has been mixed, with one key difference. Working life is used to describe how long a paint can be applied before it begins to cure. Unlike pot life, which is determined when the viscosity doubles, working life is not a specific term, although the results are the same \u2013 the paint can no longer be applied smoothly.<\/p>\n

Source: Coatings World<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shelf life, pot life and working life are used in describing the life expectancy of a paint of coating, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":4511,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[228,229,230],"class_list":["post-4516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ioct-news","tag-pot-life-en","tag-shelf-life-en","tag-working-life"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nShelf Life vs Pot Life vs Working Life - Institute of Coating Technologies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Shelf life, pot life and working life are used in describing the life expectancy of a paint of coating, but they don\u2019t mean the same things\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coatinginstitute.org\/en\/shelflife_potlife_workinglife\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shelf Life vs Pot Life vs Working Life - 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