Jenolite "going off".

[PaulMcElhinney]

I've always been a fan of Jenolite rust converter. As a result about 18 months ago I bought half a dozen litre bottles of Jenolite liquid. I then read that the company had changed hands and that the new stuff wasn't as good as the old stuff. I tested a bit and saw that the colour was different and it didn't seem as good. As a result I bought about 8 150ml bottles of Jenolite gel. This was new old stock and I recognised the pink gel as the product I had always liked. I recently went to use some. I found that it had changed colour from pink to almost clear and had lost its pungent acidy smell. The bottles of Jenolite liquid have gone off in a similar fashion. Has anyone else had experience of this? Before anyone asks I haven't been putting contaminated brushes in bottles, I always pour a bit out.

 

[voipio]

The main active ingredient of Jenolite is an aqueous solution of orthophosphoric acid, which doesn't go off. The pink colour will be from a dye, probably organic, and not likely to be guaranteed to be stable over several years of storage, so will lose its colour. It's there just to give the product an "identity". The active ingredient is a clear liquid and will continue to work. As for the gel, it contains organic "thickeners" to give the gel its consistency and the materials used in Jenolite Gel are promoted in the industry as being stable. Although you will probably see some separation of the gel from the phosphoric acid solution over time, it should still work.

 

[PaulMcElhinney]

Thanks Voipoi.