Two pack paint and open shelf life

[Sea Change]

A couple of weeks ago I found that my penultimate batch of International Perfection had once again suffered from hardened hardener. It seems that the stuff is highly hygroscopic and once opened, turns to jelly over the course of a few weeks. Probably particularly bad out here in the Caribbean, due to heat and humidity.

I also have a tiny bit of Lustre two pack, sold in the UK by SML paints. It's a bit precious because it was mixed to the exact shade to match my yacht's topsides, and I am saving these last few drops for touching up some scuffs on the hull.

Interestingly, despite having been open for nearly three years, the Lustre hardener remains liquid. It's clearly a different type of chemical to whatever International use. A glance at the safety information shows marked differences between the two products.

I can't buy Lustre out here, nor can I take it on the plane, so that option is out. But presumably some other manufacturer might be using a similar composition?

Perfection is being phased out anyway, so it's time to switch.

Does anybody have experience of a different brand of two pack which doesn't suffer from the rapidly solidifying hardener problem? What about Epifanes?

 

[William_H]

My eperienced is the same re hardener going off. I have manged a few seasons with careful sealing of hardener lid. Paint itself seems no worries over many years. I went to a paint store and just bought a suitable hardener for polyurethane paints. (still remarkably expensive) Just see what hardener you can get and try it with old paint. ol'will

 

[Sea Change]

I'm wary of buying a generic hardener since in my limited experience, the two brands of two pack that I've used have had quite different behaviour.

Hoping somebody with experience of the Epifanes version can report back...

 

[Sea Change]

Just bumping this question in case anybody is bored on a Sunday.

I can get Jotun, Awlgrip, Epifanes, Alexseal, or (for now) Perfection.

Aiming to find a product whose open shelf life is better than Perfection. Leaning towards Jotun, since the SML Lustre I have is still good and there is some sort of tie in between the two companies so maybe the products are actually the same??