Sounds like a case for the Village Bobby !

If you get a trace of it, you need to stick with it, just dont get too hung up about it.

I suppose you could try putting up a few posters asking for information ?, but then, you would need past for that, so that,s a no-no.

The Shed Elves up to mischief again!

Curious that, about six months ago I saved about a pint of paste in a sealed plastic container (i kid myself it was in case i needed to paste any edges down but it’s probably because age related retention is taking hold).

I saw it this very afternoon on a shelf and it too had changed into clear runny water!

Not sure what to blame it on, not even Musk or Trump have made threats to our decorating materials  (yet).

Mick

Frost. That’s what does it. Repeated freezing cycles separate the water from the starch and the gel gets broken down.

On 8 January 2025 at 18:14 JasonB Said:

I suppose when you mix it up the flakes are saturated but in suspension but after time they possibly dissolve and that may make you think you just have water but it will still contain the dissolved contents. Drink it and see!

Somebody could come to a sticky end that way😉

Sorry the temptation was too great!

Has to be that the long chains of the starch are being broken up by the water.

On 8 January 2025 at 19:27 JasonB Said:

So now we seem to have solvited that question

Who can tell my why premixed paste can stay like it should for far longer?

I’ve used the premixed for many years now as it is consistant and you can just spread it with a paint roller in a fraction of the time. Also what a lot of the decent paper supplers say to use. Also suitable for the paste the wall papers.

I would guess the manufacturers use some additive to inhibit the phase change of the starch from suspended solid particles to a solution. This might not be possible with the mix-it-yourself version because it needs some special mixing process. They might even use something different from starch as the solid part.