I have just tried to use a Selleys product.
Its a spray can that doesnt spray. It was $13.75 when purchased and its been in the cupboard for a long time. There is no batch number of best before and I can’t remember where I bought it.
Wrote to Selleys who responded that the product hadn’t been manufactured for years and their cans are only designed for 24 months from date of manufacture.
I pointed out that given there is no marking on the can at all I can’t work out if the product is past its best before and neither can the vendor. Their response was " We are not required to put “use by” or “Best Before” dates on our products."
I asked for a refund and for the dates to be marked given the limited shelf life.
No satisfaction.
Be aware that Selleys products that include aerosols ( not sure about the others) have a shelf life that neither the vendor nor the user is able to know. I’m avoiding their products
That to me is the height of arrogance but it appears Selley’s products include very few aerosol cans these days. What is your product that ‘has not been manufactured for years’? For curiosity do you how many years ago it was purchased prior to trying to use it?
Perusing their products online I only saw 2 aerosols - an upholstery cleaner and an expanding filler - with the rest in bottles, tubs, sprays, and tubes.
As for ‘the others’ you raised an interesting point.
It would be helpful if they did put some indication on the tin that the shelf life is not indefinite whether they are required to or not. On the other hand there are many building and craft products (adhesives, fillers, caulking, paints etc) that have a limited shelf life and this depends on the situation where they are kept. It would be difficult to say in any given situation within a wide margin how long it will last.
Before declaring you will not buy from them again you should check with other makers and find out if their labelling is any better, or just perhaps just write it off to experience, it is only an old spray can after all.
Before you got it out and found it didn’t work had you checked it for a use-by date? If not you are no worse off in practice because it didn’t have one. Stuff goes off in my shed all the time - that’s life.
I have just checked three non-Selleys spray cans we have and all are different brands (oven cleaner, insecticide and penetrating oil). None of these cans or brands have information on the cans to indicate their life (such as expiry dates, best before dates or wording such as ‘use within 12 months of purchase’). There is a time stamp of manufacture (hh:mm) and what appears to a batch number only.
Selleys are correct that they aren’t required to place such information on their spray cans…and it seems like it may be common within the industry to not do such.
Selleys and other companies would assume that aerosol cans would be used possibly shortly after purchase, rather than being bought and used at a somewhat later date. Most of their products are for jobs that need doing…rather than having a can of everything on the off chance a job may come up.
If a unused can wasn’t needed for a particular job, some hardware stores allow you to take back unused (in unaltered new condition) materials for a refund. Maybe this is a lesson that if it wasn’t to be used promptly, it should be returned for a refund where such is allowed by the retailer.
It is also worth noting at canned foods with life greater than 2 years also aren’t required to have similar information on the cans (Food Standards Australia indicate it is voluntary)…so it isn’t confined to non-food products. Many food cans in our pantry don’t have any information on best before or expiry. Some have information to consume with x days after opening.
Searching online, there seems consensus that a spray can should remain ‘potent’ for at least 2-3 years. Life after 2-3 years is then dependent on the contents, how the can has been stored (or if partly used) and the quality of the cans.
In reality, Selley’s can’t be responsible if a consumer has purchased a can years ago and believe that a can should have an indefinite life.
