Shelf life and product code dating

Titebond in all the different flavors is my favorite family of wood glues. Franklin gives a standard shelf life of 1 year for all their glues for an unopened container. Keeping air out of the container helps, but still begs the question: When does that timer start? When was that bottle of glue made / when does that year start? That question is equally applicable to any finishing product.
It basically comes down to lot numbers. Lot numbers are generally stamped in easily smudged numbers on individual bottles, but if not there, then is printed on the cardboard box the bottles come in - thank goodness many stores only unbox a few bottles at a time and the rest stays easy to date from their birth certificate on the box. Quoted from www.titebond.com:
"How do I read the lot numbers?
The letter "A" is always used at the beginning of a Franklin International lot number. The second digit corresponds to the last number of the year. Digits 3 & 4 correspond to the months of the year. The 5th and 6th digits correspond to the day of the month the product was made. Lastly, digits 7 through 10 are batch numbers. Therefore, a Titebond product with the lot number of A906010045 was manufactured on June 1, 2009."
It turns out that there are more ways of coding Titebond Lot numbers than the above, as talked about here.
So, it comes down to tracking down (and deciphering) what the lot numbers mean to determine product age - marking a products "born on" date isn't as useful as marking when it goes bad, which I recommend that you do "in the clear" with a Black indelible marker! Especially if you have to get the "born on" date from a box that stays in the store. If you can't be bothered, buy from some place that does brisk business and date from when you buy the bottle. Otherwise, beware of that dusty bottle purchased from a Mom and Pop - sorry, I like to support Mom and Pop operations, but your project depends on its life based on the glues and finishes it is made with.

MSDS - why you need them.

A MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) is a form produced by the manufacturers of all most all chemicals. Large businesses are required to have the MSDS information at hand for any of the products they use in their daily work. So why do you need them for the products you use? Well, mostly you don't, but I can give some compelling reasons to seek them out.
1) MSDS list the ingredients of the product you are using. Yep, ever wonder what was in some of the finishes you use? An MSDS will tell you, down to the percent. Poor labelling of consumer packaging no longer has to stop you from knowing exactly what you are exposing yourself to, or for that matter whipping up some of your own if that is cheaper for you. Many manufacturers rely on the "Secret" of what is in their stuff to stay in business.

2) The real purpose of MSDS sheets; safety - it is always good to know what you are being exposed to. Everything from alergic reactions, wondering how to store safely, or is it safe to mix with another product, etc.

Here are a few to get you started.
Rockler provides MSDS for the chemicals they sell and even have a nice search engine. As they sell the Sam Maloof finishes, kinda interesting reading!
Highland Hardware also has a list of MSDS for what they sell.

MSDS online is a pay service, but allow trial use, so if you have one in particular that you are interested in looking up, this may be your best option.

Oh, and I've noted that even if a .COM company doesn't have MSDS sheets online for the public, sometimes the Canadian version of the same company / site will.

Another tip - sometimes you can get the information you need simply by asking for it, either by mail, phonecall or webform. "I need the MSDS information for product X, please." Will generally get the job done. I like the "Contact Us" webforms that most companies provide for their sites.

This may be another good way to track down info.

So if your interest is simply casual (What is in this stuff? / Can I make my own version more cheaply?) or because you have concerns (Last time I used this stuff, I got a rash.) the right MSDS is where you need to go for the answers.

Keeping the wet stuff wet. Wine not?

One of the major expenses of woodworking is finishes, solvents, glue & other "wet" chemicals that break down, dry out or otherwise react to oxygen / oxidizers. What to do about it?

We've all seen that commercially prepared woodputty is often sold in cans with the lid on the bottom - to open you have to invert it, and to store later with an upright appearance, you have to sit it back on the lid. Makes sense - the product goops itself to the bottom / lid, sealing the can, preventing air exchange & keeping it fresher, longer. Lots of condiments like catsup and mayo and so forth are coming that way these days too - same sort of reasoning. Trap a minimum amount of air and use the product to seal the container. I do something similar with cans of finishes / paint - after I get the lid down tight, I swirl the can around so that finish contacts the entire area of the join between the lid and the can, hopefully sealing it better than just the metal-to-metal connection of can and lid, even if I don't invert.

Another method is to reduce the size of the container as the product is used - toothpaste and caulk spring to mind, but I am also reminded of collapsible containers like those used in darkrooms to store chemicals and the mylar bag that makes boxes of wine possible, if not necessarily desirable. I guess for completeness, you can also put displacement in this category - like putting a brick in a toilet to reduce water usage, but keep the water level up. My favorite submethod is to simply move smaller amounts into smaller containers.
The third solution is to remove as much air as possible / vacuum pack things - with the use of a pump & containers that seal really well.

The method I've been thinking about today is another sort of displacement, suggested by my buddy Mike. Instead of displacing product, why not displace the air? There are plenty of inert gasses that are heavier than air. Just "pour" a heavy inert gas into a container, forming a gas lid on the surface, blocking any interaction. Makes me recall the wax lids on the surface of my Grandmother's homemade jellies. There are commercial products available for doing this for wine, and now, for woodworking. Private Preserve is the original method for wine & is composed of argon, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. If you already have some, you can use it in your cans in the shop (and darkroom) too! But Bloxygen is used in exactly the same way (although it appears that it contains just argon from what it says on the label) for about the same price and may be already available in your local woodworking store. And hey, who wants to go to a wine store when you can go to a woodworking store?