Elector PSP like clay - any tips for thinning?

[khind]

Hello!
If anyone has ever used this product and has experienced it gunking up Really bad - so much like clay that it's impossible to shake the majority of the product - and you've been able to solve the problem, can you give me some tips please?
Of course, I didn't take out the bottle until tonight, Friday, to get ready to treat the chickens for mites... too late to contact the company. I bought this over a year ago - possibly 2 - so it's beyond a return date. I located information by a rep on Amazon (from whom I did Not purchase the product) stating that the product tends to solidify when it settles, so it should be shaken up every couple months - information that appears NOwhere on the label or website. (The rep wrote this in response to 2 negative reviews complaining about this issue.) The suggestion was to pour out and set aside about 2 oz to make it less difficult to shake the rest, and then return that amount to the bottle. I've done that and it's Impossible to turn the product back into a liquid by shaking.
I'm so mad! I'm hoping someone has had some success solving this problem. Thank you!!!

 

[Cyprus]

How big is the opening of the bottle? Any chance you can stir it with something?

 

[khind]

How big is the opening of the bottle? Any chance you can stir it with something?

Thanks. I did try to stir it. Because the product is so thick, I had to use something strong that wouldn't break. A butter knife. Kind of like stirring natural peanut butter, only it never got thinner...

 

[Cyprus]

Is it possible it could have froze at some point?

 

[khind]

No. I keep it in my house pantry. I had wondered the same thing myself, but when the rep said the product does separate and clump, I knew this had nothing to do with temperature. This might not have happened if I'd have had to use the product more frequently, and not had it just sitting around for so long. I might have caught it when it was just clumping a bit, before it got out of hand. I'm going to contact the company on Monday, but of course, who knows what will come of it? Meanwhile, I'll use Permethrin 10 tomorrow night instead of treating tonight ( I have to double check whether the issue is mites or lice; I'd assumed mites due to the signs I saw and the things I haven't seen...), and repeat the treatments 2 more times, instead of one time with E PSP : / . I'll also stew some more over all the money it cost.

 

[khind]

Thanks for your suggestions!
By the way, I just noticed your location. I lived for a while in SE WI before moving to OK. Small world!

 

[khind]

Hopefully this info will help someone in the future. Here's what a distributor stated in response to a couple of complaints about it turning rock hard:

"Elector does separate and settle over time. The quality of the active ingredient does not degrade. The manufacturer recommends shaking well to recombine the solids into the liquid. If the container is full, pour out 2 or 3 ounces and set it aside. That will make room in the bottle to shake the contents more easily. Shake until the contents are combined. Then, return the amount you set aside back into the bottle. Shake it well again.
Store the bottle with the cap on tight and re-shake it every 3 or 4 months to prevent the settling problem from recurring."

It's got great reviews, though, so it seems that many people won't run into a problem that regular shaking hard won't resolve. Some people might be using theirs much more frequently than I, or may be using more of it than I do for my tiny flock, which could ultimately make a difference in how much settles and goes unshaken at any given time.

 

[Cyprus]

Since the product is activated by agitating in water, I wonder if you could scoop out the needed amount and simply spend some time agitating it in water.

 

[khind]

Since the product is activated by agitating in water, I wonder if you could scoop out the needed amount and simply spend some time agitating it in water.

I thought of that too. But because there is already some liquid that has separated from the solid portion, it could mess up the correct dilution for actual use. It would be easier if the product were intended to be scooped out as a solid of x amount and then made into a solution with x amount of water...

 

[khind]

... It's really like working with a huge wad of clay stuck in a container with a very small opening. Aargh