# will cold temperatures affect cologne?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-cold-temperatures-affect-cologne/335188
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 12, 2005, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-cold-temperatures-affect-cologne/335188 "2005-12-12T01:18:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2005, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-cold-temperatures-affect-cologne/335188/1 "2005-12-12T01:18:44Z")
I just bought someone some nice cologne for Christmas, and I’m hiding it by keeping in the trunk of my car. I put it there last night. Just this morning I realized that might not be a good idea because the temps in Oklahoma lately are in the 20’s and 30’s. So will the weather ruin it?
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### Author:  [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2005, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-cold-temperatures-affect-cologne/335188/2 "2005-12-12T01:21:37Z")
Probably depends on what’s in it. If it has a high alcohol content (and most colognes do), it’s not going to freeze, if that’s what you’re worried about - alcohol freezes at a much lower temperature than water. As to the cold affecting the scent, I’m afraid I’ve no idea, but I would have thought that’s unlikely.
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### Author:  [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-cold-temperatures-affect-cologne/335188/3 "2005-12-12T01:29:48Z")
If you wrap it in several layers of heavy cloth it’s unlikely to freeze at 20F, as Dead Cat said the alcohol content might be enough, but some insulation should assure that.
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### Author:  [@MC\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_E)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-cold-temperatures-affect-cologne/335188/4 "2005-12-12T02:53:08Z")
> [@A.R. Cane](#):
>
> If you wrap it in several layers of heavy cloth it’s unlikely to freeze at 20F, as Dead Cat said the alcohol content might be enough, but some insulation should assure that.
I don’t think insulation is going to do you much good beyond an hour or so. After that, the temperature will equalize and it won’t matter how well it is wrapped.
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### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-cold-temperatures-affect-cologne/335188/5 "2005-12-12T16:18:10Z")
Well, I don’t know about cologne but some other stuff, like beer, can tolerate a wide range of temperatures if the temperature change itself is to too fast.
I agree that that wrapping it up in a blanket won’t keep it from freezing (that only slows heat transfer when there is a difference between inside and outside the blanket; a blanket can keep ice frozen longer on a hot day). But wrapping it up when you move it indoors might lessen the thermal shock of the change.
This is all guesswork on my part but falls into the “couldn’t hurt” category.
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### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-cold-temperatures-affect-cologne/335188/6 "2005-12-12T16:20:07Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> . . .if the temperature change itself is to too fast.
Is not too fast.