waterborne coatings are described having an acceptable balance of properties both during the storage of coating , application and drying . the period in which irregularities in a freshly applied coating can be repaired without resulting in brush marks is referred to as the open time . aqueous coatings generally employ dispersed high molecular weight polymers as binders . these binders often provide short open times when the coating is dried since the dispersed polymer particles tend to be immobilized quickly in the edge region of an applied coating . as a result , the viscosity of the coating increases rapidly , which leads to a limited window of workability . the instant invention provides additives that are not volatile but that will extend the time that the film is malleable after it is applied without interfering with other attributes , such as the resistance of the coating to freezing while in the can prior to application .