C41 chemicals storage and safety

William Chew · Feb 24, 2016

I've got a 5L tetenal kit, should I keep it in a fridge or room temperature is fine?

Also, is it safe to store them in a fridge along with food?

Wayne · Feb 24, 2016

William Chew said:
I've got a 5L tetenal kit, should I keep it in a fridge or room temperature is fine?

Also, is it safe to store them in a fridge along with food?

Do you ever eat the food in your refrigerator? Then no.

bvy · Feb 24, 2016

A fridge is unnecessary anyway. I store C-41 developer in airtight bottles filled to capacity and had it keep for up to a year (and it may well have kept longer). Store the chemicals in a cool dark place, under lock and key if there are children in the house.

amellice · Feb 24, 2016

I have 1L tetenal kit, I store them in the fridge in 3 brown glass bottle. I use Vacu Vin Wine saver pump with rubber wine stopper to pull air of them after each use before storing them back in the fridge. My kits last longer than what the manufacture suggest. But as Wayne said, if you store food in the fridge you have to be careful always. I usually wash the bottles after each session with soap and water before putting it back in the fridge. I store in a shelf that has only my chems and the milk carton.

bvy · Feb 24, 2016

Wayne didn't say to be careful, he said not to do it! I store some film and paper in the fridge as I'm pretty sure no one will mistakenly eat those. But with C-41 chemicals, I don't see the point, especially since I've seen no convincing evidence that it promotes longevity. If there are children in the house or people with failing faculties, then forget it.

If it's that important, get a dedicate fridge and put a lock on it.

amellice · Feb 24, 2016

bvy said:
If it's that important, get a dedicate fridge and put a lock on it.

Yup a fridge lock is always a good idea

William Chew · Feb 24, 2016

Thanks for the replies, I'll tuck them away in the dark.

Regarding the airtight part, some people mentioned filling it with tiny glass balls or glass marbles. That should be fine right? I'm trying to find a cheaper solution than buying the heavy inert gas thing.

Sirius Glass · Feb 24, 2016

Welcome to AUG

The C41 chemicals can be stored at room temperature and tightly closed.

amellice · Feb 24, 2016

William Chew said:
Thanks for the replies, I'll tuck them away in the dark.

Regarding the airtight part, some people mentioned filling it with tiny glass balls or glass marbles. That should be fine right? I'm trying to find a cheaper solution than buying the heavy inert gas thing.

Yes that's right

Wayne · Feb 24, 2016

Yeah when the neighbor kid breaks in and helps himself to some "orange juice" you'll wish it hadn

William Chew said:
Thanks for the replies, I'll tuck them away in the dark.

Regarding the airtight part, some people mentioned filling it with tiny glass balls or glass marbles. That should be fine right? I'm trying to find a cheaper solution than buying the heavy inert gas thing.

I like thin and flimsy (there was a url link here which no longer exists) that are easy to squeeze the air out of. They're getting hard to find.

mklw1954 · Mar 4, 2016

1 liter (or 2 liter) non-flavored seltzer water bottles are PET plastic and so provide a good oxygen barrier, can be squeezed to a great degree to eliminate headspace air, have a good strong cap, and are free (or cost $0.05 or $.10 if you live in a bottle deposit state). They are designed to keep the CO2 in and so are good for keeping air out.

Room temperature (or cooler basement temperature) storage of bottles in a plastic tote to contain any leaks works well.

BMbikerider · Mar 7, 2016

I bought a 5 litre kit of Fuji C41 Press a good while back. I had not used a great deal when I noticed two of the bottle contents had started to turn from clear to a light/mid straw colour. Igot in touch with with Fuji technical and was told that the kit is designed to be made up all at once and that way, providing that it is stored in glass bottles in a darkened room it will last for at least a year.

I worked out from the quantity of chemicals I had left, I had enough to make 3.5ltrs. I mixed the chemicals and filled 6 x 500cc screw top glass medicine bottles and 5 x 100cc bottles. That was 3 weeks ago. I opened 2 of the 100cc bottles tonight and decanted enough to use to develop a 36 exp C.41. There has definitely been no deterioration. So it seems that chemicals can be kept for far longer than we have been lead to believe.

I wonder if the same life extension can be applied to E6 Chemicals?

BMbikerider · Mar 8, 2016

BMbikerider said:
I bought a 5 litre kit of Fuji C41 Press a good while back. I had not used a great deal when I noticed two of the bottle contents had started to turn from clear to a light/mid straw colour. Igot in touch with with Fuji technical and was told that the kit is designed to be made up all at once and that way, providing that it is stored in glass bottles in a darkened room it will last for at least a year.

I worked out from the quantity of chemicals I had left, I had enough to make 3.5ltrs. I mixed the chemicals and filled 6 x 500cc screw top glass medicine bottles and 5 x 100cc bottles. That was 3 weeks ago. I opened 2 of the 100cc bottles tonight and decanted enough to use to develop a 36 exp C.41. There has definitely been no deterioration. So it seems that chemicals can be kept for far longer than we have been lead to believe.

I wonder if the same life extension can be applied to E6 Chemicals?

Update on the long term storage. The film was developed and the negatives are perfectly normal. I have scnned them on a Nikon Coolscan V and there is no colour cast or false colours.

Helinophoto · Mar 8, 2016

Store them in the coolest place in your house, apart from the refrigerator.
I use this http://shop.fotoimport.no/analoge-fotoprodukter/kjemi/diverse/tetenal-protectan-spray to block oxygen to my remaining concentrate (I have the 2.5L kit and mix 1 liter at a time).

Roger Cole · Mar 8, 2016

Wayne said:
Do you ever eat the food in your refrigerator? Then no.

Huh? Why?

I wouldn't store chemicals in the fridge but assuming they are sealed I'd have no issue eating the food.

Wayne · Mar 8, 2016

Roger Cole said:
Huh? Why?

I wouldn't store chemicals in the fridge but assuming they are sealed I'd have no issue eating the food.

Its kind of like driving without a seat belt. There's nothing wrong with it until something goes wrong, and if that happens you'll say "I should have seen that coming". Just seems like a bad idea, but its your refrigerator. I have glycin in my freezer so maybe I shouldn't talk.

Roger Cole · Mar 9, 2016

Trying to delete my reply and can't find a way to do it on this new software...I can edit it, which I have done here, but can't figure out how to delete the #%%^ post.

jsmithphoto1 · Mar 9, 2016

I agree with Roger. Unless you pour a glass of nice, bubbly C-41, what's the issue with storing it in the fridge if you're hygienic with it? Although... I have read that storing in the refrigerator can make some of the chemicals crystallize and come out of solution.

C41 chemicals storage and safety

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