chem storage containers?

budgetbus · Aug 3, 2007

just about to mix up some diafine and rapidfix.....what do you guys use for containers?
my local jessops sells black plastic bottles but i would prefer to use some thing from around the house

jim appleyard · Aug 3, 2007

I re-use glass containers that used to be applesuace jars. They're cheap, applesauce it good for you and they're easy to clean. Yes, glass breaks, but it's impearmeable to air and you can fill up the empty space with marbles.

fschifano · Aug 3, 2007

Soda bottles. They come in a variety or sizes. The caps seal well, and unlike applesauce jars, don't have metal caps. They are free for the taking, since a lot of folks don't bother returning them for the deposit. You can write on them with a magic maker, and they won't shatter into dangerous shards if dropped.

Monophoto · Aug 3, 2007

Beer bottles are cheap and fun to empty. Either get the larger quart bottles with standard 28mm screw tops, or Grolsch with their neat bail closure.

Wine bottles are also nice - and they say that screw tops are actually better for the wine than corks. Have a party, invite your friends, and buy a couple of gallon jugs.

Black plastic shampoo bottles.

Green glass bottles that originally contained lemon juice concentrate.

While plastic bottles that liquid darkroom chemistry concentrates come it.

But never BUY a bottle for storing darkroom chemistry.

Dave Miller · Aug 3, 2007

For developers I always use glass screw top bottles with a squirt of butane gas on top of the liquid to exclude oxygen, this gives a shelf life of many months.
For other material, fixer, toner etc. I prefer to use the same, but will settle for plastic if I have none available. It is not necessary to “gas” fixers or toners. The plastic concertina bottles are useless, as they rarely seal correctly and more importantly are very difficult to clean. Try your local chemist as a source for used brown glass bottles.

budgetbus · Aug 3, 2007

Monophoto said:
Beer bottles are cheap and fun to empty. Either get the larger quart bottles with standard 28mm screw tops, or Grolsch with their neat bail closure.

Wine bottles are also nice - and they say that screw tops are actually better for the wine than corks. Have a party, invite your friends, and buy a couple of gallon jugs.

Black plastic shampoo bottles.

Green glass bottles that originally contained lemon juice concentrate.

While plastic bottles that liquid darkroom chemistry concentrates come it.

But never BUY a bottle for storing darkroom chemistry.

i like this bit.....i will have to check what size grolsh come in in the UK.....a quart is just under a litre right?

Saganich · Aug 3, 2007

I've guit using plastic simply because it breaths. I was amazed how much longer my chemistry lasts in glass amber. They are not expensive and will pay for themselves.

Dave Miller · Aug 3, 2007

Saganich said:
I've guit using plastic simply because it breaths. I was amazed how much longer my chemistry lasts in glass amber. They are not expensive and will pay for themselves.

There was extensive discussion on this subject several months ago. Some plastics are impervious to gas/air. Fizzy drinks bottles for example, and therefore very good for developer storage, but the danger is always present that someone may take a swig. Obviously the plastic bottles that you brought the developer in will make excellent storage bottles, but are not immediately available.

budgetbus · Aug 3, 2007

Dave Miller said:
There was extensive discussion on this subject several months ago. Some plastics are impervious to gas/air. Fizzy drinks bottles for example, and therefore very good for developer storage, but the danger is always present that someone may take a swig. Obviously the plastic bottles that you brought the developer in will make excellent storage bottles, but are not immediately available.

i bought diafine to make a quart so only have little pots...LOL

the rapid fix will last an age so that container is in use....im going to try and find some 1 litre grolsch tonight......should i mix my diafine with normal water or evian

Akki14 · Aug 3, 2007

I use 2litre diet coke & diet pepsi bottles for my 1gal diafine (clearly labeled, tho no one in this flat drinks diet drinks - we got the bottles off a friend who drinks wayyyy too much of the stuff!)

Just means our friends are more cautious of things in bottles... friend asked about a bottle with liquid in it in his car... no that's just coffee, don't worry.

kaygee · Aug 3, 2007

I use the pop bottle/juice bottle/milk bottle route too. So much cheaper, and plus it's recycling!

Sometimes if I'm really short on bottles I head to my pro photo lab down the street, they give me their left over containers that they get their chemicals in if I need them.

Shawn Dougherty · Aug 3, 2007

For my Pyrocat HD and working solution of Ansco 130 I use the dark glass screw tops.

For everything else I got to Walgreen's and buy 1 liter brown bottles of Hydrogen Peroxide for under $1.00, empty/clean them and they work great. All the best. Shawn

keffs · Aug 3, 2007

For plastic HDPE are best. Use of other plastics, such as coke bottles, etc., is not a good idea as they are not inert. For developers, brown glass bottles are best.

Steve

budgetbus · Aug 3, 2007

well after muchos drinking.....i have three one litre bottles formally full of san-miguel

Monophoto · Aug 3, 2007

budgetbus said:
well after muchos drinking.....i have three one litre bottles formally full of san-miguel

No one ever said darkroom work was easy.

chem storage containers?

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