Detoxifying Fixer Trays, Bottles

tim_bessell · Feb 23, 2009

Is there a good way to detoxify equipment that has had fixer in it? I thought I read somewhere how, but can't find it now. I did find this document on the Kodak web site that describe removal of silver sulfide.

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/cis167/cis167.pdf

I have 4 empty one liter bottles of Kodak Rapid Fix I would like to recycle for a batch of alkaline fixer.

Or should I just forget it.:confused:

Bill Mobbs · Feb 23, 2009

What I have done in the past... Wash them with hot water and fill with the new fixer.

Bill

tim_bessell · Feb 23, 2009

Actually I did that for some time, but still have a faint smell of that nasty Kodak Fixer. The bottles are nice, wish I knew where to but some brand new.

I'm sure it is not critical, but would still like to know where I read how to detoxify fixer tainted equipment.

Chazzy · Feb 23, 2009

I must be missing something. You are switching from one kind of fixer to another kind of fixer, so contamination (much less detoxification) is not an issue. Rinse the bottles out a few times, and forget about it.

Bob-D659 · Feb 23, 2009

Or just replace them with recycled 1 liter soft drink bottles. Air tight, squeezable, reusable and free.

fschifano · Feb 23, 2009

Bob-D659 said:
Or just replace them with recycled 1 liter soft drink bottles. Air tight, squeezable, reusable and free.

That's what I use for most things. Sometimes they still smell of root beer. So what? Doesn't cause any problem.

tim_bessell · Feb 23, 2009

Ummm.... root beer flavored fixer. I don't drink soft drinks and buying it just for the bottle is, well about the cost of a new bottle.

Ok, just wash and forget.

Anyone know the answer to my original question. How to detoxify fixer trays, bottles, etc? thanX.

AgX · Feb 23, 2009

The matrix of PE is quite open to Hydrocarbons; to decontaminate a bottle from these will be difficult.

Can't say much though on inorganic contamination...

But I'm speaking on de-contamination.

You, Tim, are speaking on de-toxification. What are you going to do with those trays, bottles? Serving a meal on/in?

PHOTOTONE · Feb 23, 2009

Kodak used to make a tray and tank cleaner. It worked great, it would get the blackest trays pure white with little effort. (If they were white to begin with). Maybe PE will chime in on the formula or a suggestion.

I have had pretty good results using some soap and a scotchbrite pad to scrub trays out.

I don't think you have to worry about the old bottles doing any significant contamination of your new fixer, if they are rinsed out several times.

In addition to this, I used to mix up and store E-6 chemistry in surplus laundry bleach bottles that I scavenged from laundromats. I never had a problem with them either.

DWThomas · Feb 23, 2009

I think there was a tray cleaner recipe way back in the '50s that was essentially an acid dichromate bleach solution. It might be pretty effective, but might also be trading one toxicity for another.

DaveT

tim_bessell · Feb 23, 2009

Maybe I should have said just clean enough to be reused for storing photo chems.

My trays LOOK clean, since I usually rinse them well after a darkroom session and I haven't had any strange results that could be attributed to contamination so I guess I'm safe there. My trays are marked D, S, & F, and are always used for the same purpose.

Guess I'm being a little to anal, huh?

trexx · Feb 23, 2009

May be I'm anal. Once a container has one class of chemical it always has that class of chemical. Trays are developer, stop ( water or acid ), fix, fix, wash. Storage; dev., fix, toner, HCA. Mixing; Dev, stop, fix, toner and other ( other is glass beakers 1 to 3 liter )

Putting alkaline fix in a bottle that once held an acid fix would be no big deal.

nickandre · Feb 23, 2009

fschifano said:
That's what I use for most things. Sometimes they still smell of root beer. So what? Doesn't cause any problem.

Just don't confuse the root beer with the E6 bleach.

tim_bessell · Feb 24, 2009

tiberiustibz said:
Just don't confuse the root beer with the E6 bleach.

Someone posted here on APUG (i think) awhile back, how they put fixer in an orange juice container and set it outside. Their wife put the container in the fridge, thinking it was OJ. The poster of the message also thought it was OJ, since it was in the fridge, and drank it. Not sure if it was a joke, but that was the story.

I always remove any label or at least cover the original with black marker and then a new label with contents/date goes over it.

mooseontheloose · Feb 24, 2009

May be I'm anal. Once a container has one class of chemical it always has that class of chemical. Trays are developer, stop ( water or acid ), fix, fix, wash. Storage; dev., fix, toner, HCA. Mixing; Dev, stop, fix, toner and other ( other is glass beakers 1 to 3 liter )

Don't do any developing in any kind of school or community darkroom then. Trays, tanks, graduates -- all are used interchangeably with various chemicals with nothing but a rinse in between them. Not that we were using them for anything important...but I never saw any ill effects to our negs or prints as a result.

trexx · Feb 24, 2009

In the community darkroom I use every tray, bottle, and graduate is used for a single chemical.

bsdunek · Feb 24, 2009

Here are some ideas: http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-a...ic=Large+format+photography&category=Darkroom

Ilford Ilfoclean is used for the developing side of things, but is not recommended for fixer trays, etc.

Personally, I just use laundry detergent and hot water followed by lots of rinsing. I have never had a problem with contamination that I know of.

rknewcomb · Feb 24, 2009

If you feel the need to do more then just wash them out, clean them with a hypo clearing bath and then wash them again.

CBG · Feb 24, 2009

There are two Kodak Tray Cleaner formulas at the bottom of this: www.freelists.org/post/pure-silver/tank-and-tray-cleaner,11 .

tim_bessell · Feb 24, 2009

I have used a dichromate bleach just before I planned to discard it on my trays, followed by a hca (sodium sulfite) rinse. That cleans stains pretty nice.

I also have used Potassium Ferricyanide in the same way, just before dumping it.

The info at Kodak that I linked to in my OP uses Liquid sodium hypochlorite laundry bleach (e.g., CLOROX or SUNNYSOL)

Funny thing is the worst stains seem to come from using XTOL. I have stopped using XTOL since going to a water stop bath because the stains end up on my negatives. It seems to need an acid stop to prevent this.

Thank you very much for the tips and links.

Lowell Huff · Feb 24, 2009

We still make the bichromate and sulfuric acid tray cleaner. We also make a non chromate cleaner

Detoxifying Fixer Trays, Bottles

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