Yes, this question has been beat to death, and I've asked about this recently myself, but here goes. Are glass bottles REALLY better to store your developer in? If you look on this site, or about a half dozen other photography sites, you'll see lots of opinions, but are there any honest to god chemists here that can answer this definitely? I mean, as in scientifically tested fact?
My D76 goes bad quickly and I figured it was heat. I never have any air space in the bottles, and I mix it exactly to Kodak's instructions. But I called the folks at Photographers' Formulary today on this (decided, for now, not to go w/ their improved D76), and they said it was my accordion plastic bottles that are the culprit. They breathe they said, and I needed to buy their amber/brown glass bottles. I don't need dark bottles, as everything is stored under the sink in the dark (paint is cheap, so you can always paint clear bottles anyway). I DO have a hunch that my caps probably need the Saran wrap treatment, that's a possible problem source. I just cannot imagine that great places like Freestyle Photo, who sold me the accordion bottles, would knowingly or unknowingly sell me inferior stuff. I'm not going to change developers, and I'm not going to add anything to my D76. They also said that there's a particular chemical that Kodak uses in their formula that is another culprit, and that the factory's packaging is not up to snuff, and it starts reacting w/ said chemical in Kodak's envelope before I even open it. Hmmm.
I think Kodak knows what it's doing (we'll leave the business part of the equation out of this), and I love what I get from their developer. No reason to change, I just want more consistency via longer shelf life. Sounds simple, right? Well, you try googling this for hours like I have and calling people and see how simple it is! There is absolutely no definitive consensus on the darn thing. I want just the facts, mam, as Friday used to say. Failing that, I'll try asking the pharmacists around here in the hope they know something, or just buy some glass bottles, fill them w/ marbles, and seal the top w/ Saran wrap and melted wax. Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it, but what else is there to do?
My D76 goes bad quickly and I figured it was heat. I never have any air space in the bottles, and I mix it exactly to Kodak's instructions. But I called the folks at Photographers' Formulary today on this (decided, for now, not to go w/ their improved D76), and they said it was my accordion plastic bottles that are the culprit. They breathe they said, and I needed to buy their amber/brown glass bottles. I don't need dark bottles, as everything is stored under the sink in the dark (paint is cheap, so you can always paint clear bottles anyway). I DO have a hunch that my caps probably need the Saran wrap treatment, that's a possible problem source. I just cannot imagine that great places like Freestyle Photo, who sold me the accordion bottles, would knowingly or unknowingly sell me inferior stuff. I'm not going to change developers, and I'm not going to add anything to my D76. They also said that there's a particular chemical that Kodak uses in their formula that is another culprit, and that the factory's packaging is not up to snuff, and it starts reacting w/ said chemical in Kodak's envelope before I even open it. Hmmm.
I think Kodak knows what it's doing (we'll leave the business part of the equation out of this), and I love what I get from their developer. No reason to change, I just want more consistency via longer shelf life. Sounds simple, right? Well, you try googling this for hours like I have and calling people and see how simple it is! There is absolutely no definitive consensus on the darn thing. I want just the facts, mam, as Friday used to say. Failing that, I'll try asking the pharmacists around here in the hope they know something, or just buy some glass bottles, fill them w/ marbles, and seal the top w/ Saran wrap and melted wax. Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it, but what else is there to do?
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