Is it okay to store paper and chemistry in a fridge?

Hello all,

My wife (like many of yours I imagine) was fed up with my film taking over the fridge so I bought a fridge to go into my darkroom (garage). So the film going into the fridge/freezer is just a lateral move. My question is with my chemistry and RC/FB paper. Since my garage has always gotten too hot to store these items in, I've been keeping them in my bedroom closet when not in a darkroom session. I figured that now that I have a the ability to store things (temperature controlled) in the garage, I'd like to move it all there and keep everything together.

I think my question has an obvious answer but I thought I'd check with the community before potentially ruining images/prints in the future. The question is can I store my paper and chemistry in the fridge without any negative consequences? In addition to the paper I've got HC110 and TF4 (both unopened and diluted forms) for BW as well as Ilford Multigrade Developer for printing. Finally, I've got unopened C41 kits (both powdered and liquid) and Cinestill's new D9 kit for E6 processing. Can the powders be stored in the fridge too? Once mixed, can these kits be stored in the fridge in their bottles?

The reason I ask is because I always assume that you should store things the way they do at the store (no pun intended). When I go to Freestyle they've got the film in the fridge and the paper/chemistry on the shelves and that's what got me wondering. My assumption is that heat is the enemy and cold is either a friend or neutral. Is this a safe assumption?


Thanks in advance,
Omid

The paper will be fine in the fridge. Likely the chemistry too, but there could be some risk of liquid components coming out of solution or crystalizing. The chemistry is probably better off stored at room temperature, even if the room is warm.

Chemistry will be fine in the fridge. Fridge temps are around 40 deg F so it might take awhile to warm them up. Were I live, esp in summer, tap water is very warm so i typically cool the developer down in the fridge before diluting it with tap water.

I would not put chemistry in the same place as unexposed film or paper. You risk fogging. I do not even keep film and paper in my darkroom, just chemicals.

I keep paper in a chest freezer and film either in the freezer (longer term storage) or a fridge for film being used regularly. I, also, keep raw chemicals in the fridge. The fridge is dedicated to this purpose and I keep the temp cool, but not as cold as a food fridge; about 50-55F.

Paper is fine in the fridge. I store it there as much and as long as I can, at least the closed boxes. As soon as I open a box, it remains out of the fridge to prevent condensation to find its way into the bag.

As to chemistry: it's a bit of a gamble. Powdered chemicals generally do perfectly fine in the fridge, but there's very little benefit to storing them there as dry chemicals are mostly quite stable in any case. Liquid concentrates are, well, concentrated...and as suggested by @bdial, it's quite usual that some of the constituents drop out of solution at lower temperatures. Sometimes they redissolve just fine if you warm up the bottle and shake it for a few minutes, but this is not always the case. Therefore, I would not recommend storing chemistry in the fridge.

For longevity of liquid chemistry, it's much more important to keep oxygen out of opened bottles, e.g. by decanting opened bottles into smaller (glass) bottles or by using a purge gas such as Protectan, lighter fluid or (if you're feeling fancy) argon.

Kilgallb said:

I would not put chemistry in the same place as unexposed film or paper. You risk fogging. I do not even keep film and paper in my darkroom, just chemicals.

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Which chemicals are these and what evidence do you have for fogging?

Is this your personal experience or something you read like a photographic article?

Thanks

pentaxuser

Paper and film, (no instant/Polaroid type) are fine in the fridge/freezer, so long as moisture is kept away from the surfaces emulsions.

The only chemistry I keep in the freezer/fridge, is Glycin, which is double insolated, with the original chemistry in it's factory container is sealed tight and that container is sealed in a plastic peanut butter jar tightly, in the freezer only.

Glycin is a poison, but I do this because I get very long 'shelf life' on this chemical.

All my other chemicals and chemistry I just make sure moisture and heat are no getting to them and that's enough, so far.

Cheers.

bdial said:

The paper will be fine in the fridge. Likely the chemistry too, but there could be some risk of liquid components coming out of solution or crystalizing. The chemistry is probably better off stored at room temperature, even if the room is warm.

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+1

I keep film and paper in the refrigerator, but only unopened film in the freezer.

Don't most Chemicals have a finite storage life? If they do, the best you should expect is extending their useful life. Testing results
after decanting would be a good idea.

John Koehrer said:

Don't most Chemicals have a finite storage life? If they do, the best you should expect is extending their useful life. Testing results
after decanting would be a good idea.

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I feel that unless something starts to change, smell, textures, moisture clumps or exposure to strong lights, the proof of the chemical is in the resulting mix and proper use.

Substandard performance is easy enough to test for, and a number of us have mixed up, ie. chemistry far outdated, and found it to be good.

Real chemist here will have a much better perspective than I do, but I'm speaking to pretty simple formula when it comes to mixing our own, which is why we can use many products from grocery stores and hardware shops or pool supply, and get outstanding results.

Pyro always excepted.

IMO.

pentaxuser said:

Which chemicals are these and what evidence do you have for fogging?

Is this your personal experience or something you read like a photographic article?

Thanks

pentaxuser

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Kodak Selenium Toner will definitely fog paper and film. I read this on a forum here.

Kilgallb said:

Kodak Selenium Toner will definitely fog paper and film.

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No, it won't. Not even if you pour it over the unused film/paper. Maybe you meant (poly)sulfide sepia toner? That will outgas a sulfur compound that can fog film or paper. Not if it's stored in a tightly capped bottle though.

Film and paper will benefit from storage in a frig, more so in a freezer. There is no significant benefit to storing prepared photo developers in a frig, and none for stop bath, fixers. I've found that my prepared color chemistry has an open ended shelf life if stored frozen. This works well for me as my color processing sessions are few and far between. The one issue you have to watch out for when freezing and then thawing chemistry for use is that some chemical elements may come out of solution and refuse to go back into solution when thawed. I have not had that problem.