Kodak chemists?

So working in the lab tonite, maybe it was the fumes, but was thinking of at the old Kodak labs, chemists meet "So what are you
working on?"
"Its called Tmax, a great new developer thats ....."etc "What are you doing?"
"I'm making Photo Flo"
"Oh, um, ok well I gotta get back"
There had to be some snobbery going on ,and SOMEBODY had to be making Photo Flo.
And 2- has anybody ever used a whole bottle of PFlo? Does the stuff even ever go bad?

ez

I've lost it and spilled it, never used it all. Used to use Edwal anti-static wetting agent; I've still got a squeeze bottle from the 90s, probably still got.

No it does not go bad, But why not simply put some dish liquid in a bottle and add water? That is what I do and the film does not complain. - David Lyga

Yes. Over the years, several bottles. Working out of my gallon of photoflo 600 right now. That might actually take me the rest of my life.

Keep in mind, I shoot 8x10 and 12x20 film, so in all fairness I can use a lot.

Photo-Flo is very reasonable when you onsider the amount that really needs to be used, that is 3 to 4 drops per 250 ml. I therefore find no reason to use substitutes of doubtful usefulness. Dish soap is formulated for washing dishes and not rinsing film. Yes, dish soap does seem to work but how about archival stability?

I use Edwal LFN, one drop per one pint of distilled water. Still on my bottle from the late '80s.

I neve use it also. I use agfa agepon, I think that is the same thing.

David Lyga said:

No it does not go bad, But why not simply put some dish liquid in a bottle and add water?

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You don't want to admit to doing that. People will be queueing up to tell you why it's a bad idea!!


Steve.

Well, you could use Photo-Flo to wash your dishes, hey?

Rick A said:

I use Edwal LFN, one drop per one pint of distilled water. Still on my bottle from the late '80s.

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At "two drops per pint of filtered tap water and one drop dripping down the spout" I'll get through this little guy pretty quick. Then I can move on to Photo-Flo, like in the good old days.

s-a

Yes, I did use up one small bottle after about 25 years. I have bought estate lots of darkroom gear though, so I have about five or six of the same little bottles waiting for me.

I am using it more frequently since I have been dabbling with hand coating doing alt process work. Sometimes a drop or two makes the coating work so much better, and avoids a who new round of sizing work on a moderately acceptable 'pre sized' commercial or art paper.

HOW THE HECK do u find out about these photographer estate sales???? I see stuff on ebay saying the X was bought from
one but i have no idea where they are!

Funny ,no one replied to the original post, and went on about Photo Flo. ;>

Well, there are only about 2 or 3 of us who might reply to the OP!

No, there was no snobbery. It was more like a team in sports. Everyone working to win.

Besides, Photo Flo has not changed in over 50 years. How could you be snobbish over such success?

PE

All I know is that the few times I had a reason to talk to a scientist at Kodak they were exceptionally friendly and helpful; they probably always were, but apparently my last name helped.

And to me, Crabtree was a name on some old dusty reports that I read.

Sorry, sad, but true.

PE

Yeah, that was a long time ago. No relation to the best of my knowledge anyway. I was kind of surprised that a couple folks there commented.

I'm using the Arista equivalent right now. Its a small bottle and I use 3ml for my Patterson tank with 2 films. Its been close to 2 years and I am getting close to needing another one. I might get photo-flo, but it is a big bottle, and right now space is at a premium in my bath--err darkroom.

Mark Crabtree said:

All I know is that the few times I had a reason to talk to a scientist at Kodak they were exceptionally friendly and helpful; they probably always were, but apparently my last name helped.

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I always worshipped the tech support people at Kodak...no matter what bizarre questions I asked they always had an answer

I can't really comment on the personalities of the people and how they interacted as I wasn't there. I do suspect that Kodak personnel were committed to making the company successful by being the innovative leader in photography for many decades. Just as NASA was dedicated and innovative in order to put a man on the moon.
As far as Photoflo goes, I bought my 1st bottle in 1968 and it lasted almost 3 decades. My 2nd bottle should last longer than I will be able to develop film.

DarkroomExperimente said:

I always worshipped the tech support people at Kodak...no matter what bizarre questions I asked they always had an answer

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The way the system worked, if a TSR (Technical Sales Representative) didn't have the answer, they could always ask Rochester for help and often such requests would eventually get back to a knowledgeable photographic scientist/engineer like Ron or me for resolution.

Well, Fred, they would never let me talk to anyone outside EK on the phone. They figured that my work was too confidential.



Ron

Photo Engineer said:

Well, Fred, they would never let me talk to anyone outside EK on the phone. They figured that my work was too confidential.

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I have an uncle who used to work on satellite design. He told me that his work was so secret, even he wasn't allowed to know about it!


Steve.

ezwriter said:

HOW THE HECK do u find out about these photographer estate sales???? I see stuff on ebay saying the X was bought from
one but i have no idea where they are!;>

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All you need to do is align yourself against buying new and retail other than at the grocery store, and opportunites will arise. Living in a large metropolitan area helps, for sure.

I troll thrift stores for old photo gear while we shop for used clothes for the kids and ourselves. Yes, we buy underwear and most shoes new.

I peruse web sites for a couple of operators who run 'liquidate the household' type of estate sale opertions in the greater toronto area.
They typically post crummy pictures to allow you to preview without leaving the house.
But if you are at least curious you need to get to the sale to really see what is on offer, usually early (7:30am ish) Saturday morning.

I also hit the larger church garage sales in the spring time. One traditionally good one is coming up next week and I can barely wait.
Me and likely the three hundred or so other people I lined up with at 7:30 am last year to wait to get in.

I also sporadically go to an auction that runs on Wednesday nights from 4pm to midnight or so, that usually has between 6 and 10 estates worth of goods every week.
Again, online photos let me know if it is worth my time.
I have furnished a lot of my house with better furnituure made from hardwoods from this place for pennies on the dollar compared to new retial offierings.
We have now banished the prevoius particle board stuff that falls apart after owning it for a few years.

You usually trade time versus saving money going to estate auctions and sales.

I currently do this while I have my kids to run around to swimming/scouts. etc., and my wife and I working full time 9-5.

I hate to think what my habit will turn into once the kids have grown and I have retired from full time work.

On the other hand, living a life of cheap works. Our modest 40 year old home was paid off 5 years ago, and our savings have grown along while also paying for the house.

I am presently 46 and looking to ponder some sort of step back from full time employment within the next 5-8 years.

We are presently on track to have enough to retire on if we maintain our current 'cheap' lifestyle and save at our present rate for that period of time.

Mike Wilde said:

On the other hand, living a life of cheap works. Our modest 40 year old home was paid off 5 years ago, and our savings have grown along while also paying for the house.

I am presently 46 and looking to ponder some sort of step back from full time employment within the next 5-8 years.

We are presently on track to have enough to retire on if we maintain our current 'cheap' lifestyle and save at our present rate for that period of time.

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Way to go, man. You figured it out.