Life of Paper

[Francesco]

I have unopened boxes of Bergger paper which I purchased 6 years ago (Graded and VC). I do not need to use them (yet) and would like to know if they are still good (stored in a dry, cool place). Any experiences to share?

 

[Thilo Schmid]

It depends. Some modern PE paper used to have developer substances incorprated. They don't last very long. On the other hand, I recently used some BROVIRA chamoise FB that "expired" 1974. The only thing I've noticed was a grade shift from 2 to 1.

 

[Ole]

Most of my paper is old. The only ones that have gone bad are Kodak whatsit and Tetenal Baryt Vario (which was bad when I bought it. My Ilfospeed G3 is still good, but with somewhat reduced highlight contrast.
I just bought some 15 years old Guillemot paper, which is still as good as new.

 

[mikepry]

Calumet in Chicago used to have a clearance table that would always be my first stop. I bought a 100 box of 8/10 Forte "Elegance" once awhile back for 12 bucks and it is just fine. It was very old. In fact this paper split tones wonderfully with selenium and gold. The new Forte really doesn't split as well.

 

[ann]

I got some of the old Forte on ebay last month. It was made in 1998 and when i tested a piece for aging, it was fine. I have been searching for this paper for some time as it does split beautifully; while the new papers seem to resist. I know they had to change the formal for environmental reasons.

Someone gave me a 500 sheet box of AZO from the 60"s, and it seems to be fine.

Perhaps the older papers were more stable, or ....................?