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Old Dektol, Sealed packages

5stringdeath

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Feb 10, 2010
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Location
St. Louis
Format
35mm
Have some old expired Dektol available ... does this stuff go bad? Its still sealed in retail packages.

Most of the exp dates range from 2-6 years ago.

I realized this sounds like an ad ... but its not, I want to use this stuff if I can

While I'm at it ... also found some old tins of Diafine and Acufine ... wonder if they are still good. Same deal, sealed retail packages.
 
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I've used old Dektol, before. You can tell when it's opened. If the powder is brown, instead of white, it's turned. It will still work (usually), but it will take a little longer to develop prints, and the contrast will be lower. Depending on storage, the 2 year old powder may be fine. It's worth trying...
 
I'm still using 10+ year old Dektol packets. As long as the contents aren't solidified, you should have no problems.
 
You have little to lose by trying it - but good rules of thumb:
- if it's not free-flowing but it's clumpy, it's probably bad.
- if it's really dark instead of light in colour as a powder or once mixed, it's probably bad.

Bear in mind that it takes little to test it. You can sacrifice a small piece of photographic paper or two to know for certain.
 
It definitely goes bad - even when stored in the sealed retail package. How long it can live past expiration date seems to be a function of how it is stored. If stored in a "cool dry place" it lives longer. Heat kills it fast.

If when you mix the powder with water, the result is dark brown...it is definitely BAD. From what I have seen, the powder can still look OK and the solution in water turns brown. If the solution is clear...it is probably OK. (I've never had clear solution that did not work).
 
It stores longer in the plastic bags than the old paper foil bags of old.
 
The newer style packages from Kodak are aluminized Mylar, and are good - much better than the old style packets. I'll add another vote to what's already been said about the longevity of Dektol. Fresh Dektol is NOT water white. The powder is white and the stock solution mixes up to a light yellow/tan color when fresh. If you find that there are brown flecks in the powder, or that the freshly mixed stock solution is dark brown (the color of weak coffee), it is bad. It will probably work, but its performance will not be the same as fresh stock. At the very least, its capacity will be diminished. At worst, it will not completely develop the paper, and you'll see that in muddy looking prints.
 
I mixed up some foil bags over the weekend.. no date on them, but they say that Kodak is a proud sponsor of the Statue of Liberty restoration, if that gives you any idea. I bought them at a photo swap meet in with a ton of other darkroom stuffs. The result? Perfectly fine. The powder was free flowing, the solution was a tan/cream color, and it got clearer as it sat and cooled. My prints came out perfect. So, it is all about how it was stored, not the age as far as I can tell.
 
I have used old packages and found some good and some bad. The problem is getting some old stock that has just started to turn bad and will produce slightly degraded contrast that might not be so obvious. Make some prints and compare them to prints made with what was known to be "fresh" dektol. The ideal test would be to mix a batch of new and a batch from the old packages and make a print with each and then compare.
 
Opened two, they were both turning brown ... decided to mix one up, it was a coffee brown ... so anyway, its not like new Dektol is all that expensive

I think when we changed facilities this stuff was in storage for a very hot summer, probably ruined it.
 
Another random question, but I didn't want to start a new thread:

Ethol/LPL in sealed cans dated '88

One gallon single mix ... what color should it be?
 
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