The simplest way to get started is probably to buy a "kit" of chemicals. Tetenal and others sell these through the usual outlets (B&H, Adorama, Freestyle, etc.), although choice at any one dealer tends to be a bit limited. The kits have a few advantages: They come with complete but not over-complete instructions, so you're less likely to get confused; they come in small enough quantities that you won't throw out a lot if you're a low-volume user; and they're often a bit simpler than the chemistry offered by Kodak (most notably, the kits usually combine the bleach and fix steps into a single blix step, and they sometimes omit the stabilizer). The last of these may be a disadvantage in terms of the quality of the results, though; blixes have a tendency to leave behind a bit more silver than do the separate steps. Stabilizer seems to be a complex topic; it may or may not be necessary, and I've yet to see a simple statement from anybody whose judgment I trust concerning when it is necessary for image stability. Still, for just "getting your feet wet," a kit can be a good way to get started. Once you're more familiar with the process, you can switch to the Kodak, Fuji, or whatever chemicals sold for labs, if you like.
