Shelf Life of Powdered Chemicals

[Paul B]

Hello,

Sorry if this has been asked before but I can't turn up any information.

I'd like to start mixing film and paper developers and need some rough idea about the shelf life of individual ingredients in powdered form. I'll probably start with D76 and Defender-55. I'll purchase the chemicals from Artcraft. He ships in either plastic jars or plastic bags, depending on the quantity. I imagine these are all exposed to air when he fills the order. Also, containers are not full.

Thanks in advance.

-Paul B.

 

[jim appleyard]

I order most of my chems from Artcraft and you are correct about the air and plastic jars. I can't say anything about the plastic bags as I've never rec'd any chems that way.

There is no finite time when a chem goes bad. It depends on how much time it has spent in the air and how much air it gets. I use up my chems fairly quickly and they don't get a chance to go bad.

I would order small-to-moderate amounts of chems, that way you can most likely use them in time.

 

[juan]

I transfer my chemicals to glass jars after arrival. Based on some posts here, I've been using common Mason jars from the grocery store. They are clear glass, but I keep them in a cabinet out of direct light. The metal lids are coated and are not supposed to react with the chemicals.
juan

 

[David A. Belew]

Hi,
The powdered chemicals from both Kodak and Ilford that are in sealed pouches from the factory generally have an indefinite shelf life provided they are maintained in a reasonable storage situation. This is informally from both Ilford and Kodak techs. Last week I mixed a batch of Kodak's XTOL which I had on hand since 1998, and it was fine. I still have in stock one batch of
Ilford's IDII Plus which I have been saving since the late '80's for a special occasion. (The current ID II dropped the "Plus", which was Ciba's B4Z, an anti chealating agent in Cibachrome, back in the late '80's).

Note: One should always run a test roll on something like this before running something
important.

 

[Gerald Koch]

How long a particular chemical will last depends on a number of things. The standard admonishment to "store out of direct light in a cool, dry location" pretty well sums things up. However, some chemicals like sodium sulfite are subject to oxidation and should be stored in well sealed, glass containers. Anything shipped from suppliers in bags or plastic jars ahould be immediately transferred to glass containers. Canning (Mason) jars are cheap and readily available and are a good choice.

 

[Gerald Koch]

How long a particular chemical will last depends on a number of things. The standard admonishment to "store out of direct light in a cool, dry location" pretty well sums things up. However, some chemicals like sodium sulfite are subject to oxidation and should be stored in well sealed, glass containers. Chemicals shipped from suppliers in bags or plastic jars ahould be immediately transferred to glass containers. Canning (Mason) jars are cheap and readily available and are a good choice.

 

[Paul B]

Jim, Juan, David, and Gerald thank you. Some helpful pointers.
-Paul b.