I have a question about a minor chemical spill, and an unrelated, but coincidental mystery.
Found a brown streak from my chemical shelf down to a sink in the darkroom. Discovered that an old (2008ish) bottle of Kodak HC110 has cracked and some of the contents leaked out. The good news is that HC110 is a syrup and it didn’t just all pour out; and, that what did leak ran down the false wall (installed to hold up all sorts of shelves and darkroom do-dads) and into one of the sinks. Minimal harm done.
The bad news, the remaining developer went to disposal; and the shelf where it was sitting is pretty stained. The stain goes all the way through the wood and shows on the bottom. The shelf is a standard pine 1x6, painted with latex. The stains are minimal in the larger scheme of things, and do not bother me. (It’s a darkroom!)
However, my question is: When this stain dries, is the wood okay? Will it eventually do more damage to the wood? Should I replace the shelf? When it dries, will it be stable? (And, no doubt, get darker over time.)
No need to discuss plastic bottles and storage options. I’ve been doing this for 50 years, and have worked in over 10 darkrooms with every conceivable product, and this is the first time I’ve had such an incident with a factory bottle. I’ll chalk it up to an anomaly.
However, as I was cleaning, I noticed another yellowish liquid on the floor under the cabinets that hold up the enlargers. WTH? It appeared to be coming out of one of the cabinets, one metal, one wood, as the puddle surrounded the adjacent feet of both of these cabinets. Both cabinets sit off of the floor on those threaded, adjustable feet. I had to move both 4x5 enlargers and timers, and all the other stuff I had sitting next to them, remove the counter top (fortunately it just sits there by gravity) and then get the metal cabinet out – which I thought might be the source of the liquid.
This was a mystery, since there are no liquids stored in either of these cabinets. However, the metal cabinet came from an office furniture surplus, and something could have been dormant all of these years. Who knows? Anyway, I get that cabinet out and the liquid is all on the floor. The undersides, and sidewalls and insides of both cabinets are quite dry and dusty. The only things wet are the two adjustable feet. No damage. So, I started cleaning up. Once I began soaking this stuff up and got a good wiff – mystery solved.
Dog urine!
Found a brown streak from my chemical shelf down to a sink in the darkroom. Discovered that an old (2008ish) bottle of Kodak HC110 has cracked and some of the contents leaked out. The good news is that HC110 is a syrup and it didn’t just all pour out; and, that what did leak ran down the false wall (installed to hold up all sorts of shelves and darkroom do-dads) and into one of the sinks. Minimal harm done.
The bad news, the remaining developer went to disposal; and the shelf where it was sitting is pretty stained. The stain goes all the way through the wood and shows on the bottom. The shelf is a standard pine 1x6, painted with latex. The stains are minimal in the larger scheme of things, and do not bother me. (It’s a darkroom!)
However, my question is: When this stain dries, is the wood okay? Will it eventually do more damage to the wood? Should I replace the shelf? When it dries, will it be stable? (And, no doubt, get darker over time.)
No need to discuss plastic bottles and storage options. I’ve been doing this for 50 years, and have worked in over 10 darkrooms with every conceivable product, and this is the first time I’ve had such an incident with a factory bottle. I’ll chalk it up to an anomaly.
However, as I was cleaning, I noticed another yellowish liquid on the floor under the cabinets that hold up the enlargers. WTH? It appeared to be coming out of one of the cabinets, one metal, one wood, as the puddle surrounded the adjacent feet of both of these cabinets. Both cabinets sit off of the floor on those threaded, adjustable feet. I had to move both 4x5 enlargers and timers, and all the other stuff I had sitting next to them, remove the counter top (fortunately it just sits there by gravity) and then get the metal cabinet out – which I thought might be the source of the liquid.
This was a mystery, since there are no liquids stored in either of these cabinets. However, the metal cabinet came from an office furniture surplus, and something could have been dormant all of these years. Who knows? Anyway, I get that cabinet out and the liquid is all on the floor. The undersides, and sidewalls and insides of both cabinets are quite dry and dusty. The only things wet are the two adjustable feet. No damage. So, I started cleaning up. Once I began soaking this stuff up and got a good wiff – mystery solved.
Dog urine!
Well, there is that, I could "develop" the shelf. 
