Storage bottles

[tkamiya]

I just evacuate all oxygen from my darkroom. Solved lots of problems that way.

 

[fotch]

Although plastic does tend to handle droppage better than glass, I have noticed.

I find it easier not to drop bottles, cameras, or....

 

[Dave Krueger]

I stopped using brown bottles for most photo chemicals. I question the idea that they are significantly light sensitive. Most of the liquid concentrates I've seen come in white or translucent HDPE. If light sensitivity were an issue, wouldn't they tend to use darker bottles?

Having said that, I use PETE rather than HDPE because PETE is a better oxygen barrier. I use clear bottles because I want to be able to see the color of the developer as it sits there on the shelf. I also divide them up into smaller containers and use marbles when I don't have a container size that perfectly fits the amount of liquid.

Also, my dark room is dark more often than not, so it's not like any of my photo chemicals get that much light to begin with.

As for the fear mongering, like most people, I think everything that comes into contact with human beings should have warning labels (if not an operator's handbook) to ensure the safety of the least common denominators in the world. And because those who need the warnings the most will not read them. we need laws to make reading them mandatory. Children should be raised collectively because individual parents are so stupid they would never know to keep their kids from dangerous chemicals without some kind of adviser serving up constant reminders. After all, photo chemicals are definitely among the worst substances on the planet aside from fat (or sugar, depending on which camp you're from). And I won't even mention how annoying it is having to constantly step over the little dead bodies as you're carrying large wet prints out to the drying area. We should all do our part to keep the staggering death toll from photo chemicals from rising. The very existence of the human race (especially cute helpless innocent children) depends on it.

 

[Rick A]

I've found that Fiji brand water bottles serve my purposes very well, they are square and come in 500ml and 1Lsizes. They are clear PETE, and the original labels peel off cleanly for relabeling.

 

[Paul Glover]

I divide my gallon of D76 stock solution among 3 1qt bottles and 4 8oz bottles. Each 8oz is exactly right for a 1:1 dilution used one shot. When the 8oz bottles are empty, another one of the 1qt bottles gets split out into them. I'll likely do the same thing once I pick up some Dektol. Mixed stop bath is in another 1qt bottle. Fixer goes in a sturdy 1 gallon pourable plastic jug with a sealing top.

The 1qt bottles originally had Powerade or some similarly unpleasant content. The 8oz bottles are from a 6-pack of Mott's apple juice. All are clearly marked (mostly so *I* don't use the wrong chemical) and kept in a cabinet in my office-soon-to-be-darkroom. Kids can't get in, and if an adult decides that they should be drinking out of a bottle marked "D76, do not drink" which they found in a closed plastic tote in a child-locked cabinet in a room full of photography stuff well away from all the other drinkable fluids, well...they really *should* have known better.

Perhaps I need to put a "beware of the leopard" sign on the door, just to be absolutely certain nobody drinks my chemicals.

 

[destroya]

i went to my local micro brew resturant for some happy hour drinks today. they will sell u and fill up half gallon glass brown jugs full of beer for $12. i asked if they would sell me some empty bottles and they gave me 2 for free. they are perfect, but i wish they were 1 gallon. if you have a brew pub around you could give them a try.

also i bought 6 corona 1 litre beers in brown glass bottles at bevmo for $3 each. not exactly cheap for beer but you get a great dark 1 litre bottle for cheaper than the photo stores sell them for and you get the beer to boot!

 

[Truzi]

I am learning to make vinegar... I mean wine, and have picked up some beugel-style bottles at the local wine/beer supply shop. The bottles seem fairly robust, and the swing-top caps should make a good seal for some of my chemicals. I intend to use them for concentrates. I use 1-liter plastic soda bottles (or plastic peroxide bottles) for working solutions.

 

[flatulent1]

I've found that Fiji brand water bottles serve my purposes very well, they are square and come in 500ml and 1Lsizes. They are clear PETE, and the original labels peel off cleanly for relabeling.

I have scads of these bottles, I love them. However I have never been able to remove the label cleanly; I'm always faced with a large and extremely stubborn patch of adhesive. Rick, how do you deal with this?

 

[Shalom]

Prune juice bottles are great. FYI... orange juice and vodka=screw driver; prune juice and vodka=pile driver.

milk of magnesia and vodka = Philips screwdriver.

 

[GarageBoy]

Goo Gone takes care of the glue residue (or Naphtha)

 

[bvy]

WD-40 and a good scrub also removes most adhesive residue...