Storing Chemicals

Ive recently started developing my own B&W film and Im just a bit unsure of how to properly store the chemicals.

I've made up 1L of D76.....Ive seperated them all into smaller bottles filled to the top and left them in a cuboard. I read that's the right thing to do....

Im just unsure about the other chemicals.... I also have Fixer and Wetting Agent. The impression I get from reading message boards is that I can make up some fixer and keep re-using it for up to 20 times. How do I store this diluted fixer? Also.... how do I store the bottle of fixer concentrate? And for how long.

Same goes for the wetting agent..... is it cool leaving it in its original bottle?

Any info / advice would be boss!

I am NOT the person to listen to on how to properly store chemistry, but I will tell you about how much abuse chemistry can survive and still work fine.

I regularly keep 2 gallons of fix one for film and one for paper in gallon jugs in my garage darkroom where temperatures have been regularly above 100 degrees for most of the summer, I have seen no difference in freshly made fix. Other than checking for silver concentration I use fix to 80% of it's listed life then chuck it.

For developer I have several half full bottles of D-76 and Dektol. I treat D-76 a bit more gently than Dektol that I regularly leave in the darkroom , again letting it get hot and cool with the weather. I mainly use rodinal and diafine for film developing. I have found little change in Dektol that is less than 6 months old, but find that D-76 cannot withstand as much abuse. Diafine is a beast that can be abused over and over again and seems to come out fine, and rodinal is somewhere in between. The main thing about developer seems to be not letting the stock solution oxidize, or using it within the first couple months. I have use dektol stock that is the color of coffee and had contact prints come out fine, but I would certainly mix fresh for anything more important.

For a wetting agent I assume you may be referring for something like Photo-flo, and I would not treat it any different from soap. Heat and cool (non freezing) I would ignore mostly.

Use the chemistry faster than you seem to think you are going to is my advice. Film's cheap--- go make pictures. Keep powder in the cupboard rather than mixed chemistry.

How do I store this diluted fixer?

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However you want. Bottles work pretty well.

Also.... how do I store the bottle of fixer concentrate?

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See above

And for how long.

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As long as you can get away with. The good thing about fixer is you get a second chance. Store it and use it. If it doesn't work when you use it, you stored it too long. I use my fixer until it starts to take longer to clear film.

I'd go with double fixing your film and paper. Basically make up two batches of fixer. Label them 1 and 2 or something that you won't mix up. Fix with 1 first then do it again with batch 2. When batch 1 reaches it's limit batch 2 will still be fine. So dump out batch 1 and move 2 into batch 1s bottle. Make up new batch #2.

I've got 1litre bottles so always make fixer up in that size. Just make it up in the size that makes sense for your bottles and batch sizes.

Don't worry about the rest.

thisispants said:

Ive recently started developing my own B&W film and Im just a bit unsure of how to properly store the chemicals.

I've made up 1L of D76.....Ive seperated them all into smaller bottles filled to the top and left them in a cuboard. I read that's the right thing to do....

Im just unsure about the other chemicals.... I also have Fixer and Wetting Agent. The impression I get from reading message boards is that I can make up some fixer and keep re-using it for up to 20 times. How do I store this diluted fixer? Also.... how do I store the bottle of fixer concentrate? And for how long.

Same goes for the wetting agent..... is it cool leaving it in its original bottle?

Any info / advice would be boss!

Click to expand...

You can store your fixer in any kind of bottle you like, depending on the fixer, you can reuse it until it starts to take much longer to work,

If you do a search you will find out about the clip test, when you first mix your film fixer you perform this test, note the time on the bottle, and before processing a roll, perform this test again, note the time, and when the clip test takes twice as long to clear film, toss it and mix fresh. As for the concentrate, it's lifespan is usually indicated on the instructions that are on the bottle. Ilford claims 2 years for a full unopened bottle and six months for an open one, these times are very conservative though. I think the key is to look for particles floating in the concentrate, these particles would indicate that the chemical is starting to break down. Some people would filter them out and still use it, although fixer is cheap enough that it's not really a good way to save money.

I can't speak to D76 as I don't use it; all my regular developers except Diafine are one-shots and I mix them at time of use. Fixer stock is fine in its original bottle; so are wetting agents and pretty much everything else.

A 1L bottle of hydrogen peroxide is sometimes cheaper than an empty 1L bottle; I think I paid US$0.25 per litre (at a "Big Lots" discount store). Reusing gallon water bottles sounds like a better idea than it is; they leak easily. I once came back from vacation to find that my Diafine B solution had ruptured and my darkroom floor was covered with sulfite crystals. (It sure did a job of cleaning the grout, though. My wife steals a little bit of Diafine when she finds something that needs serious cleaning now.)

-NT