What do you mix your chemicals in?

[sionnac]

I am getting some by-the-gallon Dektol and wondered what apugers use to mix large quantities of chemicals in - stockpots, witch cauldrons, what? I only have one pot big enough at present and I need it for cooking... and my local thrift store seems to be out of big containers right now.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Don't use anything for mixing chemicals that you might ever use for cooking purposes. This is a possible route to chemical contamination of foods.

Once used for chemical mixing, always consider it a darkroom utensil, not a kitchen utensil.

Be safe.

PE

 

[Mick Fagan]

Plastic rubbish bins.

The ones I have are 3 litre, 5 litre and 25 litre. All are supplied with a twist on/off lid and can be kept clean as a whistle if stored with their lids on. The 5 litre is the one I use the most for oddly enough, 5 litre mixes of RA4 chemicals.

For smaller stuff I have a range of secondhand pyrex type containers from 250ml up to 2.5 litres.

Then I have photographic 5ml, 10ml, 50ml, 100ml, 250ml, 500ml & 1 litre not to mention the odd pipette which will measure .1 of a ml if required.

I purchased the rubbish bins, from my local supermarket.

Mick.

 

[fschifano]

For large quantities of 4 and 5 litres, a pair of 11L mop buckets picked up at the local dollar store work fine.

 

[sionnac]

Thanks PE - I know not to use my stockpot for chemicals - I have one half gallon plastic jug but need something bigger than a gallon now. Mick, I'll try the rubbish bin idea!

 

[Gerald Koch]

Whatever you choose make sure that it is easy to handle when full of liquid and easy to pour from. It should also be dimensionally stable so that its volume doesn't change over time.

 

[Wayne]

You should be able to get free 3-5 gal plastic buckets (or smaller) from the nearest delicatessen, grocery store, or restaurant. Try to avoid pickle buckets though, as that dilly smell never goes away.

Wayne

 

[srs5694]

I picked up a paint bucket at the local Lowes when I started out. It's got volumes marked in gallons and liters. Unfortunately, I found that the marked volumes are off by a substantial amount, so I ended up marking corrections in Magic Marker. This bucket is a cloudy sort of not-quite-transparent, so it's easy to judge volume levels.

For smaller quantities, I've got a 2-liter jug (intended for holding lemonade or the like) with a pour cap, various graduated cylinders, and various measuring cups (0.5 to 2 liters).

 

[Jim Jones]

Don't use anything for mixing chemicals that you might ever use for cooking purposes. This is a possible route to chemical contamination of foods.

Once used for chemical mixing, always consider it a darkroom utensil, not a kitchen utensil.

Be safe.

PE

Gee, I've always been reluctant to use kitchen untensils in the darkroom to avoid contaminating photo chemicals. If it's clean enough for a darkroom, it ought to be clean enough for my kitchen. Oh well, I'm not much of a cook, either.

 

[pentaxuser]

I'd try and pick-up 3 and 5 gallon bins that have taps at the bottom for pouring and lids that fit tightly. In the U.K. such bins are purchased in homebrew shops i.e. where they sell the kind you use for brewing alcohols such as beer and wine. They have markings for amounts but are not accurate enough for photography purposes. Plastic 1 and 2 litre graduates are required. These are normally marked in fluid ozs and pints as well.

Mind you, IMHO, the sooner we recognise the benefits of using and thinking in metric measurements and get rid of fluid ozs, pints and gallons the better.

Pentaxuser

 

[bart Nadeau]

Gee, I've been using a 4 oz Kodak graduate as a super shot glass for mixing Martinis for years - of course I ran it through an autoclave before putting in the new service.

 

[Neal]

Dear Sionnac,

I have a plastic bucket that I bought from a home center. The last time I checked they were up to $1.50. I have marks at 1gal and 5L as that matches the quantites I need. I mix Xtol, Dektol, HCA and Kodak Fixer in it. After mixing, the chemicals go into storage containers and I rinse it out thoroughly before storing. It is unlikely that anyone would accidentally use it for food and if it ever gets pressed into service as a wash bucket a new one wouldn't be much of a hardship. ;>)

Neal Wydra

 

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

I picked up some plastic bucket at the hardware store in the paint section. It's a general-purpose one, but it's got a handle. I don't rely on any marking, I just use my graduated cylinder to get to the volume I need. All photo chemicals are mixed in water that makes 80% of the final volume, so you just need to keep an extra 1L on the side after you're done diluting the stuff. I use 1.18L brown beer bottles afterwards for storage.

 

[dancqu]

My max mix is one liter. No problem.
Do Home-Brew. Keep fresher, easier
to handle, stock on hand. Dan

 

[jeroldharter]

I use Doran 2-gallon tanks with floating lids to make 1 - 1.5 gallons of chemistry. They settle somewhat reliably on my magnetic mixer. They are easy for pouring chemicals back and forth with the single tray method and they clean up easily.

 

[reellis67]

I use mix-up cups in various sizes for most things up to one liter, but I don't yet do a lot of scratch mixing from recipies, just mixing liquid concentrates...

- Randy

 

[Gerald Koch]

Gee, I've been using a 4 oz Kodak graduate as a super shot glass for mixing Martinis for years - of course I ran it through an autoclave before putting in the new service.

Wow! That's some martini. ;-)

 

[jd callow]

I use the 5 gallon portamixer by kreonite. I have 3 one for bleach, one for dev and one for back-up. If I'm mixing small quantities I use 1000ml pyrex and a paddle or a 5000ml plastic measure also with a paddle. Prior to the portamixers I used 5 gallon replenishment barrels with an electric mixer.

 

[gordrob]

I have got rid of most of the plastic bottles and jugs that I used for mixing and storing chemicals and have gone back to using glasss bottles for storing mixed solutions and use glass flasks and beakers up to 5 litres for mixing chemicals and glass funnels for pouring solutions. This came about because of a contamination problem a couple of years ago. I got to not trusting some plastic containers to be clean. I also use a Corning magnetic mixer to ensure consistency in mixed solutions. I have 10ml to 1.8L graduates for measing chemistry. I find the glass easier to keep clean - you just have to be more careful than using plastic. No contamination problems since the switch.

Gord

 

[Phillip P. Dimor]

A pyrex 4liter beaker was one of my better purchases..
http://www.sciplus.com has some chinese pyrex at good prices, nothing as big as 4liters but i've used a 2liter to mix dektol and d76 just fine. It's nice to have good, dedicated labware for certain things..

 

[pnance]

BG (before glass) I used my quart stainless steel developing tank, its real stainless steel so it works with a magnetic stirrer. I since have found a 3L beaker, and strangely enough a 4L erlenmeyer flask and a centigram scale at a hamfest. It pays to look at everything in a flea market. Its less expensive than from the dealers!

 

[Shmoo]

A good old fashioned plastic mop bucket is about a 1 1/2 to 2 gallon size and can handle hot water easily to mix chems, and usually have an easy pour lip on the rim...and cheap.