would P3 bleach last 4 years?

[Wayne]

I really need to clean up. I found a bucket with nearly 2 liters each of P3 bleach Parts A, B and C. Looks like a little air has worked its way into the bottles but not a lot. I wonder if its still good? I always used P30 kits but toward the end when they got ridiculously expensive I ordered one batch of P3. And I only used it once or twice, 4 years ago this month. And that ended my Ilfochrome printing.

I do have a package in the freezer though that's dated 2010....but I do not remember anymore what exactly this P3 stuff is-is it undiluted concentrate? If so, it probably has a chance of being still good. Its not in the original bottles though, so I'm not sure. Was there an intermediate stock solution between concentrate and working bleach for P3? Towards the end of its life even the terminology Ilford used became confusing. This is not the 2 -liter P30 kit with developer, bleach and fix that most people used (I also discovered a few of those laying around), its the P3 that you could buy just the bleach all by itself if you wanted to.

Anyway tis a shame because I either have to dump it or hope the bottles don't break when I let my house freeze very shortly...I don't have time to try it before I leave. Think its worth saving at 4 years?

 

[DREW WILEY]

Unmixed, P3 should last a long time. The bleach is largely sulfuric acid. But the only way to be certain if both the chem and paper are good is
to test them. If the bottles break, your house will be a hazmat site. Nasty stuff.

 

[Wayne]

I've got them in PET bottles in a bucket. I'm going to let a little air in so there is room to expand. Not sure what % the acid is so I'm not sure what the freeze point would be.

 

[AgX]

30-40%

 

[Wayne]

I should be OK then, unless the next polar vortex drops us even lower than this morning's -33F.