Freezing B&W Chemistry

[todd_niccole]

Howdy folks,

 

I only dabble in B&W photography from time to time and don't use that much

prepared chemistry, most being thrown out afterwards. Can prepared developer,

fixer and hypo be frozen for later use? Has anybody tried this; any degrading

effects on chemical performance?

 

Thanks,

 

Todd

[frank.schifano]

I've never done it, though I have read several accounts recommending against it. If you are concerned about longevity, your best bet might be to make up the chemicals from scratch. The recipes for D-76, Dektol, and many variations of fixers are readily available and widely published. The chemicals required are not many in number and relatively inexpensive. The greatest one shot outlay of cash would most likely be for a scale. But you can get around that too by using "teaspoon" formulae.

 

There are some chemicals that will not go bad. Stop bath is one. It's cheaper than using white vinegar and it never goes bad from age. Photoflo is another. Without it your film will dry with water spots. One uses so little of it at a time, that the cost is negligible.

[brucecahn]

I keep D-76 ice cubes in my freezer for cooling the developer on hot days. No difference in performance.

[frank.schifano]

Geez. Don't make the mistake of using one to cool off your gin and tonic!

[bobmichaels]

Why not just use liquid developers like HC-110 or Rodinal that keep for years in their undiluted state? I don't know what the shelf life of fixer is but it seems to be a long long time. If in doubt, use liquid fixer like Ilford rapid fix. Don't bother with stop or hypo-clear.

 

Then you have no more problems.

[jordan_w.]

Fixer should last a really long time even at room temp. Use HC-110 as a developer -- the stock solution also lasts nearly forever. Don't freeze mixed solutions -- you will have precipitation issues.

[larrydressler]

HC-110 and rodinal last forever along with Diafine and I have had fixer in a full jug last for a year in storage.... as for stop bath I use white vinager and water for prints and just a water bath for film.

 

Larry

[rodeo_joe1]

I've never tried freezing chemistry, nor read anything about it, so I can't recommend for or against.

 

What I would say is that I agree that one-shot chemistry might be a lot easier to use. There's no defrost time for a start!

 

HC-110 is a good all-round single use developer, and stop bath is usually used only once anyway. So the one remaining "problem" with one shot use is fixer, and I can help you there.

 

I've experimented in the past with using diluted fixer and extending the fixing time. If you use a rapid liquid fixer, and dilute it to around three times the normal dilution, you can use it as a one-shot bath with reasonable economy. Fixing times are extended to around 10 minutes, which is the same as a normal (non-rapid) fixer.

 

I started doing this about 10 years ago, and the negatives appear no different now from conventionally fixed ones. OK so 10 years isn't any measure of archival quality, but I can't see any reason why one-shot fixing should be inferior to the traditional method(s). In fact using fresh fixer every time should result in a negative with better archival properties.

[laurentvuillard]

Do as Bob suggest: Freezing seems crazy as it is more than probable that some compounds will not resolubilize well once frozen. As a professional chemist I can almost guarantee it. If compounds like metol or hydroquinione do not resuspend well your dev will misbehave and you'll risk spots here ands there from poorly solubilized chemicals. Freezing: NO NO and NO.

PS I take this will be developper dependent as well.

PS 2"In fact using fresh fixer every time should result in a negative with better archival properties." Cannot see why, do rinse the neg a lot for archival. Anyway, you may keep the fixer some months, film is so thin that 30min wash in water with temp>15degreesC will be fine for archiving, I have pre WWII negs from my grand father done that way that are perfectly OK !

[craig_shearman1]

Absolutely do not consider freezing your chemistry. Even refrigerating your chemicals can cause certain components to precipitate out of solution (stop being dissolved and turn back into little bits of powder that settle at the bottom of the bottle) and make them difficult to re-dissolve. Both developer and fix are good for anywhere from two to six months, especially if you get the kind of storage tanks that have floating lids to limit the surface area exposure to oxygen. If you aren't using much chemistry, you can buy powdered devloper and fix in one-quart packages instead of one-gallon. But they are so much cheaper per ounce in the gallon packages that it's probably just as cheap to do a gallon and throw out what you don't use. Once upon a time I was a poor high school student saving pennies for my photography hobby so I understand the need to pinch the occasional penny. But if you do things that result in poor quality processing in the name of saving money, you end up having to throw out the resulting negatives and prints, and in the end you haven't actually saved anything.

[todd_niccole]

Thanks for all your feedback. I won't try freezing chemistry.I'll look towards mixng powders to use and storing them perhaps in a vacuum seal. Thanks again.

 

Regards,

 

Todd

[laurentvuillard]

Todd for small volume/occasional process buy liquid chemicals not powders and process using one shot only for developper. Stop bath or Fixer will keep up to a year anyway. Good luck

PS I find Ilford's develloping times usually too short you may wish to add 20% .

[terence_spross1]

<p>Bruce -<br>

An alternative to D76 ice cubes are the plastic ice cube like sacks with water in them sold as permanent ice cubes. Just freeze those and drop into your developer to lower temp, when it reaches desired temp pull them out. Wash and refreeze for next use. While you might still keep them separate from your food due to incomplete washing, it won't be a disaster if one finds its way into your cola on a hot day.</p>