How do I store my developer?

[steve_s.]

Hello. I am relatively new to this group. I have enjoyed your

postings over the last several months and have learned a lot. I am

getting back into developing my own black and white after being away

from the craft for many years (and even then, I used a darkroom at

campus and did not store my own chemicals).

 

I am about to mix my first liter ever of D-76. After I use a batch to

develop my first roll, do I store the rest in the refrigerator, or

just on a shelf? The developer package doesn't say. I keep my film

in a plastic bag in the refrigerator, but I don't know if this is good

for developer. I should say that I live in Sacramento, where summer

temperatures can get above 100 degrees F, and about 80 degrees F

inside my house.

 

What do you recommend?

[michael erlich]

Oxygen destroys developers. Keep liquid developers in bottles

filled to the brim with as small an air space as possible. Glass

bottles are usually better than plastic, because some plastics

are permeable to oxygen. Falcon makes "air-evac" plastic

containers that collapse like an accordian to get the air out. I

would not recommend refrigeration because this can

sometimes cause precipitation of solid particles in the liquid.

Best tactic is to use the developer within a couple of weeks of

mixing it.

[ryuji_suzuki]

> Falcon makes "air-evac" plastic containers that collapse like an accordian to get the air out.

 

I have a bad experience with it, and I suspect that the material used in it is not a good gas barrier. I have also heard/read similar bad experience in a number of places.

 

I recommend clear, stiff plastic bottle used for bottled mineral water sold in supermarkets. The same material is often used for pasteurized juices. Make sure that the number printed inside triple triangle recycle mark is 1. It's practically just as good as glass.

 

I don't recommend refrigeration of D-76 or most other developers, and you don't have to refrigerate it either.

[chris_waller]

Don't refrigerate developer - some of the components will crystallise out and refuse to redissolve. Just store in a cool room - my darkroom is north-facing thus never gets really warm. I recommend storing in a number of smaller bottles, all filled to the brim to eliminate oxygen. In this way any wastage due to oxidation is limited to the one bottle in use.

[steve_s.]

I bought some HDPE plastic bottle, the ones with the number 2 inside the recycling triangle emblem. Are these sufficient to store developer?

[ann_clancy3]

Just ran across an article by Ctein, "Photo Techniques" Nov/Dev 2001 on Darkroom tips and he suggest using Saran Wrap (by brand name in fact)on bottle tops and even on trays. It might be worth a try. Nothing like testing for your self.

[ryuji_suzuki]

HDPE is good for most non-developer type solutions, but without coating of appropriate material, HDPE bottles are permeable to gasses and not suitable for developers. If you look carefully, Tropicana Smoothies bottles (the small 375ml or something like that, comparable to dessert wine bottles) are of this type, consisting of multiple layers plus surface coating.

 

Saran wrap is PVdC. It's good if the bottle is otherwise perfect and the cap is crap. However, in terms of surface area, cap isn't that big and the relative contribution is small. It may be very useful if, again, the bottle is perfect, and the developer is particularly sensitive to aerial oxidation. Most developers (certainly ones that you buy in powders and dissolve in water - whether sulfite rich fine grain type or carbonate rich print developers) have lower solubility of oxygen even compared to plain water. In this case minimizing surface area of exposure is important.

[thomas_basinger]

Sunsweet Prune Juice comes in heavy brown PETE plastic bottles. My understanding is this is the best material for storing developer except for brown glass bottles.

[steve_s.]

Hmm, D-76 in the 5 litre mix ...... That sure is a lot of prune juice. But seriously, I have enjoyed all of your responses, thank you for your advice to someone new to developing.

[john_hicks___]

> a lot of prune juice

 

Well, you'll have something to do for a while.....

 

I use one-quart brown glass IBC Root Beer bottles; of course the labels are soaked off and the bottle are clearly labeled as to contents and put where no one would be inclined to take a swig.

 

As for refrigeration, give it a try and see what happens. I've stored Xtol, D-76H, TEC and DD-X in the refrigerator without any problems or precipitates. Here in Florida it's not exactly chilly inside my house or inside the refrigerator, so apparently it isn't cold enough to cause a precipitate.

[._._z]

John Hicks> I use one-quart brown glass IBC Root Beer bottles

 

What do you use as a stopper?

[john_hicks___]

> stopper?

 

I use the screw-on plastic caps that come on the bottles.

[john_kasaian1]

Have a pharmacist save an empty brown glass bottle with a bakelite or plactic screw top for you. There is still one formulation of robitussin syrup that comes that way(I've been told.) You can always buy these bottles new from a lab glassware supplier. Go in with another photographer because the gallon size comes four to a case, that way you'll each have two bottles, one for film dev and one for paper dev. If your mixing in 750 ml quantities just use dark brown wine bottles and corks(labelled DEV of course!)