ampguy
Veteran
Without going the Silvergrain route, what are the least toxic Kodak Chemicals with longest shelf life? HC-110? Have some rolls to develop, but likely chemicals will sit (airtight, dark) for months.
low toxicity kodak chemicals with long shelf life?
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ItsReallyDarren
That's really me
Out of Kodak's lineup Xtol would be the least toxic. Longevity on the other hand is dependent on how its stored. There's a flickr group called "xtol" with some feedback on storage methods of Xtol and the shelflife they got out of it. Some reports with lifespans way past the suggested 6 months.
Here's some info from silvergrain about plastics and air permiability.
http://silvergrain.org/Photo-Tech/plastic.html
I use 1L water bottles to store my active darkroom chemicals. But other users have had success with using the storage pouches from box wines.
Here's some info from silvergrain about plastics and air permiability.
http://silvergrain.org/Photo-Tech/plastic.html
I use 1L water bottles to store my active darkroom chemicals. But other users have had success with using the storage pouches from box wines.
David William White
Well-known
HC-110 concentrate with the cap on keeps for months. Drop some marbles in to displace the air and it will keep at least 6 months. Most people mix one-shot straight from concentrate if they are not regular, weekly users.
ItsReallyDarren
That's really me
Also, another tip for displacing air are using those "wine preservers" or dust off compressed gas.
ampguy
Veteran
Thanks all, sounds like Xtol is least toxic and still available from a couple of vendors at Freestyle including Kodak, but that HC-110, if stored properly, can last in it's stock concentrated form for years. So I've got to make a decision between those two. Any ideas on low toxic and/or long shelf life/highly concentrated equivalents to Rapid Fixer? I'm aware of the odorless ones sold by Freestyle.
David William White
Well-known
I'm not sure what you mean by 'toxic' but I don't want to get into a thing here on that. Xtol is a powder, and needs to be made up in one large batch, with the likelihood of you dumping whatever you didn't use before it oxidizes, whereas HC-110 can be doled out 9ml at a time. Also, with powders you get dust and might consider wearing a mask. Does that help?
Fixer in concentrate easily lasts a decade, it's pretty simple and stable, and not toxic either.
Fixer in concentrate easily lasts a decade, it's pretty simple and stable, and not toxic either.
Tom A
RFF Sponsor
I am stiil using a bottle of HC 110 that is probably old enough to drink in public (or vote come to that). It seems to last almost as long as the original Rodinal.
As for toxicity - all photographic chemicals are more or less unhealthy if you eat or drink them! Just use common sense when dealing with them. It is not worse than household bleach and cleaners in most cases.
If you have kids - keep the chemistry locked up. If you have teenagers - they know more about chemistry than you do and as it will not do anything interesting if ingested, snorted etc - so they will leave it alone.
As for toxicity - all photographic chemicals are more or less unhealthy if you eat or drink them! Just use common sense when dealing with them. It is not worse than household bleach and cleaners in most cases.
If you have kids - keep the chemistry locked up. If you have teenagers - they know more about chemistry than you do and as it will not do anything interesting if ingested, snorted etc - so they will leave it alone.
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