B&W Paper Conservation

[ruben]

I would like to ask what are the best conditions to conservate B&W paper for printing, and how long under these conditions can paper last. If necessary I can buy an used refrigerator.

Specially RC paper.

Thanks in advance,
Ruben

 

[boilerdoc2]

Keep it cool (?refrigerated or frozen) and it'll last for years. Have a friend who looks for old out of date paper to print on as it has a lo contrast 'old' look that you can't get any other way. Way cool effects but unpredictable.

 

[clarence]

Printing is quite flexible, in my opinion. I've used old paper, and extremely expired developer and perhaps the only difference is that it has to sit in the developer for a longer time.

Clarence

 

[ed1k]

Best conditions for film and paper is cool and dry place. If I owned a house I'd buy small refrigerator designated for film and paper storage.
Why not to check manufacturers datasheets? This way you'll know for sure what they expect you to do.
http://www.ilford.com/html/us_english/pdf/mgivrc.pdf
http://www.freestylephoto.biz/pdf/AgfaMCpaper.pdf

The natural ageing process of photopapers is considerably retarded
by refrigeration or deep freezing. The paper must however
be taken out of cold storage some hours before use, and brought
up to room temperature.

 

[ruben]

SORRY, I WASN'T CLEAR ENOUGH.

I MEANT STOCKING PAPER FOR SOME 10 YEARS, WITHOUT INTENTION OF OLD LOOK.

Thanks again and kindly excuss me,
Ruben

 

[Ronald M]

Buy something that does not have the chemicals in it that make it fog after three years. Thet leaves out Ilford. Refrigeration will not save it.

I am looking myself. Oriental-Forte-Efke possibilities.

 

[ruben]

Buy something that does not have the chemicals in it that make it fog after three years. Thet leaves out Ilford. Refrigeration will not save it.

I am looking myself. Oriental-Forte-Efke possibilities.

I will thank you if you could detail, since film does last, f r e e z e d.

Thank you,
Ruben

 

[Ronald M]

Due to a computer glitch, I lost a whole sheet I painfully typed. This will be very brief.

I have been doing printing since the 1960`s and never had paper fog. In fact I have some inherited paper expired in 1969 that is fine.

Current product from Kodak, Ilford, and Agfa all contain a chemical that makes it fog in 2-3 years. Freezing will not stop it.

I have had contact with Ilford both before and after the reorganization and have gotten different answers, one being there is a slight developer incorporation in the emulsion. Current people say no. But none the less, the paper does fog fast.

If you go to Defenderphoto.com, you may get one of the newsletters. In it, when it came to my E mail, was a discussion where it was stated hydrozine was added to eliminate the necessity to age the product after manufacture and that his paper does not contain it.

EDIT

Click on the paper tab and read what Anthony has to say on ARGO VC

Film can be saved by cold because it is aged. Evidently no way has been found to change the film. Older paper could be frozen also and it worked. It no longer does.

 

[trittium]

easy, turn the knob on your freezer to absolute 0 (the temperature at which atoms stop vibrating) and the paper will last forever (assuming the x-rays from the sun don't vibrate any of the atoms)

 

[Benjamin Marks]

One rumor I heard is that older formulations used cadmium as a preservative. As side effect was that paper made in this way froze well. Cadmium fell out of favor b/c it is a heavy metal and quite toxic. Newer paper formulations are said not to contain cadmium and to fog even if frozen. That said, I have some Multigrade FB in deep freeze under the vain hope that it will be good in some years. Sob.


Ben

 

[Simon Larbalestier]

One rumor I heard is that older formulations used cadmium as a preservative. As side effect was that paper made in this way froze well. Cadmium fell out of favor b/c it is a heavy metal and quite toxic. Newer paper formulations are said not to contain cadmium and to fog even if frozen. That said, I have some Multigrade FB in deep freeze under the vain hope that it will be good in some years. Sob.


Ben

It's the cadmium which makes the certain chlorbromide papers lith so well and respond actively in selenium - resulting a precise split. The best of these for me was Sterling's Premium F made in India (not to be confused with Sterling Lith sold by Photospeed in the UK) now long gone. I still have some left from the late 80's kept in a plan chest drawer @normal room temp. No fogging.

 

[Ronald M]

Cad is what gives the lovely warm tones. That is why all the warm tone papers are screwed up now. It has nothing to do with the fog problem.

The enviornmentalists got to it.

 

[ed1k]

Thanks for info Ronald. Interesting... I can only confirm in early 90's or late 80's (that was time when commies came with first RC paper for mass production), the soviet photopaper was screwed up. It didn't last long anymore (the fog) and gave bad tonality. I used to print on a paper I got from my father, that was ~20 years old, soviet fotobrom and bromportret from 60's, which was stored all the time in a table near stove in the kitchen (small village house, so over years continiously stove was used to heat water, prepare food etc.) - that was the best paper I've ever used. I thought capitalists didn't make that mistake, at least AGFA. I doubt Forte is different in this sense... Probably all big manufacturers (including oriental) use new and faster process, unfortunately. I can only confirm there was a technological stage of producing sensitive materials - ageing- in early 80's anyway. I thought they only reduced amount of silver and increased sensitivity somehow (I thought this is reason for fog, film having faster speed also has fog problem which could be partially solved by fridge), but now I understand it better; they did more harm than only that. Oh well, time is money (c), and ageing was time consuming procedure.
P.S. Then what they talk about in AGFA datasheet about frozen storage?
Eduard.