Photochemical storage

[seanathan]

I'm looking for an economical way to store developer and fixer. Ideally, I would buy the plastic bottles with accordion bellows, but can't justify spending 15 usd on a plastic container (at least not at this moment). I was hoping some of you could share some of your own alternatives for chemical storage.

 

[benlees]

I use shampoo bottles, vinegar bottles, and old fixer bottles. Pretty much anything will do provided there isn't much air at the top and they don't sit for months and months.

 

[Overkill-F1]

When mixing stock solutions of developers, I only use small glass bottles, sized for single use. If using larger bottles, you could add marbles to remove the air space as you use them up.
I have stopped using plastic bottles because they will slowly breathe in air and the chemicals will spoil sooner than in glass.
...Terry
ps. most of my glass bottles were recyled from medicine bottles with plastic caps, avoid the metal caps.

 

[nikon_sam]

For my Kodak Fixer (mixed from powder) I use an "Arizona Iced Tea" one gallon bottle...it stays fairly full and is kept in a dark closet...it's lasted over a year and I've used it many times with 35mm, 120 & 4x5 film...
As for developers I used Rodinal & HC-110 so I mix them as needed...
When I was using D-76 I kept it in a brown one gallon bottle in stock form and then mixed as needed...

 

[seanathan]

Thanks everyone for your input. I like the marbles idea, I may give that a shot.

 

[mwoenv]

I make up one gallon of developer and fixer in good quality plastic bottles that held apple juice. Then I place the 3.8 liters in 4 plastic 1-liter plain seltzer water bottles (3x1 liter + 1x0.8 liters). They are made of PET plastic which is an excellent oxygen barrier. You can use other soda bottles, but let them sit full of water and change the water occassionally over a day or two to remove any residual flavoring odor. It makes sense that bottles designed to keep carbonation gas in are also good for keeping air from permeating into your solutions. I always just rinse them good with water; any residual detergent can make fixer milky when you make it up.

These bottles are highty squeezable to elimate air in the headspace, they are thin-walled so you can adjust to the right temperature quickly in a water bath, clear shipping tape stays on good over a paper label for labeling and a Sharpie waterproof pen is good for labeling the cap, and they cost nothing. If they are clear, store them in the dark (I use a tote for chemical storage).

I have kept solutions for the time indicated by Kodak for storage in fully-stoppered bottles (6 months) with no problem. However, I have found that D76 stock will discolor (turn amber) and affect the bottle if I develop less than the full 4 rolls that a liter will develop and then not use the developer for about 4-5 weeks. I don't know if the developer is bad but I don't take a chance.

I also filter each solution prior to each use with a coffee filter to remove the slight amount of debris you'll see if you shake the clear bottles and observe under a light.