Recommended storage containers for chemicals?

CopperB

CopperB

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What do you use as inert plastic containers for storing excess developer etc? Any recs on what to avoid beyond pop bottles? Clear vs dark?
 
As Roger says, brown glass, especially for developer. The other stuff - fix, stop, Permawash, selenium, etc. - seem to work well in plastic. The green Grolsh (sp?) beer bottles work very well and they have a nice ceramic stopper with a rubber gasket and spring-loaded clamp. You also get to empty them, which is a bonus.
 
Since I work in a hospital/research lab I tend to recycle the brown glass bottles that initially came holding just alcohol since several hot water rinses are all that are needed to ensure no cross contamination. I also got some brand new bottles that were from Fisher Scientific that were being XS'ed.

Got these hard plastic water bottles that were a promotional item from a pharmacuetical company that each hold one liter, but the best aspect is the wide lid that makes fore easy pouring.

In my lab we have a reverse osmosis water system that makes chemically pure water, water that is so pure that it should not be used to drink because it is so chemically active. (18.2 mega Ohm resistivity). IMHO it helps make great negatives when used in your chemistry.

Avoid possible contamination and impurities.

Cal
 
This is going to sound a bloody daft question but what is wrong with using the containers that the dev and fixer came in once they are empty ?
 
PKR said:
I thought reverse osmosis was mainly for producing drinkable water from salt water? So, you are filtering rather than producing distilled water (steam and condense) ? I filter to one micron here think it’s okay for the local water. What is the electrical resistance of Distilled water vs. the Reverse Osmosis stuff. In a FAB, where the water is filtered and ion control is in place, a good figure is on the order of 3K ohm/meter sq at 25 Deg C. How are you getting such a high resistance figure?
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In some labs we start with distilled water, but in this lab we do not start with distilled water. There are layers of filtration that remove organics and then its all reverse osmosis in smaller and smaller sizes. There is even a UV light to sterilize the water. As far as I know its all reverse osmosis except on an exceptional scale, bu realize that there is a limited amount of water that is being processed. After I take my 5 gallons the whole system has to build up the reserve again.

Cal
 
Calzone said:
In some labs we start with distilled water, but in this lab we do not start with distilled water. There are layers of filtration that remove organics and then its all reverse osmosis in smaller and smaller sizes. There is even a UV light to sterilize the water. As far as I know its all reverse osmosis except on an exceptional scale, bu realize that there is a limited amount of water that is being processed. After I take my 5 gallons the whole system has to build up the reserve again.Cal
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I use a similar system for all my developing. Amazing how water marks became a thing of the past and my Xtol lasts very well.

Almost no lab water is actually distilled anymore. As calzone described, systems like those from millepore: http://tinyurl.com/4z624gu use a series of mechanical filters, UV decontamination (to kill viruses mostly) and reverse osmosis to make ultra-pure water. The 18 million ohm resistance these systems give is essentially identical to triple heat distilled water, but without the hassle, heat and contamination (from the air, mainly) problems.

Marty
 
Roger Hicks said:
Brown glass from your chemist/drugstore/pharmacy, whatever it's called in Ontario.

Cheers,

R.
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Do they still use brown glass ???

Right now I'm using either HC-110 or Rodinal so I'm not storing developer...
However I do use Fixer and I keep that in a rinsed out "Arizona" Iced Tea bottle...they come in one gallon sizes and are much thicker than your normal juice bottles...they are also a bit on the clear side but I keep mine in the photo closet so it's in the dark just about all the time...
Works and I haven't had any issues with them...;)
 
presspass said:
As Roger says, brown glass, especially for developer. The other stuff - fix, stop, Permawash, selenium, etc. - seem to work well in plastic. The green Grolsh (sp?) beer bottles work very well and they have a nice ceramic stopper with a rubber gasket and spring-loaded clamp. You also get to empty them, which is a bonus.
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Another vote for the recloseable ceramic-topped, metal-hinged beer bottles for photo chemical storage. Grolsch are nice size - larger than normal 12 oz bottles and when completely full I measure them at 500ml, a nice round number. I have even larger brown glass bottles with Fischer d'Alsace, a very good and reasonably priced beer. Normal sized 12 oz brown glass is available with Flensburger beers from Germany - also a pleasure to drink. I'm sure there are more of these kind of bottles out there, these are just the brands I can find where I live in Texas.
 
steelydam said:
Another vote for the recloseable ceramic-topped, metal-hinged beer bottles for photo chemical storage. Grolsch are nice size - larger than normal 12 oz bottles and when completely full I measure them at 500ml, a nice round number.
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Surprised to actually find someone else on the same page. Those resealable Grolsch beer bottles are perfect for developer. Originally bought 10 to make up 5lts of XTOL - had to drink all that beer first :bang:
 
I buy my bottles here. I store XTOL in the 16 oz. amber bottles. Not super-cheap, but not preposterously expensive, either.

Seeing the above posts it occurred to me that a home-brew supply store should have appropriate bottles, too. And lo and behold, they do.
 
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semilog said:
I buy my bottles here. I store XTOL in the 16 oz. amber bottles. Not super-cheap, but not preposterously expensive, either.

Seeing the above posts it occurred to me that a home-brew supply sore should have appropriate bottles, too. And lo and behold, they do.
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That is the exact bottle that I buy from my local home-brew store. They work out great!
 
As said before, brown glass is best (they're called "Boston Rounds" in the industry).

Plastic, all plastic, lets some air through. I fill the glass bottles, then drop glass marbles into each, bringing the fluid level up to the tippy-top - thereby remove air and the possibility of oxidation.

I buy, very economically, from here...

http://www.specialtybottle.com/

Huge selection, and very cheap.
 
This thread has prompted me to post on my blog, my method for storage of all my photo-chems...

Not a very exciting post, I'm sure, but I hope an informative one.

You can read all about it here...
 
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great thread! i was looking for the answer to this question for some time, and now here it is all in one place.
i also see here some water experts, so i would like to take an opportunity and ask a question. i was advised to use tap filters when developing my films, is that ok to use this filter or distilled water should be used better?

ps: thanks for advising "Grolsh" beer bottles
 
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This is great...I wasn't aware they still made the brown bottles...
I do have a gallon size brown bottle that I got back in high school (a long time ago) it used to have cough syrup in it...it has something in it right now but I forget what...
 
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