What can I use to store film processing chemicals like developer, stop bath, and fixer? Is glass an absolute must or can I recycle plastic containers which I have around the house, like bleach bottles and the 1 gallon plastic orange juice containers?

The latter are such nice quality I almost feel obligated to use them for something.

thanks, Peter Schauss

-- Peter Schauss (schauss@worldnet.att.net), August 26, 2001

Answers

For developers glass is a good idea, since plastic is permeable for air and will degrade developer even if the container is filled to the top. In addition most plastics are porous and the containers are hard to get rid off what was in them before. Careful washing is advised and I would not put developer in a container that contained bleach before. In addition to glass I can highly recommend to add Tetenal Protectan, a gass that will form a buffer between the solution and air and will drastically improve the lifespan. Fixer and stopbath are uncritical to keep in plastic and reused containers seem fine.

-- Volker Schier (Volker.Schier@fen-net.de), August 26, 2001.

I've been storing D-76 solution in 32-ounce plastic juice dispensers purchased from the grocery store. These are the general-purpose refrigerator containers that are sold empty, not what you buy juice in. The D-76 lasts quite well as long as it's tightly capped.

-- Keith Nichols (knichols1@mindspring.com), August 26, 2001.

I always use glass bottles with tight caps to store developers. I also use Tetenal Protectan. Instead of Protectan you can use ordinary butane/propane gas, that's the same stuff Protectan is made of.

-- Patric (jenspatric@mail.bip.net), August 26, 2001.

Watch out for the word "plastic," "polycarbonates," etc. There exist many plastics and polycarbonates, physically quite different from each other. Both terms are very general name that mean very broad (and nearly the same) range of materials.

One reason people recommend "glass" is partly idiot-proof factor. Glass is glass, at least in their mind. (photographers should know at least a few different glasses!!) It's not the absolute necessity.

Beverage bottles, whether sold with something inside or empty, can be used to store photographic chemicals quite satisfactorily. The bottle must be well made in terms of good sealing. You can squeeze the bottle hard to see if air leaks, or fill it with water and squeeze real hard to see if water leaks, etc. Materials like HDPE (high-density polyethylene) or PET (polyethylene terephthalate) are best materials as they are strong, hard to break, have quite low absorption, adsorption, permeability, etc. PET is a common clear plastic used for water and juice often sold on the shelf at room temperature. HDPE is used for many kitchen storage bottles. HOWEVER, CHECK WHAT THE BOTTLE IS MADE FROM BEFORE USING. Usually, you should be able to find a recycle mark indicating the material by the arabic number inside three arrow triangle, and the acronim like PET and HDPE are indicated below the mark. Many liquid chemicals for photography processing are shipped in HDPE bottles.

There is slight absorption and adsorption even by these two specific kinds of plastic material. Reusing beverage bottles for the first time should not be a problem as long as they are thoroughly washed in hot water. Once stored a photo chemical, I recommend to reuse the bottle for the same chemical. If you need to reuse the bottle for another chemical, I suggest to shift them down along the photo processing steps. Developer bottle can be now reused for stop or fix storage. Use fresh bottle for developer, wash aid agents, Photo-Flo and Sistan.

I've seen comments about accordion bottles that they are not as good as glass bottles. That's consistent with my experience, but I have never had a trouble with PET and HDPE bottles reused from bottled water and juices, as well as ones sold as kitchen storage containers.

One thing I do to ensure good shelf life of my developers is to make part A and B stock solutions, with A containing developing agents and preservatives, whereas B containing accelerators. If the formula uses buffer, acid goes to A and base goes to B. I make double the concentration of each so that I can mix 1 part A and 1 part B to get full strength solution. If it is high sulfite formula I don't want to put 200g sulfite in 1 liter of part A, so I put 100g in A and another 100g in B. Prepared this way, many home made liquid developers can be stored for least a few months, probably longer.

Finally, these beverage bottles are usually transparent or lightly colored, and therefore store the chemicals in dark shelves. Also always label each bottles.

Reuse is one of the best ways to recycle whenever practical.

-- Ryuji Suzuki (rsuzuki@rs.cncdsl.com), August 26, 2001.

My guess is that the plastic containers used for carbonated beverages are not gas permeable, and should be fine for oxidation-sensitive chemical solutions.

-- Tim Nelson (timothy.nelson@yale.edu), August 28, 2001.

They are! Beverages in plastic bottles are filled with a higher CO2- content to compensate for the continuous loss of CO2 during storage.

-- Georg Kern (georg.kern@uibk.ac.at), August 28, 2001.

Sorry! I mean: they ARE gas permeable, but they ARE NOT suitable for storage of photo chemicals.

-- Georg Kern (georg.kern@uibk.ac.at), August 28, 2001.

Carbonated beverages usually come in PET bottles and they are good ones. However, I don't know if this applies to all sodas in the world, and therefore please check your recycle mark indicating the material before use.

-- Ryuji Suzuki (rsuzuki@rs.cncdsl.com), August 30, 2001.

I store my chems in Falcon air-evac bottles. They are collapsible so I can adjust them as I use the chems up. As for having chems sitting around and getting old, it just means you're not out there shooting enough. ;-)

-- Johnny Motown (johnny.motown@att.net), August 30, 2001.