Storage bottles - advice?

[LocalHero1953]

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I am a returnee to film as of the last couple of years, shooting both 35mm and 4x5. I started with HC-110 and I'm now using Adox XT-3 (either 1 litre stock or 2 litre diluted), plus Fomafix (500ml concentrate, 500ml diluted for use). I process in a Paterson two reel tank (500ml) and Stearman FP-445 (475ml).

How do you store your stock, diluted and used chemicals between processing sessions to minimise oxidation etc?

I have a couple of the black plastic concertina containers which ought to be OK. However, one of them started breaking up inside after several months of non-use, producing black plastic particles the next time I filled it. I also worry about how easy they are to clean, to get chemical residue out of the folds - which might also trap air that adds to oxidation risks.

In the Xtol thread I have seen mention of brown wine bottles and vacuvin 'corks'. This seems a good idea, but most of my wine bottles are 750ml which don't match any of the volumes I want to store.

How do people here store/preserve chemicals?

Edited January 16 by LocalHero1953

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[TomB_tx]

These days I use 1-shot development with either Rodinal or DD-X, just kept in their stock bottles. Usually developing once a week these seem to keep until used up. Fixer I just mix a qt in plastic bottle and [our back into it after using. I'll periodically check time clear a film leader to check for exhaustion. 

Back in the 1970s I used both UFG and Acufine with replenisher. Stored working solution in 1 qt plastic bottles, poured used back each time and added enough replenisher to keep the volume constant (about an ounce). When the replenisher was used up I'd discard and mix up fresh. UFG was my favorite - too bad it's gone. Acufine is still available, but not the replenisher.

For C41 I use the "accordion" bottles and squish out all the air I can. I try to put off processing until I have 10 or so rolls to process within a couple weeks, as this stuff doesn't keep well.

I've looked for the old air-displacement gas to top off bottles, but it seems to be long gone too. May have been Freon based or something.

[250swb]

I don't use developers in stock solutions and just mix the amount necessary, usually Adox FX39. But for the stop bath and fix I use ordinary 5 litre clear plastic bottles from eBay and mix stock solutions from the concentrate. I think it's a good idea to be able to see the fix because while you should check the strength with a spot test on a film leader from time to time as soon as you see black particles floating in it you know for sure its shot and to mix another batch. 

[Tom R]

Agree with the posts above: using one-shot developers avoids many possible problems. For decades I made by own (some hydroquinone-free variations of) D-76, which I stored in brown glass containers and used within a week. Many “modern” films are hard on fixer. I use Rapid Fixers and test every ten rolls or so with a commercial Fixer testing solution. In any event, I discard fixer BEFORE it gives any indication of precipitation when exposed to the test solution. I also use a hypo clearing agent and employ the Ilford wash sequence, conserving water.

 

[Smudgerer]

4 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said:

I am a returnee to film as of the last couple of years, shooting both 35mm and 4x5. I started with HC-110 and I'm now using Adox XT-3 (either 1 litre stock or 2 litre diluted), plus Fomafix (500ml concentrate, 500ml diluted for use). I process in a Paterson two reel tank (500ml) and Stearman FP-445 (475ml).

How do you store your stock, diluted and used chemicals between processing sessions to minimise oxidation etc?

I have a couple of the black plastic concertina containers which ought to be OK. However, one of them started breaking up inside after several months of non-use, producing black plastic particles the next time I filled it. I also worry about how easy they are to clean, to get chemical residue out of the folds - which might also trap air that adds to oxidation risks.

In the Xtol thread I have seen mention of brown wine bottles and vacuvin 'corks'. This seems a good idea, but most of my wine bottles are 750ml which don't match any of the volumes I want to store.

How do people here store/preserve chemicals?

All very good advice offered here...........I love the TriX / D-76 combo and always have but storing made-up solutions prior to making 1:1 use developer with either my Jobo or Filmomat machines I find is problematical because unless it is important for me to develop a film right away I tend to wait until I have a batch of films to process and that may take several weeks with the risk that the stored D76 could pass it's "use by date", now like 250swb I tend to use the excellent Adox FX-39 one shot developer, no storage problems.............However if and when I do have a batch of TriX to soup then I definitely still prefer to mix up some D-76 and use that at 1:1 then discard the developer after that batch process.

I have tried to, but I don't like the concertina bottles. I always seem to make a mess when trying to squeeze out the air and consequently the solution tends to squirt around too! Cleaning them too as you mention here is another issue, I was never satisfied that they were clean.........So one shot is a good way to go and can be more consistent too.

Edited January 16 by Smudgerer
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[Kl@usW.]

vor 4 Stunden schrieb LocalHero1953:

I am a returnee to film as of the last couple of years, shooting both 35mm and 4x5. I started with HC-110 and I'm now using Adox XT-3 (either 1 litre stock or 2 litre diluted), plus Fomafix (500ml concentrate, 500ml diluted for use). I process in a Paterson two reel tank (500ml) and Stearman FP-445 (475ml).

How do you store your stock, diluted and used chemicals between processing sessions to minimise oxidation etc?

I have a couple of the black plastic concertina containers which ought to be OK. However, one of them started breaking up inside after several months of non-use, producing black plastic particles the next time I filled it. I also worry about how easy they are to clean, to get chemical residue out of the folds - which might also trap air that adds to oxidation risks.

In the Xtol thread I have seen mention of brown wine bottles and vacuvin 'corks'. This seems a good idea, but most of my wine bottles are 750ml which don't match any of the volumes I want to store.

How do people here store/preserve chemicals?

I´m using these for many years now: https://www.kaiser-fototechnik.de/en/produkte/artikel.php?nr=4192  . They come in transparent for the hypo and dark for the developer. Actually I just use the clear ones for the fixer as I´m using Rodinal or Rollei Supergrain as a developer and don't need to store or replenish.. You can squeeze the bottles to evacuate any air. Unlike the concertina bottles they have smooth insides, so less surface and less grime in the folds. 

[Doug A]

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The only chemicals I use these days are Rodinal, Ilford Rapid Fixer and LFN. I store the Rodinal in 125ml amber glass bottles. I store the working strength fixer in a black JOBO 1000ml bottle (below). And the LFN is in its original little dropper bottle. 

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[PCPix]

On 1/16/2025 at 8:41 AM, LocalHero1953 said:

brown wine bottles and vacuvin 'corks'. This seems a good idea, but most of my wine bottles are 750ml which don't match any of the volumes I want to store

Perhaps a few magnums are in order?

More seriously though - how long are you storing the dev? I used D76/ID11 at 1:1 for most of my film and 2.5l of stock would last a couple of weeks in plain plastic bottles. If you were storing partially used stock for a long time the vacuum idea and concertina bottles sounds good - but also a squirt of nitrogen into the bottle to achieve the same purpose (removing the oxygen) if you ‘happen’ to have that available ?

[LeicaIIIfContaxIIa]

I use a collection of brown glass bottles (like those that can be found in pharmacies) of some 500, 300, 200, 100 and 50 ml bottles. When I (for example) had to store about 800 to 850 ml of Dokumol stock I put it into a 500 ml and a 200 ml bottle which were filled up totally so there was barely any air left inside them. For the rest, I took a 50 or 100 ml bottle and put lighter gas into it.

I store the bottles in the fridge.

This has worked for at least a year and a half now. The Dokumol stock is still fine.

[LocalHero1953]

33 minutes ago, PCPix said:

Perhaps a few magnums are in order?

More seriously though - how long are you storing the dev? I used D76/ID11 at 1:1 for most of my film and 2.5l of stock would last a couple of weeks in plain plastic bottles. If you were storing partially used stock for a long time the vacuum idea and concertina bottles sounds good - but also a squirt of nitrogen into the bottle to achieve the same purpose (removing the oxygen) if you ‘happen’ to have that available ?

I've just started using Adox XT-3 / Xtol, with packets to make 1 litre stock. For my first session, which was quite a lot of 4x5 sheets, I just used the stock solution, extending development times as specified, but I would like to move to 1-shot 1:1 (or even more diluted), so I would need to store the remains of the 1 litre solution - though keeping rolls/sheets till I can use it all in one go is an option. 

Then there is the fixer, for which I need to store remains of the undiluted Fomapan in its 500ml bottle, and the 1:4 working solution of 500ml that I keep till it's no longer active enough. Does fixer oxidise like developer when stored? i.e. does it need to be kept in bottles without air?

I make up stop bath for each session from domestic citric acid, which is so cheap I don't store a working solution.

[hansvons]

24 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

I've just started using Adox XT-3 / Xtol, with packets to make 1 litre stock. For my first session, which was quite a lot of 4x5 sheets, I just used the stock solution, extending development times as specified, but I would like to move to 1-shot 1:1 (or even more diluted), so I would need to store the remains of the 1 litre solution - though keeping rolls/sheets till I can use it all in one go is an option. 

My developer of choice is Xtol, as it's more convenient to mix. I use Xtol diluted to 1:1. If I recall correctly, Xtol requires roughly 75ml of undiluted solution to develop a 35 mm roll fully. In a Jobo tank, 1/4 of the undiluted developer is needed to develop one roll (250ml). So, at 1:2, you are hypothetically already at the limit of Xtol in that scenario, and the developer must be entirely exhausted for a complete development. Because I tend to push some film stocks mildly, I like to think that 1:1 is the sweet spot for me. 

When mixing the developer, I create a two-litre 1:1 solution from a one-litre package filled in two black proper photo chemistry bottles. Because B&W film is my default photography medium, the developer will be used up within a week to two months longest. I never had issues with Xtol or experienced Xtol's infamous sudden death. When in doubt, dump it and mix a new solution. 

 

43 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

Then there is the fixer, for which I need to store remains of the undiluted Fomapan in its 500ml bottle, and the 1:4 working solution of 500ml that I keep till it's no longer active enough. Does fixer oxidise like developer when stored? i.e. does it need to be kept in bottles without air?

I never had a rapid fixer lose its capacity. However, I tend to use only 4-5 rolls with one 500ml bottle of ready-mixed fixer, with the last rolls at extended times, e.g. five instead of 3 minutes fixing.

 

46 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

I make up stop bath for each session from domestic citric acid, which is so cheap I don't store a working solution.

I believe that in black-and-white development, which has relatively long dev times, a stop bath makes hardly any difference to washing the film right after dumping the developer. At least I couldn't see a difference. 

[hansvons]

6 minutes ago, hansvons said:

My developer of choice is Xtol, as it's more convenient to mix.

@LocalHero1953 I meant, "My developer of choice is XT-3, as it's more convenient to mix than Kodak Xtol."

[PCPix]

1 hour ago, LocalHero1953 said:

Does fixer oxidise

No. Always used 5l to exhaustion (film leader taking longer than about 30s to clear) and that could take many months to occur. Never used stop bath, cold water and agitation does the job. If in doubt rinse a couple of times (30s continuous agitation) - but importantly you should always agitate continuously as soon as the fix goes in or you ‘can’ risk getting processing marks. 

Edited January 17 by PCPix

[Pyrogallol]

Rodinal and two part Moersch Tanol keep forever without needing to top up the original bottles to expel the air.

Print developer on the other hand does need the air expelling. I still have some Tetenal Protectan spray to squirt in the bottles. Working strength print develop can be kept for a week or two, even three, if you top up the bottle with water. It is already diluted 1:9 for use so a bit more water in the bottle won't make any difference

The best size bottles I find are empty 300 and 500ml developer bottles. Decant from 1 Lt into smaller ones. 

I have never found the need to expel air from fixer bottles. I just decant from 5Lt bottles into 1Lt to make it easier/lighter to pour from. 

 

I would have said something earlier, but I am usually using my 10+ year old I Pad which does not let me post text or see half the pictures. This has had to wait until I am using a laptop.