At 10:32 AM 10/9/99 -0400, Tim Clark wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>I just received a package from B&H of black and white processing chemicals
>(Kodak Fixer, D-76 and Dektol) in gallon packages with the intention of
>breaking them down into quart sizes since the cost is so much lower. I have
>a venerable Eastman Studio Scale, so we're talking low tech here. My
>question is, can I store the portions in heavy duty zip-lock storage bags
>without any sort of damage to the chemicals?
It's been years since I did my own darkroom work (hoping to get back into B&W
processing soon), but if these are powdered chemicals you're talking about,
don't some of them come with "binary" or even "trinary" formulas? That is,
aren't some of them multi-step, requiring first that you open one powder pack,
dissolve it in water of an appropriate temperature, then open another and so
on? If so, you might have trouble keeping the proportions constant, and I'm
*sure* you can't successfully mix them in the dry state (they have vastly
different solubilities in plain water, and the order in which they're mixed is
very important). Besides, I'd be worried about stirring up chemical dust (I
remember Ilford's acid hardening fixers used to be quite nasty when you poured
the powder into water -- we used to jokingly say [adopting Monty Python accent]
"Run away! Run away!").
Just my $0.02 worth.
Garth
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