Vintage paper and chemicals

Rick58 · Jul 29, 2012

I was just given an unopened pack of Dektol (1 GAL) and an unsealed 100 sheet box of VC Oriental glossy paper. Both have been stored in typical household humidity in a dark bedroom closet. Anyone know how long this stuff lasts. Both are from the 80's.

Paul Ron · Sep 7, 2012

AS long as it still works. Mix it up n do some printing to see if it is any good. When you open the developer if it is black, it's garbage but if it is still white or yellowish it's still good to go. It mayt be slightly brownish when you mix it into solution but will still print.

Old paper had some really good toxic waste in it to make it last forever unile newer papers. Your paper may be as good as new, try it to see?

I have an old opened box of Agfa Brovira stored in my garage left over from 1970 that still prints as nicely as it did in 1970. I save the stuff as if it were gold for very special prints n not to be wasted.

.

Rick58 · Sep 8, 2012

Where ya been since July? That stuff just went out in yesterday's trash

I went with "no one knows, so toss it". Somewhere, in some landfill, there's a sealed 100 sheet box of Oriental paper and a gallon of Dektol.

Compaq · Sep 8, 2012

:no smile:

JAC526 · Sep 8, 2012

Woops.

Paul Ron · Sep 8, 2012

Busy summer. Sorry, I didn't realize this site was so slow that the top post was 3 minths old.

ummmm..... sorry about that.

But why didn't you just give it a try anyway?.. nothing to lose.

Rick58 · Sep 8, 2012

No worries. I guess I really should have. It's not like film processing where if things go south, it's too late to try again.

I dragged all the DR stuff out, cleaned it up and bought a few missing items. I then looked around and said "Who am I kidding. There's no room for a darkroom in this house" so I boxed it all back up. In the process, I ran across these things that someone gave me and didn't want to store them again not knowing.
Amazon has it at $70 for 100/box. That's a pretty expensive chuck of landfill

terri · Sep 8, 2012

The Dektol in powder form was probably okay. I don't know about the longevity of the paper, but would certainly have done some asking around before I chucked it.

As for the DR stuff, you could still give it a try. The purchase of a sturdy cart could hold everything in a closet until you're ready for a printing session. Then wheel it into your bathroom and cover the windows with black opaque trash bags. (Not pretty, but very effective.) Lay a ready-made plank across the tub for your trays and hang a safelight from the curtain rod. Bingo!

And of course, you don't even need a darkroom just to develop your film. Once you get it loaded in the tank (closet, at night), you can stand at the kitchen sink. 20 minutes.

Rick58 · Sep 8, 2012

Thanks for that Terri,
In all the years of doing darkroom work I've ran the gauntlet between basement, closet and bathroom darkrooms and finally my last darkroom was a small spare bedroom that shared a wall with the bathroom. BINGO! Finally a permanent darkroom! That was luxury. Everything setup up. Chem's all lined up on the shelf with running water for processing and easy clean up. Dedicated outlets for timers and safelights. No more extension cords! ...and yards of countertop space! I even have a pair of D2's I had permanently set up. One for MF and one for 4x5. I just can't bring myself to going back to lugging the stuff around. I remember how many nights I just said "screw it" because I didn't feel like dragging the stuff out. I'm not giving up, just falling back to regroup

terri · Sep 8, 2012

I hear ya, man. I've never had the luxury of running water in my home darkroom. Got used to having a huge tupperware-type carton filled with clean water for my "holding bin" as I worked. Had to carry all the prints to the kitchen downstairs, since that was the only place that fit my print washer. I was always pretty wiped out after an afternoon of printing. I'm in a house now that DOES have a spare bedroom against a bathroom: I am SO tempted to rip into it. I could buy a real darkroom sink - woo hoo!!! Except....we don't plan on staying here real long and I'm already considering the cost of the repair. :lol:

We'll see...but I don't blame you a bit for not wanting to step backwards after you've had the real thing.

Me, I will probably stick with my holding bin at the end of my tray lineup. At least this house is a one-story, making the trip to the kitchen easier!

Rick58 · Sep 8, 2012

I made my sink 30" x 6' x 6" deep out of marine plywood covered in fiberglass. On one end I had a wall mounted faucet high enough to clear 1 gallon bottles.. It's amazing how much fun it is when you can just walk in and turn out the lights. Even better is after the session you just wash up and turn out the lights. Yep, now I definitely talked myself out of another temp DR :lol: