How To Preserve D-76 and Kodak Xtol Powder for Long time?: Film Photography Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review (2024)

I got the photography bug back in high school, 30 years ago.

Followed it up with several years of study in the field, but didn't continue with it as a profession.

After not being able to attend my local photography club (25 years a member) due to my job, I needed some thing to sink my teeth in to. So I got in to B+W home processing.

Much like yourself, I am only shooting about 1 roll a month.

I therefore had to come up with a system that works for low volume shooting.

I chose powdered chemicals.

They will last for years, and if you are careful, you can mix them as you need them.

D76 was my go to developer, as it is a single powder, not a two part like X-Tol.

I have a 750ml aluminium drink bottle, that I use to store the neat D76 in, and mix it one to one ( 1+1 ) when needed.

Why 750ml?

Well, the contents of the D76 pack make 3800ml, and 750 ml goes in to it 5 times (with a tiny bit left over).

So divide the grams of the D76 pack (415 grams) by 5 and you get 83 grams to make 750ml.

The paterson tanks use 300ml per 35mm film. Mixed at 1+1, you only use 150ml per film, so can do 5 films per 750ml of D76.

Or, if you shoot 120, 500ml per film, 250ml at 1+1, so 3 films per 750ml of D76.

I shoot both 35mm and 120.

I also have powdered fixer that I mixed up in one litre batches. This lives in a recycled plastic cordial bottle (kept in the dark, and locked away from my little children, as are all my chemicals). Soft enough to squeeze to get the air out if the level goes down a bit over time.

They last over a year, and when there clearing time starts to slow down, I mix up a new one.

In the last 7 years of doing this I have not had a single failure, and have just finished roll number 75.

I tend to mix the D76 up when I have 3-4 films ready to be processed, and I know that if the last bit of D76 sits there for up to 8 weeks, it is still good.

The unused D76 powder gets sealed in a vacuum food sealed bag. So there is almost no chance of it oxidising.

Stop baths can be had in concentrate, and these too will last for years even in liquid form.

And I am still running my first bottle of photo-flo, thats 7 years old.

I also purchase my 35mm film in bulk rolls, and load it on to several cassettes.

A good investment if you want to lower your costs in the long run.

Hope that is a help, and good luck in your home processing.

Cheers, Nigel.