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Old 3rd February 2018, 11:57 PM
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CambsIan CambsIan is offline
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Default Does paper "go off"

Actually hoping to get some time in the darkroom tomorrow, the first time in ages, perhaps as much as two years.

I have a couple of boxes of Ilford VC RC paper from the last time I used the darkroom, one gloss half full and one satin unopened.

All stored in original boxes and bags indoors under my desk.

What's the chances that these will be usable ?

Ian
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Old 4th February 2018, 12:19 AM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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If you used the half-full one two years ago and it was OK I see no reason why it will not be still OK. It depends on the age of the unopened box but unless it is a lot older than the half full one then my first sentence applies as well.

I have Kentmere that I bought secondhand many years ago but it was probably nearly new then and I used it some two months ago and it was fine. Ilford will be much the same. All of mine was stored at room temp in my darkroom.


Let us know the outcome



Mike
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Old 4th February 2018, 09:01 AM
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Hi Mike,

Thanks for the reply.

Both boxes were new fresh stock, bought for that session.

Hopefully will all be good.

Will let you know how it goes.

Ian
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Old 4th February 2018, 09:07 AM
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Cut 2 small squares of paper mark the one that is going in the fix, dip that in your fix for the recommended time then rinse, it should come out as white as when it was made. Then process the other piece as usual: dev, stop, fix and rinse. All this is done under your usual safelight of course. Dry them both and compare the two side by side, if the developed piece is a shade of grey your paper is fogged. If it is fogged you can mix 1g of benzotriazole in 100ml of water. Benzo mixes easily in warm water 30c-40c Add 20ml of this solution to 1 ltr of your developer. Cut another piece of paper from your test sheet and process it. It may get rid of the grey fog. If it has not add another 10ml of the Benzo solution. if you have added 60ml of Benzo and the paper is still fogged its time to consider buying new paper. Some people use it for lith printing or contact sheets. When you add Benzo to your developer it will produce cool tones you can always tone your prints to get the warm tones back. Also fogged paper can be slightly over-exposed in the enlarger processed then bleached (to get rid of the fog) and toned.
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Old 4th February 2018, 12:27 PM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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I reckon it all will be fine Ian.

I have various boxes that have been given to me, bought second hand, as well as newly bought papers.

ALL of them are well usable, despite the given to and second boxes being years old before I got them, with me not knowing how they were stored.

As long as your papers haven't been kept in a sauna or kitchen like environment, in my opinion(!) they'll be fine.

I think that today's photo papers are a lot sturdier than people think.

Terry S
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Old 4th February 2018, 12:49 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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Shouldn't be a problem Ian, I've used paper as old or even a bit older that I've stored in my darkroom without problems
Richard
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Old 4th February 2018, 01:16 PM
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I bought a stack of paper off Ebay from a seller who was local. Over the winter I have tested it all I have found most of it to be very badly fogged. The paper that I have found to be most resistant to fogging is Ilfospeed RC. The Kodak papers I have tested have all been fogged even with 60ml per/ltr of 1% benzotriazole in the developer it made no impression on the fog. Any ideas on what to do with hundreds of sheets of 12x16 and 8x10 heavily fogged paper are most welcome. When developed it is almost the colour of an 18% grey card.
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Old 4th February 2018, 02:14 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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The kodak papers are possibly the oldest, it has been a long time since Kodak pulled out of black and white paper, You could try using for Lith wotk, but I can't think of much else other than perhaps some form of alternative process work,
Richard
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Old 4th February 2018, 05:37 PM
Lostlabours Lostlabours is online now
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Ilford stated on a factory tour that their papers should last a least 7 years if stored properly, ie not too hot and humid. In practice they'll last a lot longer.

I'm finishing off my last Forte Polywarmone which is jost over 11 years old from the last coating run before the factory closed and it's as good as new.

In the past I've had papers from the early 1960's that I tested and a bit slow but no fogging and decent blacks so I think you've no need to be worried.

Ian
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Old 4th February 2018, 08:39 PM
John King John King is offline
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I have the remnants of a box of Kentmere 12x16 fibre based paper (about 10 sheets) and it is about 3-4 years old. To be more specific I bought it just before Ilford absorbed The Kentmere company and it is still perfectly fine.
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