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Old 7th October 2019, 11:58 AM
BorninTassy BorninTassy is offline
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Default 10 year old rolls of ilfo brom ib3.2K semi matt double weight

I have been given some 2 lots of 40 inch rolls of Ilfo Brom semi-matt double weight paper.
My question is after 10 years of being in a garage in it's hot and cold environment, is it still OK to use or do you think there will be issues when I develop the paper.
The paper is still in it's protective black plastic bag and the box it come in.
I also scored a box of 40 inch toll of ifospeed 3.34M semi-matt medium weight paper aswell about the same age and condition as the first two rolls mentioned. thanks for any comments Craig S.
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Old 7th October 2019, 12:17 PM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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Hi Craig, I think the only way to see how the paper reacts to a printing session, is to try it out and take it from there. Older and with worse storage conditions have seen abused paper give good prints, so why not yours?

It would be interesting to hear from you again to see how it all went once you've tried it.

And out of interest, I'm wondering why you posted this where you did = in 'Articles' rather than as a question on the forum?

Maybe the moderators could move it to there if seen appropriate?

Terry S
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Old 7th October 2019, 12:30 PM
BorninTassy BorninTassy is offline
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Opps, I am not used to using the forum and it is a steep learning curve and obviously stuffed up
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Old 7th October 2019, 12:39 PM
BorninTassy BorninTassy is offline
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Terry, it will be a while before I can do any printing, I was rebuilding my darkroom and work has come to a halt, slipped on the wet grass in my driveway and broke my leg, still hobbling around on a crutch, Still it gives me time to plan out what I am doing and looking around for material to build with.
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Old 7th October 2019, 12:58 PM
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DaveInElland DaveInElland is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BorninTassy View Post
Terry, it will be a while before I can do any printing, I was rebuilding my darkroom and work has come to a halt, slipped on the wet grass in my driveway and broke my leg, still hobbling around on a crutch, Still it gives me time to plan out what I am doing and looking around for material to build with.
Ouch! Hope you have a trouble-free recovery and are soon back in the dark!
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Old 7th October 2019, 01:34 PM
Molli Molli is offline
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Hi Craig from about 600 kilometres north.
I've actually had pretty good luck with old Ilford and Agfa papers - particularly graded paper - (not so much with Kodak). That being said, it really is a case of trying it to find out because of all of the variables involved with storage.
One can overcome quite a bit of age related fog by chemical means (benzotriazole or potassium bromide in your developer - I use the former - or overexposing your print and bleaching back with potassium ferricyanide.)
The bigger problem is the loss in contrast and, from what I've seen for myself and read from others, everyone has a different experience with it. I've found higher grade papers to survive the years better than the softer grades. It seems everybody else has had the opposite to be true.

A quick and dirty fog test is to simply take a scrap of paper, tear it in two and put one half through the normal develop/stop/fix sequence and the other gets fixed only. If there's no difference between the two, it's probably usable without having to take any "extraordinary measures".

When it comes to contrast loss, again, overprinting and bleaching back can possibly help and there are also directions for increasing the activity of your developer using Sodium Carbonate (you can buy a kilo from Bunnings in the pool section that I've been using to make my own D-72 (Dektol) Paper Developer). Look for Terry S's thread here on FADU for that.

If/when you get around to giving it a shot, just yell if you have any questions - I'm poor, old paper has been my friend! ☺️

P.S. Sorry to hear about your leg and I hope you have a very speedy recovery!
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Old 7th October 2019, 02:55 PM
JimW JimW is offline
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Also wishing you a speedy recovery....
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Old 7th October 2019, 09:33 PM
BorninTassy BorninTassy is offline
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Thanks for the advice and sympathy.
I find that now I am hitting 60 I don't seem to bounce back from these set backs as quick as I did years ago,
the leg is healing nicely and I only need a crutch when I am outside my house.
as for the paper, I am in the same boat financially and I now have heaps to play with.
This should be fun when the darkroom is back on track.
In the mean time I am taking a lot of black and white photos ready for when I can start developing the photos.
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Old 7th October 2019, 09:57 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is online now
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Craig, once you can print again try the test for age fogging which is: Cut a piece from the roll and without giving it any exposure develop and fix it. Take a second piece and just fix it. Under normal light compare the two pieces. If there is no age fogging both pieces will appear equally white. If the developed and fixed piece is grey then it is age fogged. Depending on how grey it is benzotriazole may help to clear the "grey"

pentaxuser
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Old 8th October 2019, 01:42 AM
BorninTassy BorninTassy is offline
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Thanks Mike, as soon as I am back on deck and finished my darkroom I'll give it a go, I was given the paper just before I started the darkroom, can not wait to get started
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