# Back to the darkness



## Solarize (Sep 9, 2005)

A year on from my photography course and I've just got my first enlarger.
An LPL c7700mx to be collected next week 

Im heading off to university soon so I'll only be at home for around 5 months of the year.  Consequently, I need to get some chemicals that have a decent shelf life.  Any suggetions on developers, toners and fixers would be much appreciated.

I would prefer to use liquid (over powder) but can be convinced if there is a real benefit for longevity.

Diafine sounds good but I will be processing slower films as well so something for those would be good.

Thanks


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## ksmattfish (Sep 9, 2005)

Most of the standard chems hold up pretty good as concentrated liquids.  Working solutions may not hold out forever, but just mix up what you can use.  Getting as much air out of the containers as possible will usually help extend the chemistry life.


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## darin3200 (Sep 9, 2005)

You can use flexible plastic bottoms and squeeze all the air out, or if you use glass containers you can fill in the empty space by putting some marble in the container. I don't know if it helps but just before I put the lid on the chems I breath into the gap and hopefully replace some of the oxygen with carbon dioxide.


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