View Full Version : Lauder Chemicals
Too Many Cameras
21-May-2013, 22:43
I picked up a number of unopened Lauder chemicals (liquid) in gallon units a few months back. They were off Craig's List and I suspect they're probably about 10-15 years old. There's two gallons of concentrated paper fixer, one gallon of concentrated film fixer, and one gallon of concentrated paper developer. I know the former owner had been an LF photographer (for a few months until he realized it wasn't easy) so I imagine the chemicals are fairly high quality. But I wanted to know if anyone here has used them before and how they compare to other brands. I've used very old chemicals before (the Microdol-X and Selektol I'm using right now came out of cans), so I'm okay with their age. Any opinions on Lauder?
If the bottle has not decomposed, the developer should be fine. YMMV regarding the fixer, as by their MSDS all Lauder fixers contain acetic acid, which makes them somewhat unstable - all acidic fixers will eventually decay even in closed concentrate bottles. Watch out for a white or yellowish precipitate at the bottom of the bottles - if there should be any, the fixer is not safe for use any more, and will under-fix and cause brown spots on negatives and prints!
I've used their raid fixer for years. It is high quality stuff at a nice price. In my own experience the fixed goes bad after about a year in partially filled containers. Not sure of the shelf life if left in full, un-opened containers. It smells awful (rotten eggs) and develops a bit of precipitate when it goes bad.
Too Many Cameras
22-May-2013, 12:48
Dang it. All the fix has a thick precipitate layer on the bottom. Well, at least I have the developer to use. Thank you very much for the feedback. It would have been awful to use the film fix and lose a batch of photos.
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