Refrigerating Polaroid Film

[Tom Jones]

I realize this is a bit of a beginner's question, but does anyone know what the shelf life of Type 55 and Type 52 film is when it's refrigerated in either the original package or zip lock bags? I have a couple of boxes of each that are about a year out of date. I'm curious to know what to expect.

Thanks.

[Bill_1856]

Hope for the best, but expect the worst (even in-date Polaroid is more than a little iffy). Whatever you do, be sure to store the film FLAT.

[Tom Jones]

Thanks, Bill. Actually, three of the four boxes were stored on their side. They've been back flat at room temp for the last week or so. Hopefully the developer will flow properly...

[Jonathan Brewer]

I would have trouble w/a box of Polaroid 55 p/n film when I would first break the foil seal and use part of the box, after putting that opened box back into the box, and leaving there for more than a couple of weeks, I would get several malfunctions/jams, I no longer put opened boxes/the film in zip lock bags, back into the fridge, so no more malfunctions, I believe the mositure/humidity in the fridge messes up the packets.

I store my film flat, if I've bought film for later, I'll store it in the fridge(seal unbroken) until I use it, and count 6 months from the point I've taken it out of the fridge as the period of time the film will be any good.

So this works for me, cold store it w/the seal unbroken, once you use it, take it out of the fridge, and store it flat in a fairly dry/cool place, it's good for me for approx 6 months after taking it out of the fridge if I store properly.

I have had bad boxes from vendors, and I suspect some vendors aren't particularly careful in the handling of Polaroid film. I switched to Polaroid 545i holders to elimnate one more variable as a potential problem, each jam/problem w/a packet costs about $2.00, so I buy locally, and if I have several bad packets from a box, I take the messed up packets, the remaining film in the box, and my holder back to the vendor, they see that I have a fairly recent 545i holder, they can play w/the film themselves, and I usually get credit for the film that's blown and a full box.

Once you've stored this film past its exp. date forget about a refund, I always test a sheet or two from a box way before the exp. date to avoid this dilemma.