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Goldman
28-Feb-2017, 10:08
Can you find an expiry date on Ilford Black and White paper? How do you know if the Ilford paper is still good without testing it?

Thanks
Bill

Ted R
28-Feb-2017, 12:11
A lot depends on storage conditions. Cool is good, dry is good. Paper kept under good conditions lasts for years. However fogging, loss of sensitivity and loss of contrast are all possible.

Luis-F-S
28-Feb-2017, 12:16
Test it! L

Gudmundur Ingolfsson
28-Feb-2017, 13:38
As a rule of thumb: 3 years in room temperature 7-8 years in a refrigerator. Paper used to hold up longer. I have Ilford Multigrade from the year 1997 in my frigde that is still OK. Some add antifoggant to the paper developer when older paper shows fog.

Chuck Pere
28-Feb-2017, 14:25
You can find the year it was made using this site: http://www.palomarkovic.net/mobile/BatchNumberDecoder/

Corran
28-Feb-2017, 16:21
You can find the year it was made using this site: http://www.palomarkovic.net/mobile/BatchNumberDecoder/

Cool, always wondered if there was such a way to figure out the date. I'll have to look some of my paper up.

I have used a lot of old paper. When I first started experimenting with darkroom work 5+ years ago I found someone selling about 1000 sheets of 8x10 Ilford FB and I still have some of that - which prints fine despite being probably 10+ years old. However once I did buy some Ilford warm-tone that was fogged horrendously, and it didn't look that old.

adelorenzo
28-Feb-2017, 16:50
I've been given many boxes of Ilford paper of all sizes and varieties, most of it 10-15 years old. This is from a few different sources and AFAIK none of it stored with particular care. I've not had a problem yet.

LabRat
28-Feb-2017, 16:59
With MG paper, the contrast layer will fade first, giving only flat images no matter what filter you use...

With very old (10+ year) fiber paper, the baryta base will sometimes micro crack, where if the paper is bent or using tongs will cause a soak-through of usually blue color and tong, dent marks, etc... Might curl weirdly...

You will know when it happens...

Steve K

Alan9940
3-Aug-2020, 06:29
I have stored both fixed and mutigrade papers in the freezer for 40+ years and have never noticed any issues with paper that was 10+ years old. Once it's out of the freezer, I tend to use a box fairly fast. Therefore, I don't have any idea how long silver paper lasts at room temp.

eepskamp
16-Aug-2020, 19:18
So you're saying a dull flat result with paper from 2001 should be expected?

Martin Aislabie
17-Aug-2020, 04:23
I have some 10 years old Ilford Multigrade FB (stored at room temperature) that is indistinguishable from fresh stock.

I also used up some Ilford Gallery that was 25 years old, switched to a fresh pack and carried on using the same settings.

I'm sure a lot depends on how much background radiation you have in your area, as well as how hot and humid your storage area is.

Martin

MartinP
18-Aug-2020, 14:37
It's one of those occasions when the most accurate answer is the traditional 'it depends' . . . In this case it depends on all of the factors mentioned above, as well as some really weird ones such as was anything heavy sitting on the envelope or box holding the paper (it can be exposed by pressure, over time). Testing is the only way to realy know, and do test (part of) a sheet from the middle as well as an end as that can find more differences! A slightly fogged paper could be rescued by an anti-fog additive (though I have never tried them), or can still be perfectly suited to making lumen prints or, if even fogging, for making paper negs.

To check for any fog, snip a couple of small test pieces of the paper. Under safelight (or no light) process one sheet as normal and just put the other directly in the fixer. If the developed piece is a little darker than the only-fixed test, then there is some fogging showing up.