Cleaning rubber tanks

[Bill Kapinski]

I was given 3 kodak rubber tanks. They haven't been used in maybe 30 years. I need to clean them. Is there a reason I can't just use dishsoap? I can tell they did not have much use as there is no real chemical residue anywhere, just years of grime.

Thanks,

Bill

[JW Dewdney]

you might try muriatic acid and/or something really alkaline like diluted lye - depending on whether it was a dev or fixer tank... dish soap won't cut it if it's not simple grease.

[W K Longcor]

If it is just "grime" -- soap and water -- maybe a scotch-brite pad for scrubbing.
If you think there is some old chemical remains -- here is an old trick, taught to me many years ago -- and it works wonderfully. Fill the tank with tap water ( NOT hot) and add some Saniflush toilet cleaner (It has been a few years -- I hope they still make the stuff ???) Let it bubble a while ( 15 minutes +/-) then dump ( put it in your toilet and get double use of the solution). Fill & dump three times with clear water. Done! You now have the freshest smelling developing tanks around. We used to do this on a monthy basis in a large roller transport graphic arts film processor. The place always smelled great -- until we opened up the fixer tanks!

[Frank Bagbey]

Cleaning tanks with stopbath will sometimes do the trick, but regular Kodak or Edwal tank and tray cleaner will work better.

[ericantonio]

When I got my Nova slot processor, it was black as heck. I used a bunch of Denture cleaning tablets overnight and did it for 2 nights. Then bleach. Now its minty white.