"contamination" between b/w and C41 chemistry?

Right now I've only done b/w development. But I do have quite a lot of color negative film around so I thought I'd try C41 development. But I've read so much about keeping all those chemicals separated etc that I'm a bit scared of starting.

- I got a separate set of beakers for my CPE2 so I do not have to use the b/w ones for C41
- likewise I got separate storage bottles

BUT:
- do I keep the tanks also separated?
- somewhere I read that you should not use the stabiliser in the same tank you develop in. But the film is on the reel, I don't see myself swapping reels with wet film. Or am I getting to paranoid?
- can I mix the chemicals in the same (plastic) measuring beakers or should I get different ones as well?

Any other things I need to take care of before starting?

I use the same equipment for any process and any kind of solution, so no dedicated tanks or beakers for color/B&W, dev, fix etc. etc. I just rinse everything immediately after use. No problems at all.

Same. Just rinse everything, which should be your SOP anyway.

With regard to the stabiliser bath at the end of C41, I always used either a dedicated jug or tray, depending upon whether it was roll film or sheet film. This is the only thing in film developing that I have ever kept as a dedicated unit. Washing a stabiliser bath dish/tray, or jug, takes quite a while to eradicate the surfactant in the solution, so only for that bath have I ever used a dedicated container.

Everything else is just washed, then re-used for whatever process is next.

If you have sheet film on reels, remove each sheet separately and run each individual sheet through the stabiliser bath. I do this by hand; wear gloves. For roll film, I separate the reel and quickly turn the half reel with the film on, then drop it into the stabiliser bath.

Mick.

Ok, so I'm overthinking it. "Paralysis by analysis" as it is sometimes said on this forum.

But if I can keep the stabiliser in a separate container it will save time cleaning and washing up. Which I don't like. As I do have more tanks than I really need that is an option.

Thanks guys.

Cleaning and washing up is a necessary task in the darkroom if you want to maintain consistent results.