What about putting fiber based B&W paper in the freezer ?

[Gudmundur Ingolfsson]

To day I got a delivery of two 50 sheet boxes of 16x20" ILFORD Multigrade FB cool tone paper. My experience has been that since they took out all the heavy metals
from the barite photographic paper, they have a much shorter shelf life. I was thinking about putting some of this paper in the freezer or should I rather use the
refrigerator ?

[Sal Santamaura]

Assuming that you have self-defrosting refrigerators-freezers in Iceland similar to what's common here in the US, I'd definitely suggest the refrigerator compartment. There are two reasons.

First, the paper came to you from Ilford in open-ended (simply folded over) black plastic bags inside the boxes. There is no vapor seal and, unlike Kodak-branded sheet film, no control of what relative humidity (RH) can be inside those bags. Lowering their temperature inside a freezer, which is a high-humidity environment to begin with, will increase the paper environment's RH, further risking damage. In the refrigerator compartment, except for brief increases during defrost cycles, RH is very low. Simply placing the paper boxes in zipper-sealed plastic bags will provide more than adequate protection during those short departures from ideal storage conditions.

Second, although you haven't included any indication of how quickly you expect to go through 100 sheets of paper, it seems unlikely you'd need it to remain fresh longer than the five years HARMAN has posted is a typical storage life under optimum, i.e. refrigerated, conditions.

[Drew Wiley]

I wouldn't. B&W paper generally isn't sealed as well as film or color paper. You could do that yourself ... but just how long do you think you're going to hold onto this
stuff without printing it? You don't exactly live in a tropical hot climate!

[Bill_1856]

I wish that I'd put all my Portriga Rapid, Elite, and Galerie in the freezer 10 years ago.

[don mishler]

I went to a printing workshop with Howard Bond a few years back and he recommended always freezing unused paper to prevent loss of contrast, never really got into the habit myself

[Gudmundur Ingolfsson]

Thanks for your wise input. Two things. I plan to print on this paper within two years or so and according to Sal's quoting from Ilford data, it will keep well though that time since it is factory fresh. I have been buying paper from the dealer that might not have been very fresh and I found that turing soft and fogging. Iceland might not have tropical climate but geothermal heating is cheep and abundant and we tend to overheat.

[Sal Santamaura]

...the five years HARMAN has posted is a typical storage life under optimum, i.e. refrigerated, conditions.

...I plan to print on this paper within two years or so and according to Sal's quoting from Ilford data, it will keep well though that time since it is factory fresh...

While agreeing with your decision, I feel compelled to provide further clarification. I've found no published Ilford data which says that. I was quoting Simon Galley, one of HARMAN's owners, who has posted such shelf life information in APUG threads. Simon sometimes remains silent when asked (privately or in the forum) questions he's unwilling or unable to answer. However, when he does reply, I accept his responses as truthful and reliable.

[Gudmundur Ingolfsson]

Thanks for this clarification, Sal !

[Drew Wiley]

That paper just recently came on the market, so it's not a situation like trying to hoard some discontinued favorite product like Portriga or Seagull. There is a correct
method for sealing things up before you refrigerate or freeze them anyway. Otherwise you risk trapping potentially harmful moisture inside the package itself.

[David N Docherty]

May I ask what the correct procedure is?