Half Century Old Brown Plastic Bottles Still OK?

[John Layton]

Just mixed up a fresh batch of TF-5 fixer...and suddenly it occurred to me that the one gallon, brown plastic fixer bottle is approximately 50 years old!

This old bottle seems to be doing just fine, as do a few other brown bottles of the same vintage...but should I be worried?

[Mark Sampson]

If they're not leaking, or filthy inside, what do you have to worry about? Fixer won't oxidize and go bad like developers do when air gets in. Don't overthink this.

[Jim C.]

Plastic can get brittle over time, they may not leak but a bump on a counter edge could start a leak from cracking.
I have ( had ) some Nalgene bottles that I tossed because they were brittle, squeezing an empty never used
bottle gave me a "crackly" feel. In the recycle bin they went...

[Gudmundur Ingolfsson]

I have four 5 liter bottles that were sold specially for photographic chemicals. I bought those in October of 1968 and still use those today. Two for developer and two for fix. They are of thick material and still very flexible and when I fill them with fresh chemicals I wash them out with very warm water. Even the caps are still air tight.

[Tin Can]

I just got a delivery of 4-1 gallon amber glass WITH CAPS

Last time, years ago I ordered they did not include caps... I finally got them to cough up

Same big vendor

Glass does seem to be sand and better than plastic

I considered them very clean, green recycled anywhere

[John Layton]

While I would ascribe to the use of brown glass bottles in principle (at least for film developers)...I've always found it difficult to source them with decent caps, finding that existing caps are lined with cheap, coated cardboard seals which come apart...at which point the exposed cheap metal caps rust.

I have, in the past, seen brown glass bottles with really great, tough (and replaceable) plastic caps lined with rugged plastic seals, and would love to find a source of these.

[Tin Can]

The caps on this bottle, which I bought, meet your and my spec

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...Jug_Amber.html

I assume USA made

[Leszek Vogt]

When I started to deal with chemistry (photo) I went to my local pharmacy and those days they were friendly too. They kept those brown bottles till I picked them up. Wish I had those today....I'll use plastic if I have to. Good luck finding those, John.

[Bernard_L]

While I would ascribe to the use of brown glass bottles in principle (at least for film developers)...I've always found it difficult to source them with decent caps, finding that existing caps are lined with cheap, coated cardboard seals which come apart...at which point the exposed cheap metal caps rust.

I have, in the past, seen brown glass bottles with really great, tough (and replaceable) plastic caps lined with rugged plastic seals, and would love to find a source of these.

You might try to approach the chemistry department of a nearby college (or maybe senior high school?). They should have bottles like these available once the contents have been used up.

Brown glass; cap with sealing plastic cone.

[John Layton]

Bernard, great suggestion! In fact, I originally encountered the bottles to which I'd referred at the Dartmouth Medical School, way back when my father was teaching there.

I can think of a couple of companies which I might approach...Mallinkrodt? Carolina Biological Supply? McKesson? Edmund Scientific? Hmmm...any others? I think there might also be some kind of "Bottles-Are-Us" type of place which might have what I'm looking for.