Ilford Multigrade developer longivity once mixed

[Spidy]

Hi all.


Ilford states that their Multigrade developer lasts up to 2 years unopened or 6 months open in a tightly sealed bottle. However I can't find anywhere (except that it does 100 RC sheets of 8x10) how long it lasts in an accordion bottle once used sparingly after mixing it to a 1-9 strength. I have only developed about 7 or 8 sheets and would like to continue using it. It was mixed and bottled about three weeks ago.


Thoughts and comments please.

[ameerat42]

Phheeewww! Talk about sending me down Memory La...

Nope! No matter how much I :umm: about it, I can't remember anything useful.

I'll have a bit of a squiz online later, but at this stage I would expect something
not much less than the 6-month figure you quoted. That's "the idea" of those
bottles, at least. That might also be what they're implying. But it's a pity they
don't state it outright.

[ameerat42]

Yep, this is the best I could find when searching on "ilford multigrade developer longevity":

The links are to two PDFs, which give some info about the shelf life of the chemicals. In
summary, it says:

"Diluted MULTIGRADE developer will stay in good condition in an open
tray for two working days, at dilution 1+9 and for one working day, at
dilution 1+14. Unopened bottles of MULTIGRADE developer will keep
approximately 24 months. Tightly capped half-full bottles will keep for
up to 6 months."

The links are:
https://www.emsdiasum.com/docs/technical/datasheet/ilford/paperchemicals.pdf
and
https://www.reddit.com/r/Darkroom/comments/f0au9q/ilford_multigrade_developer_working_solution/