Long ago I was able to get nice glass bottles and caps from the druggest. It seems that nothing much comes in glass anymore. I know I can order bottles from a lab supply place, but does anyone know of more common sources for bottles, and maybe stoppers? I suppose I could start putting developer up in wine bottles :-)

-- Conrad Hoffman (choffman@rpa.net), February 02, 2002

Answers

I've been using 600ml plastic C*** bottles (think soda drink). 600ml is I think 20 floz or about a pint for CMS challenged. I'm hoping that those do not contaminate the chemicals. They can be squeezed to remove air before sealing. They only last a few times though as the distortion eventually breaks the material. I have been using these for developer (ID-11), fixer, stop. I did find a 'goopy' substance in the stop and had to filter it out with a coffee filter. Other than that it all seems to work.

-- James Burton (james@jmsh.net), February 02, 2002.

Coca Cola if you are stuck.

-- Gary Holliday (boderectium@yahoo.com), February 02, 2002.

The prices at Specialty Bottle Supply are pretty reasonable if you order everthing at one time (although I don't know if this qualifies with you as a "more common source").

http://www.specialtybottle.com/

The most useful bottles are probably the "Ambers Bottles" and the "Jugs/Gallon Jars". Although they have few metric sizes, the 32 oz. bottles are actually 1 liter when completely filled, etc. Call or send them an email regarding higher quality reusable caps.

-- Michael Feldman (mfeldman@qwest.net), February 02, 2002.

Photographer's Formulary has excellent amber bottles with durable tightfitting caps.

-- Ted Kaufman (writercrmp@aol.com), February 02, 2002.

Conrad:

Look behind any good resaurant and see how many dark green empty wine bottles there are- absoutely nothing wrong with them, specially if you empty them yourself.

I often scour the recycle boxes on the streets (in Toronto) for glass and plastic bottles for photo stuff. The best jugs I found are the ones used for absorbent cat litter: -very wide mouths and solid. Also the risk of contamination from clean Kitty litter is very low.

I have never had any problems with plastic, even with developers for many months.

PET (Poly Ethylene Pterthalate)is used for food because it is quite good at keeping oxygen out, is resisitant to cleaning solutions and can bounce. There is no reason why a used PET Coke bottle can not be used for photo stuff. Glass was the best at one time, but, as they say, sort of: "Better things for better photography through chemistry"

Cheers

-- RICHARD ILOMAKI (richardjx@hotmail.com), February 03, 2002.

PS

I think the world's largest maker of PET resin is Eastman Chemical, a former subsidiary of guess which photo company. No connetction but ... .

-- RICHARD ILOMAKI (richardjx@hotmail.com), February 03, 2002.

Thanks all! I'm pretty attached to "the old ways" and will order some genuine brown glass chem bottles from PF.

-- Conrad Hoffman (choffman@rpa.net), February 03, 2002.

IBC Root Beer comes in 1 quart brown bottles, I get mine at Wal-Mart for about 70 cents. I use the clear cream soda bottles for distilled water. Also, check for a local beer-brewing store, one near me carries the usual 12 and 16 oz bottles as well as gallon jugs. A lot of hardware stores carry rubber stoppers in those little drawers with the small nuts & bolts.

-- Dave Mueller (dmueller@bellatlantic.net), February 03, 2002.

I use what was originally called Data Cube,a collapsable plastic bag inside a cardboard container.When filled with any liquid the air can be squeezed out before attaching the cap/spout. These containers are now available with a variety of liquids in them;from wine to orange juice.I find that developer life is extremley long using these containers.They are however only 3.8 ltr containers so I have to use two when mixing Xtol 5 ltr packs.These containers are only usefull when using one shot chemistry as pouring chemicals back in is a pain.

-- Melvin (bramley@nanaimo.ark.com), February 03, 2002.

Vinegar comes in pint and quart glass bottles. Some of the house brands have a snap on/off lid, but Heinz still seems to be screw-on. These are plastic caps, so either won't be bothered by the chemistry.

Sometimes it's cheaper to buy the vinegar & throw it out than buy an empty glass bottle. Go figure.

-- Charlie Strack (charlie_strack@sti.com), February 04, 2002.

Is it just me, or has anyone else ever wondered how come bottled water costs two or three times as much as Coke or Pepsi?

-- Ted Kaufman (writercrmp@aol.com), February 04, 2002.

Check out www.einsteinsgarage.com It is the surplus outlet for Fischer Scientific. I have purchased several items including amber jugs and bottles through them at dirt cheap prices. Worth a look.

-- Kent (kschilli@msn.com), February 05, 2002.