What do you know, it turns out that C41 chemicals last a very very long time. Except for the developer component. But even then, my solution of Bellini Foto developer was two years old and had been used with 16 rolls before it was discarded. I suspected it went bad only when the plastic bottle cracked and let in air which probably caused the chemical to oxidise.
Yesterday I made a fresh solution of the same developer from a bottle of concentrate that I’ve had in storage for over a year. I didn’t have new bleach and fixer, so I took the chance with the two-year-old solutions on a roll of Kodak Ultramax 400. Before starting the development, I transferred the chemicals to new bottles that I bought to replace the cracked ones and warmed them to 41 degrees Celcius in a water bath. I pre-soaked the film in water at 38 degrees for three minutes, poured in the fresh developer when it reached 41 degrees, agitated regularly in a figure-eight motion, poured in the bleach, agitated continuously for 45 seconds, poured in the fixer, agitated for 120 seconds, and finally rinsed three times with fresh stabiliser that I discarded. I hanged the negative to dry and stowed the chemicals in the usual storage place that gives them a long shelf life—the dark corner under the stairs.
What came out are probably the best negatives I’ve produced since starting C41 development.
