Is Your Paper Developer Up To Snuff?

Got everything up and running yesterday for the first time in over two years.  But to no avail.

Unbeknownst to me, the paper developer I had opened a couple years ago and all of that batch (an economy developer) had discolored and exhausted itself.

So I ran a couple of test strips to make sure that I had developer that was good.  I did this tonight.  And here is how I did it.  Simple, really.

You need your photographic paper, your developer, a graduated cylinder (11 fl oz / 300mL is perfect), scissors, thermometer, safelight and a book.

If you are in your darkroom, you have all of these materials at hand.  If you have a temporary darkroom such as your bathroom, the setup is minimal and should be done on a more or less regular basis so as not to unduly surprise yourself.

First, mix your developer in the graduated cylinder as per mixing instructions for a proper dilution.  The two I checked, both the bad and the good, mixed at 1:9.  Why a small cylinder and not a whole tray?  Then, with the lights off and the safelight illuminated, take out a sheet of paper and cut off a strip about 1" x 8".  PUT THE PAPER BACK IN THE BOX AND MAKE SURE IT IS SECURED.  Place this strip on top of the paper box and cover half of the strip with the book.  And now for the tough part.

Turn on the lights for ten seconds.  Turn the lights off.

Now, you take the paper strip by the end that was protected under the book and put it into the developer.  Begin to agitate by lifting the strip up and lowering it again, only slightly.  No more than a half inch (1.5 cm) up and down.  If your developer is exhausted, like my first test, you will see a very light grayish tint to the portion of the strip that was exposed.  If your developer is fine then that portion will be black within 15 seconds.

And just how do I know that the paper is not the culprit?  The portion that was not exposed stayed perfectly white.  No fogging whatsoever.

Just a quick, no frills, do-it-yourself test you can run to make sure that all of your tools and resources will be operating properly.  And, as I mentioned, as little an amount of time as it takes, you really should perform this test at the outset of each session.  It is worth knowing before you get started.