Film Developer Cans
35mm Film, Is it true the best place to store them is in the fridge?
I have just had a 35mm film developed and the colours are very “washed out”. I’ve been keeping them in a cupboard in my kitchen, which can obviously get quite hot when I’m cooking. My developer said the best place to keep films is in the fridge. I’ve heard this before, but is it really a safe place to store my films, both used and unused?. I don’t want to risk wasting unused films or risking one’s that I’ve used with precious memories on.
The best place to store film is below 32 degrees farenheit in a salt mine, which is what Kodak does, but is not an option to most of us.
The salt mine protects the film from background cosmic radiation, and at such low temperatures, film will last nearly indefinitely.
The best thing most of us can do is put our film in sealed packages in the freezer. Closed 35mm film cannisters, and sealed foil packages(such as used for 120 film) are fine. The film needs to be allowed to warm up to room temperature before opening the sealed package, which generally means about two hours for film coming out of the freezer.
Keeping film in the refrigerator is good, and in fact I do that with film I plan to use in the next day or two. For film I don’t plan to use immediately, though, the freezer is the best place.
Walking on Water – An Excellent Development FIlm
