Coffee Developers

As far as I know, we're talking about pretty blunt tools here. I don't think a few months in a box is going to affect your results in any appreciable way. As for using coffee recipes on paper development, it works well with any standard recipe. I tend to mix it a little strong, but I don't know if that is really necessary.

Cheers, and enjoy your coffee.

Hi all I am a virgin on coffee development but I really want to try it on 35mm film. My question is I can only get washing soda in 2kg (5lb) boxes. I was wondering how long the soda crystals will last in a air tight bag. Or should I use it up quickly (use it for washing clothes :"gasp). I can get the coffee in smaller containers so that won't be the problem. And you can use it on film AND prints but I am not sure of the different recepies or is it something I will have to find out myself. There are several that I will use when I begin. Thanks a head of time for the input.

Fixer is quite non-toxic
The toxic part is the silver coming from the film itself

I have a question -- what is a good non-toxic fixer that is as easy to get as coffee is? One more question: I use color film, is there non-toxic chemicals for that too... I would use B&W film but I already have lots of color film and a lot the B&Ws use color chemicals.

Not sure if McDonalds would do it... The stuff we use is mixed beastly strong. Still, for as many people who will tell you that the process is a waste, (of film and coffee) you will find as many who find that the results are worthwhile... even beautiful.

Hi, I wanted to learn more about coffee developers, so I joined this group... So is it basically like go to McDonalds and buy a coffee, or a bit more complicated, I want a simple easy to use high quality, NON TOXIC developer, so coffee looked good. I have a Olympus OM-707 (just so you know that I use 35mm film.)

I just uploaded a shot titled Self Portrait - Broken to the gallery. 'nother perfect pot of java ruined.

Rusty tripod
4 tsp of coffee in 250ml (8 oz) is quite a lot, you really need to have a super-triple-expresso machine to get such amount of black stuff (tannins+caffeic acid) in the coffe... and it'll be a complete waste of a drink. So cheap instant cofee is better bang for the buck

The cool thing of this developer is that it can be measured in spoons and mixed quite recklessly.
Just remember to dissolve the washing soda (soda / sodium carbonate) first until all the grit is gone, then the vitamin C and finally the coffee.
More vitamin C gives more detail in the shadows and less stain, 4 g/l should be in the right alley so 1g in 250 ml is OK. You can raise it to 2g and get more "speed" from the film.

I've only ever toned a few cyanotypes. The more you read about it, they more you will find that the process is pretty arbitrary. For example, J Brunner's article on toning reverses the order of processes compared to other resources I've read, but apparently, they both work. So, you might change the order of your bleach/toning, or try a second bleach after the toning... Or you might drink your coffee and tone with tea like the rest of us.

I tried to coffee tone a cyanotype. It turned out that it toned the paper more than the picture. What can I do to tone the picture and not the paper.