How to Develop Black-and-White Film at Home

It’s easy to develop black-and-white film at home.

The choice of chemicals, timings, and formulations may seem daunting at first, but once you understand how it works, you’ll find black-and-white film development to be a simple, forgiving process with lots of opportunities to excel and advance the quality of your images.

C-41 is a more straightforward process, which is why I recommend you start your home lab journey with colour film. But black-and-white film is cheaper to develop and faster to set up once you figure it out.

In this short guide, I’ll show you how to choose the chemicals, list all the tools you’ll need to develop your film, explain how to prepare your solutions and give you helpful tools to calculate your timing/agitation for best results.

In this guide: Picking your first developer. Tools and chemicals. Working space. Loading film into Paterson reels. Mixing the chemicals. Finding developer times and dilutions. Agitation technique. Stand and semi-stand development. Stop, fix, and an optional wetting agent. Drying, scanning, and archiving developed colour film. Storing tools and chemicals. Safe disposal. Support this blog & get premium features with GOLD memberships!

Picking your first developer.

One of the most rewarding and challenging aspects of developing black-and-white film is the vast variety of developing options. Not only can you pick from dozens of options, you can develop your film in coffee, weed (!), and other organic materials.

Developers can be selected for their eco-friendliness (with organic compounds being the least toxic), speed (if you expect to be in a hurry, you can pick something that will work faster), stability (certain developers can last for years without expiring), and economy (some developers will cost less per roll).

Some developers will be hard to find at your local store, and others are more accessible.

There are also developers that require more steps to prepare, and there are those that are ready-made. If you print in a dark room, you may need a staining developer.

You may also want to consider how easy it is to find development times with your developer for the film you’re planning to shoot. Not all developers have instructions for every film, and vice versa.

Various developers and their dilutions will have varying effects on your film. For example, Rodinal is known to render sharper grain, whereas Ilford DD-X will generally give smoother results.

You may already know which developer is right for you, or you may like to do research (I recommend checking out Alex Luyckx’ blog, where he recently celebrated reviewing his 50th developer).

But if you aren’t sure, I’m suggesting Ilfosol 3 (below), a popular developer that produces good results, is easy to store and is cheap to use.

Tools and chemicals.

If you have been processing colour film already, you’ll only need a developer, two extra storage bottles, a measuring beaker, a pipette, and a fixer to start your black-and-white journey. But for everyone else, here’s the complete list:

Ilford Ilfosol 3 Starter Pack. There are lots of black-and-white developer options on the market, but many of them will have you do more research. Ilford has an excellent starter pack of chemicals that you can later expand with additional options like Rodinal, DD-X, and others. This is the quickest way to get going without sacrificing any of the image quality.

The above pack comes with a stop bath and a wetting agent. These chemicals are beneficial but optional; I’ll explain how they work below.

Paterson Super System 4 Universal Developing Tank and Reels. This kit can hold two rolls of 35mm film at once or a single roll of 120 film.

Large Changing Bag. You’ll need to load film onto your reels and into the Paterson tank in complete darkness. This changing bag makes it possible without having an actual dark room.

Two+ CineStill Film CS Collapsible Air Reduction Accordion Storage Bottles (1000mL each). I like these bottles because they can be collapsed to take up less space and reduce oxygenation of the fixer chemicals, i.e., prolong their shelf life.

CineStill Film °Cs 1000mL Mixing Jug/Pitcher (though any plastic jug with millilitre marks should do).

Measuring beaker. Mixing certain developers and fixers requires measuring small amounts of liquid. You’ll typically use the beaker for the chemical, which you’ll add to the pitcher and then top up the pitcher with water up to measurement.

Pipette. Many developers require just a few drops to develop a roll of film. A pipette is best for measuring precise amounts.

Print File 35mm Archival Storage Pages for Negatives. I scan and archive my film at home. Even if you’re planning to send your film away for scanning, it’ll have to be archived safely somewhere — and this is the way.

Film Squeegee. This tool is essential for getting rid of water spots on your negatives.

Film Retriever. This tool lets you extract film leaders from 35mm film canisters, which can then be upcycled. I find it much easier to use this tool than to crack film canisters inside the changing bag. You won’t need this tool if you’re developing 120 film only.

A kitchen thermometer to verify that the chemicals inside the bottles reached the correct temperature. This is optional for black-and-white film development, as cold tap water generally works fine.

Hanging pins to dry the film. You may also 3D-print a simple design that you can use together with your pins to make sure your film stays securely in your pins as you run the squeegee through it.

Masking tape and a marker to clearly label the chemicals.

Rubber or latex gloves . Fixer is toxic due to silver components and certain film developers aren’t particularly healthy to touch.

Working space.

To develop black-and-white film at home, you’ll need a sink, running water, and a surface to place all your stuff on. A trash can and a roll of paper towels should be handy to clean up any spillage. Most bathrooms should do the job.

Also, hang your clothing pins in advance so you are ready to hold your film.

Loading film into Paterson reels.

Please refer to this chapter in my guide for C-41 film development. It explains in full detail how to load film into Paterson reels while saving your 35mm canisters. There’s also a section on loading medium format film.

Mixing the chemicals.

Because there are lots of options for developers and fixers, there’s hardly a standard. But in general, you’ll be mixing a set amount of chemicals with water.

Your developer is usually mixed once and discarded after each use. For small amounts, you’ll need a pipette and a measuring beaker. For larger amounts, you can use the measuring beaker in combination with the water jug: place the chemical in the beaker, then pour it into the pitcher and fill it with water up to the amount as prescribed.

Fixer should be mixed using the same method (most likely beaker and pitcher) and then stored in a collapsible bottle. Squeezing air out of the bottle while storing the chemical may help prolong its life. Refer to this chapter for fixer disposal instructions (it should not be poured down the drain).

Ilford Rapid Fixer can last a very long time — up to 120 rolls of film or six months. I’ve used mine for months at a time, although it will need to be mixed afresh once in a while, and the used fixer will need to be safely disposed of. There are test kits available to see how active your fixer solution is.

Ilford Rapid Fixer may be mixed in two different dilutions. For film, you should use the 1+4 formula (1+9 is for certain paper development, though it wouldn’t damage your film).

You may also like to mix and store your stop bath (reusable) and a wetting agent (use and discard).

Your stop bath helps prevent further development but it’s not strictly required: washing your film with water will achieve the same effect.