Amidol

Is using disposable rubber gloves an option to help with the black fingernails or does it not work too good say when using it with Azo single weight paper? Thanks

Rubber gloves work fine. Just be sure they are dry between each sheet of paper. We do not use them. My fingernails get black, but Paula's hands barely go into t he trayshe slides the paper in quickly and then rocks the tray.

Michael A. Smith

When I use any developer, I slip the paper into the solution and then hold it down with tong on the 1/8 inch edge and use a 3 inch soft natural fiber brush to brush the surface of the paper for the entire time in the developer, when you first start doing this you need to ajust your development time, but you will find that you have a more complete development because you breakt through the viscosity barrier and get fresh developer onto the silver with each stroke. With Azo I notice a deapth I did not have before which is due to the completeness of the development. Do two test strips, one without the brush with your normal agitation, and one with the brush and then compare the tonal values. Pat

amidol is absorbed through the skin, so its silly not to use gloves. I have developed sheet film in trays with gloves with no problem, so it shouldnt be hard even with Azo, as Michael mentions. Its a little inconvenient, but so are unnecessary problems arising from absorbing chemicals like amidol. when I try amidol I will use gloves. all gloves are not created equal, so make sure you get some that do not allow chemical passage.