Sodium Chloride substitute

[David A. Goldfarb]

I use Hawai'ian sea salt for my albumen prints. The other minerals can affect the print tone, but I think that's an interesting thing.

[Pete Watkins]

Thanks for all your answers. I want the stuff to try in a Microdol substitute formula. I've looked for Kosher salt around here but with no success. All the table salt in this country has anti-caking agents added magnesium carbonate, iodine and stuff like that. I can order sodium chloride from Silverprint in London but I bought some Saxa (brand name) rock salt produced in a town named Middlewich up near the Ilford factory (have I discovered a trade secret?). I'll give this a try on some uninportant negs in the next few weeks, if it works it works! Thanks again for all your help.
Pete.

[nolindan]

sea salt or rock salt

Sea salt and rock salt have other minerals in them - maybe this is good for the process or maybe it isn't.

Iodized salt can't be used - although a small amount of P. Iodide is added to Crawley's(?) high actuance developer the amount in table salt is 100x (? - some large number) too much.

Kosher salt uses 'Yellow Prussiate of Soda', aka P. Ferricyanide, as an anti-caking agent. Table salt uses dextrose. P. Ferricyanide when it decomposes and turns blue is 'Prussian Blue' of watercolor box and cyanotype fame.

"Canning and Pickling Salt" seems to be salt and nothing but salt.

If you make Microdol-X add a 1/4tsp of EDTA to 1 liter water before mixing up the stock in order to prevent dichroic fog: I don't really know if it was what did the trick but when I added it to homemade M-X the fog no longer formed, I need to try again without it and see if the fog returns. In any case EDTA keeps the developer from getting cloudy with precipitated calcium salts.

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

I use canning salt for mixing my pd solution and it works fine.

[Jim Noel]

I have used Diamond Crystal Kosher salt in all formulae requiring NaCl for several years. In most super markets there are usually 3 or 4 brands of Kosher salt. Just read the label and see which contains no additives.