Do you use an acid fixer? Are you concerned about the contamination of the developer changing the pH of the fixer?
Do you use an acid fixer? Are you concerned about the contamination of the developer changing the pH of the fixer?
Any kind of mild acid will work as a stop bath. The entire point is that the acidity stops the work of a basic developer. That's all (the stop bath also helps prevent the developer being introduced into the fixer but plain water would do that too.) I seriously doubt that using lemon juice will have any negative consequences. It is probably just mostly citric acid, which has been used for a long time as an alternative form of stop.
Thank you all for your responses, and I take your points about lemon oil contaminationOriginally Posted by Jim Michael
Yes, I do use acid stop bath
I have been using LR grade acetic acid since the 1970s - I use it at 2% aq soln, as dilute as possible, so it is for all practical purposes odour free and and replenish it in my film deep tank line as I try to keep my fixer as happy as my developer - (The D76d developer has been in use since May 1985 and I take great care in its replenishment, the fixer gets dumped four times a year)
The idea is to use our huge excess of lemons as a print stop, to protect the large quantities of fixer used for 32x40 inch prints from 10x8" negs - Anyhow, it looks like I will move on to "white" vinegar, which was my first choice
What can I do with all these lemons? - Quinninup is a very small community and Rae and I produce more lemons and oranges, and currently courgettes/zuccinis, than the town can use - Actually I now spend more time in the garden than I do in the darkroom
Thanks
John
Send the lemons to people you "like". Send the zucinnis to lonely women...
...for making delicious vegetable dishes for lonely men. Why? what did you think?
I'd be concerned with pollutants introduced with the lemons, I would at least run the lemon solution through filter lab grade filter paper. I'd try the filtered solution with some throw away film and paper before you do it on large prints. Let us know how it works.
Reticulation is most often due to a drastic change in temperature sometime during the processing, often going from a 70 degree F developer to a cold stop bath or to a very cold water rinse. Did some experiments way back in college about this. B&W film is sensitive to changes in processing temperature, not as critical as color but something to watch.
Tom
Would uric acid work? Because I have an infinite free supply........
One man's Mede is another man's Persian.
Guys, you are all missing the important picture here. If we use alternatives to manufactured-for-photography chemistry Kodak's profit and viability may suffer. If anybody else starts to use something other than Kodak stop bath I would not be the least surprised that Kodak does not last past the end of September.
I cannot fathom keeping anything other than glacial acetic acid in my darkroom. The only vinegar we use for food is Balsamic Vinegar which I would never use on my pictures. Likewise I would never use Glacial Acetic Acid on my salad.
Glacial is dangerous. I'd rather reduce the amount of hazardous stuff in my darkroom to an absolute minimum, especially since I'm a klutz!
Really? Reticulation due to stop? I can't imagine how this could happen. It would have to involve a very large and sudden pH difference, I'd think, far more than some mild stop would have.
What are the other functions of stop everyone is talking about? I can only think of two: stopping development and rinsing some of the developer off so it doesn't get into the fixer. What else?
I don't think the pH of "natural" uric acide is right...unless you have serious health issues!Would uric acid work? Because I have an infinite free supply........
Ive used white vinegar for years. Good stuff
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