PDA

View Full Version : Perma Wash in Powder state



Nasser
13-May-2013, 19:45
Dear photographers!
You would really help me if you could tell me where to find Perma wash in a powder stat... I live outside of the U.S. and need the powder state to cut down expenses.
Thank you in advance

Nasser

Leigh
13-May-2013, 22:42
I've never heard of that product being available as a powder. I suppose you could order the individual chemicals.

- Leigh

Sevo
14-May-2013, 00:54
Heico Perma Wash seems to be a mixture of soap and ammonium sulfite (and perhaps some stabilizers). You could mix something similar on your own. But there is not really any reason to believe it to be superior to plain sodium sulfite based hypo removers (such as Kodak Hypo Clear, which can be readily bought bagged in powder form) - and Ilford recommends a archival wash regime that doesn't even need the latter.

Roger Cole
14-May-2013, 03:54
Eh? Ilford's film wash doesn't, true, but then neither does any normal film I'm aware of. The Ilford archival wash sequence for FB paper certainly calls for a wash aid, 10 minutes in it.

Count me among the Perma-wash skeptics. Perma-wash's main claim to fame seems to be absurdly short wash time claims made on the bottle, which apparently no one believes, or at least no one who has ever tested it. Any wash aid is probably about the same, or just mix a teaspoon of sulfite in a liter of water.

Ken Lee
14-May-2013, 05:11
The active ingredient in traditional "Hypo Clear" is Sodium Sulfite. You can make your own "perma wash" with 1 teaspoon per liter of water.

If you use an alkaline fixer that doesn't use Hypo (Sodium Thiosusulfate), you don't need Hypo Clear, Perma Wash or other washing aid.

See this brief article entitled Favorite Fixer: Alkaline (http://www.kenleegallery.com/html/tech/index.php#alkaline)

Using a non-acid fixer allows you to use water or mild acid for stop bath. Citric acid is very mild and... odorless :cool:

Nasser
15-May-2013, 00:03
Thank you all for the helpful comments