After Farmer's Reducer needs fix again?

[Varakan Ten Tipprapa]

Hello everyone,

Today, I saw some of tested papers with Farmer's Reducer, it's seem oxidize looks like need to be fix....Maybe I didn't first fix enought for tested paaper. The question is after using Farmer's Reducer on paper should I fix it again? I check on chemical of Farmer's Reducer, it mixes with Sodium Thiosulphate (Hypo) already.... Do I need to fix again?

Quick question needs quick answer please,
Thank you
Varakan

[Allan Connery]

Yes, you should fix the print for a few minutes, then complete processing as you normally would.

That's the word from Basic Techniques of Photography by John P. Schaefer.

[Richard Ide]

Hello Varakan

I would recommend fixing as sometimes you can get a brown stain. Also make sure the solution is fresh.

[paulr]

definitely!

the reducer converts the metalic silver back into silver halides ... basically undeveloped silver salts. if you don't put it in the fixer, these silver halides will stay there and eventually oxidize and stain, or reduce back to metalic silver and add density and discoloration that way. the fixer removes all the silver halides, so once again your print is just metalic silver.

[Mark Sampson]

since the subject is up, I'll ask a dumb question. I just printed a few 5x7's on paper that alas, had some base fog. The images look ok but I can't imagine how I didn't see the grey whites while printing. (Prints made on fresh paper that day looked fine,btw.) So rather than reprint, I thought to bleach them a little, then refix and rewash. I haven't been near Farmer's Reducer in many years, but I remember the stories of Gene Smith doing local bleaching on his prints. So I thought a weaker solution might clear the print whites... but would I need to use the sodium thiosulfate in the Farmer's reducer kit? or would the ferricyanide alone do the trick? 25+ years in the darkroom and there are still tricks to learn...

[Richard Ide]

Hi Mark

As I remember from years ago; very slight reduction was obtained by using a cotton swab and dilute ferricyanide, rinse with water and then fixer. Repeat as needed. What I don't remember is whether this worked with both fiber base and RC. Fiber base retained some fixer unless thoroughly washed. I did a lot of engineering drawing reproduction and for some products used reducer very frequently.

Richard

[Allen Quinn]

Hi Mark,

I've done this before. You need a to mix a batch of diluted Farmers Reducer and submerge the entire print. Since the highlights clear first, it is relatively easy to determine how long to leave the print in the solution. Fix and wash as normal.