Originally Posted by
Doremus Scudder
I, too, used softened water for mixing all my photo chemicals except for the final rinse in wetting agent, which I mixed with distilled water, and had fine results. Without the final (rather long) treatment in the distilled water/wetting agent, salt crystals would form on the surface of the negatives when drying. Prints were alright in this regard as long as I squeegeed the excess water from them. All that was years ago when I lived in San Antonio, which draws its water from wells drilled in the limestone bedrock; close to the hardest tap water on earth I would imagine.
I don't see why the sodium content of softened water would negatively affect developer except possibly to alter the developing time a tiny, tiny bit. I certainly had no problem with HC-110 and D-76 then. For stop and fix, the sodium should do just about nothing...
For negative and print washing, the wash times may be a bit longer with softened water, but again, only by a negligible amount.
Best,
Doremus
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