XTOL not mixing well and not working any more!

[Michael R]

We can agree about that, it's not at all what photography is about, but I find graphs and charts ( like gear and advertising ) a distraction, and potentially misleading.

You have to admit you at least liked the nice orange colour of part A that went clear with part B

[jnantz]

You have to admit you at least liked the nice orange colour of part A that went clear with part B

LOL. I know, it's the only thing I like about the stuff.

[noahsamuelmosko]

2023 same problem. It is impossible to mix it without having shit loads of powder undissolved. XTOL was my favourite developer for years. I gave it up few years ago because of this issue. I bought two packs last week as I wanted to give it another chance but it is still unusable. Bellini in Italy makes liquid style xtol, anyone tried it? Also Foma makes Excel, but never tried it either. I stick with Ilford as they seem to be the only company that still produces decent quality products for reasonable price.

[Michael R]

I haven't had a problem with XTOL but Adox/Fotoimpex makes a good XTOL clone called XT3. Ilford doesn't make an equivalent, but XTOL was only a very slight improvement over D-76 anyway so Ilford ID-11 would be the simplest/cheapest solution to the problem.

2023 same problem. It is impossible to mix it without having shit loads of powder undissolved. XTOL was my favourite developer for years. I gave it up few years ago because of this issue. I bought two packs last week as I wanted to give it another chance but it is still unusable crap. Bellini in Italy makes liquid style xtol, anyone tried it? Also Foma makes Excel, but never tried it either. I stick with Ilford as they seem to be the only company that still produces decent quality products for reasonable price.

[lassethomas]

2023 same problem. It is impossible to mix it without having shit loads of powder undissolved. XTOL was my favourite developer for years. I gave it up few years ago because of this issue. I bought two packs last week as I wanted to give it another chance but it is still unusable. Bellini in Italy makes liquid style xtol, anyone tried it? Also Foma makes Excel, but never tried it either. I stick with Ilford as they seem to be the only company that still produces decent quality products for reasonable price.

Yes, Adox makes XT3, which also solve dissolves much more easily. I've never seen any difference between XTOL and XT3. I've used both.
XTOL usually takes at least 30 min of stirring to dissolve for me.

[Andrew O'Neill]

Strange... the batch I've been using mixes in like it's supposed to. My previous batch was a bit stubborn though. I found if I heated it up to about 35C, most of the ittle annoying floaties dissolved.
Whenever I mix up a new batch, I ALWAYS do a quick clip test...

[Sal Santamaura]

I've posted in this and many other threads about my cache of XTOL, explaining that I mix it with distilled water and store it in full 250ml glass bottles, i.e. "one dose" size. Things have been slow for me the last couple of years. My last five liter batch was mixed July 31, 2021. In recent weeks I've finally started using it on a half dozen rolls, some of which were tests to confirm its potency. The sensitometric results of those Delta 100 tests are identical to what I got years ago with fresh XTOL.

Again, distilled water and appropriate storage make all the difference. Don't be mislead by the experience of anyone who hasn't used XTOL in decades. It's a perfectly fine developer.

[Joseph Kashi]

I've been mixing XTOL for years without a problem - I also use distilled water for this step. An inexpensive magnetic lab chemical mixer from Amazon really helps speed mixing Part A.

I've been mixing my stock as 2.5 L without problems rather than the regular 5L stock. The more concentrated 2.5L stock lasts longer and one simply needs to remember to dilute that more concentrated stock appropriately to the desired dilution.

As I typically use XTOL 1:2 as a partially compensating developer, I add 5 parts of distilled water to 1 part of the concentrated stock. I have not experienced any problems with this approach, which I attribute to the use of distilled water to make up the developer.

[noahsamuelmosko]

I've posted in this and many other threads about my cache of XTOL, explaining that I mix it with distilled water and store it in full 250ml glass bottles, i.e. "one dose" size. Things have been slow for me the last couple of years. My last five liter batch was mixed July 31, 2021. In recent weeks I've finally started using it on a half dozen rolls, some of which were tests to confirm its potency. The sensitometric results of those Delta 100 tests are identical to what I got years ago with fresh XTOL.

Again, distilled water and appropriate storage make all the difference. Don't be mislead by the experience of anyone who hasn't used XTOL in decades. It's a perfectly fine developer.

I used it for years, then I stopped. I started again and now I'm disappointed again. I loved xtol and I still want to use it, but it is unusable at least the batch I have (exp 2024). Listen to other opinions mate, the fact that you have only a good experience does not mean other lie about it. I developed hundreds of rolls with xtol with great outcome but I got few packs that are shit that's all. And it happened both times I wanted to give it another chance.

[Sal Santamaura]

I used it for years, then I stopped. I started again and now I'm disappointed again. I loved xtol and I still want to use it, but it is unusable at least the batch I have (exp 2024). Listen to other opinions mate, the fact that you have only a good experience does not mean other lie about it. I developed hundreds of rolls with xtol with great outcome but I got few packs that are shit that's all. And it happened both times I wanted to give it another chance.

It is the opinion of others who've trashed XTOL for decades that I always listen to and refute. Whether or not manufacturing issues might have caused some problems recently, XTOL itself does not deserve to be put down.

Your comment underscores why I never bother with the "Introductions" category. Your unjustified imputation that I consider others' posts "lies" tells me more about a newcomer than any post there could.