Heico Perma-Wash vs. Ilford Wash-Aid Logistics?

[Tin Can]

I was never taught to use anything except fresh COLD water

Water was treated Lake Michigan

Now I am down river with again endless municipal water for wash

I have many mounted and unmounted FB prints stored interleaved

Most now 25 years old

Perfect, water gets cheaper the more I use

Basically slow drain for 1 hour only

I do not water my lawn or huge trees

I interject as novice may think everyone MUST use chems

[John Layton]

Doremous - and everyone...thank you so much for the above. This has long been one of those "someday I'll get around to this" things, but the truth of the matter is that doing one's own mix is so very simple, effective, and cost efficient.

Will make sure I've got some sulfite or order some, and in the meantime use up this batch of Ilford Wash-Aid.

And make no mistake...I am in no way meaning to show any disrespect to Ilford. Indeed, I think I can speak for many (if not most) of us here that we are so very lucky to have Ilford around to help us keep our passion alive and well!

[Tin Can]

https://thesouthern.com/news/state-a...0417d50461227c

[Michael R]

Water works fine. HCA is not a necessary step. All HCA does is make FB print washing a lot more efficient so for people wanting to minimize water consumption and/or time/effort HCA is useful.

I was never taught to use anything except fresh COLD water

Water was treated Lake Michigan

Now I am down river with again endless municipal water for wash

I have many mounted and unmounted FB prints stored interleaved

Most now 25 years old

Perfect, water gets cheaper the more I use

Basically slow drain for 1 hour only

I do not water my lawn or huge trees

I interject as novice may think everyone MUST use chems

[nolindan]

Useful formulae:

Testing for residual hypo - see if the PermaWash really has the capacity claimed - from https://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/A.../archival.html

Kodak® Hypo Test Solution HT-2
Distilled Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750 ml
28% Acetic Acid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125 ml
Silver Nitrate, Crystals . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5 g
Distilled Water to Make . . . . . . . . . . . 1 l
(Store in a tightly sealed brown glass bottle away from strong light sources. This solution stains everything it touches, so don’t splash it around.)

To use for paper, place one drop on the border of the print, let it stand for 2 minutes, then rinse with water. If the print is thoroughly washed the solution will produce only a very faint tea-colored stain, or possibly no stain at all. If it is inadequately washed, the solution will produce a rather dark tea-colored stain. To judge the stains accurately you should purchase a Kodak® Hypo Estimator, which costs about $3.

To use for film, cut off a small piece of film and drop it into the test solution for 3 minutes. Properly washed films should show virtually no discoloration.



The best guess for Kodak HCA, results in a pH close to gelatine's isoelectric point. Source - Richard Knoppow

1 liter stock solution, dilute 1:4 for use:

EDTA..............5 gm
S. Sulfite.....100 gm
S. Bisulfite.....20 gm
S. Citrate........5 gm

[Greg]

Probably 20 years ago I was visiting one of our State of Connecticut's surplus stores. On the floor were two unopened cases of 5 pound plastic bottles of Kodak Sodium Sulfite. Marked $5.00 for each of the cases. I asked how much if I bought both cases? $8.00. Without a bit of hesitation acquired both of the cases. Turned 75 last December. I figure I have enough of Sodium Sulfite that I will ever need....

[Fred L]

probably 20 years ago i was visiting one of our state of connecticut's surplus stores. On the floor were two unopened cases of 5 pound plastic bottles of kodak sodium sulfite. Marked $5.00 for each of the cases. I asked how much if i bought both cases? $8.00. Without a bit of hesitation acquired both of the cases. Turned 75 last december. I figure i have enough of sodium sulfite that i will ever need....

score !!!

[Mark NY]

About the only scenario in which I could see Ilford Wash-Aid being at all cost effective/efficient for my needs would be if I were to go “full bore” for that one week, pre-exhaustion time period, and over this time process, wash, and dry 40 16X20 prints! Back in the day? Maybe. But these days? Nope!

I did something similar to this for a show I scored back in 2010. 90 10x10 prints on Galerie - 30 for the show and I made 2 additional prints while I had the neg in the carrier. Used the Ilford Wash Aid. Today my back hurts just thinking about it LOL.

[Renato Tonelli]

The price for Heico Perma Wash gone up quite a bit over the past couple of years; enough for me to consider switching to Ilford Wash-Aid or others.
What I like about Perma Wash is that it is very concentrated and a 32oz bottle will go a long way. I wouldn't discount their claims so fast - Perma Wash has been around a very long time and touted by many darkroom printers.

[John Layton]

...I've been using Perma Wash for years and years (half a century?)...and prints have held up perfectly (so far!)