How bad is concentrated stop bath for your skin?

[rivermandan]

I got some kodak indicator stop bath on my hand thanks to a cracked lid, and aside from a discoloured finger, nothing bad happened. Am I going to drop dead in a few days or something? Just how bad for you is this stuff?

Thanks in advance,
-Dan

[Mark Sampson]

No, it won't hurt you. The orange stain will wear off. Stop bath is essentially acetic acid (vinegar) at higher concentration. KISB in the bottle is stronger than the most common stop bath concentrate, 28%, and quite a bit weaker than glacial acetic acid, the purest form. However, glacial acetic acid is quite dangerous; it's concentrated enough to burn you. Stay away from it. Darkroom chemical safety is a big subject; many other people might chime in. I'll just say wear gloves and do a little research before you go back in the lab.

[Ole Tjugen]

Stop bath is far less harmfull than some developers.

Use gloves.

[Alan Rabe]

Although glacial acetic acid is a bit dangerous. My $25 gallon bottle will make about $1000 worth of working solution, almost a life times supply. I have an old small Kodak glacial bottle which I fill up when needed from the gallon jug. I then use the small bottle to keep my 27% bottle filled. The problem with glacial is getting it, local stores don't want to get it and no internet stores will ship it. Just wear gloves and be careful.

[Ron Marshall]

Stop is 28% acetic acid versus 3 to 5% for vinegar.

[rivermandan]

thanks for the info guys, the warning on the bottle had me a bit freaked out (wash hands with soap, take off your shirt, get medical attention). I got it all over my hands when I pulled the bottle out of the bag.

[cyrus]

I really don't get why people spend so much money on stop bath and use chemicals like glacial acetic acid that can eat through clothes.

Stop bath= a mildly acidic solution, that stops the development and rinses off the leftover developer. Not even really necessary to use it - can go straight to fixer without stop but then you'd get developer into your fixer.

You can mix up 1 part white vinegar to 4 parts water, and voila, you have a stop bath.

And its safe enough to drink (don't sue me!)

[Sylvester Graham]

For the record, Kodak has a 24 safety hotline for stuff just like this. I think, THINK it's 1-585-722-5151. But I'd double check on that if you're serious.

[Ed Richards]

You can also use a water rinse instead of a stop bath.

[domenico Foschi]

I really don't get why people spend so much money on stop bath and use chemicals like glacial acetic acid that can eat through clothes.

Stop bath= a mildly acidic solution, that stops the development and rinses off the leftover developer. Not even really necessary to use it - can go straight to fixer without stop but then you'd get developer into your fixer.

You can mix up 1 part white vinegar to 4 parts water, and voila, you have a stop bath.

And its safe enough to drink (don't sue me!)

Stop bath is not that expensive.
I wouldn't be surprised if it is more expensive to use vinegar, really.

Makes me think...a nice salad in a nice garlic basil olive oil and 28% acetic acid solution served with a prime rib in Pyro reduction,...Yummy!...