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Using "Plain Fixer" on paper and film, yes or no?

Arklatexian

#1
I have been around photography and darkrooms for a long time and I remember watching old-timers throw a handful of "hypo" crystals into some water for fix, then throw it out. Now I read that something close to that can be used if you use an acetic stop bath. What do you think? Any experience doing this?
 

R.Gould

#2
I remember buying Hypo crystal's in large tins and using it for everything, just mixing it for films and paper, didn't use stop bath, just water, although if we had some around I would mix some clear viniger with the water, worked well, I would use the hypo mix for films untill it stopped working, ( pen the tank an check, if after a few minutes the film hadn't cleared just mix a bit more and re fix) also for paper, 2 or 3 sessions and throw it away and smix fresh, again a rinse in some water between develop and fix, always worked and I still have one or 2 prints from those days and still looking good after 60 or so years, maybe that's why some people think I am a little careless these days, but in the good old days it was just the way we did things, these days it is a lot easier and I would not go back to the old days, give me fast fixers and proper stop bath for printing any day, I also remember when in a hurry I didn't bother with the watert or vineger stop, just poured the developer out and fixer straight in, never seemed to make any difference to the film, just made the fixer's life shorter, I sometimes do the same thing today, still doesn't seem to make a difference,
Richard
 

Arklatexian

#3
R.Gould said:
I remember buying Hypo crystal's in large tins and using it for everything, just mixing it for films and paper, didn't use stop bath, just water, although if we had some around I would mix some clear viniger with the water, worked well, I would use the hypo mix for films untill it stopped working, ( pen the tank an check, if after a few minutes the film hadn't cleared just mix a bit more and re fix) also for paper, 2 or 3 sessions and throw it away and smix fresh, again a rinse in some water between develop and fix, always worked and I still have one or 2 prints from those days and still looking good after 60 or so years, maybe that's why some people think I am a little careless these days, but in the good old days it was just the way we did things, these days it is a lot easier and I would not go back to the old days, give me fast fixers and proper stop bath for printing any day, I also remember when in a hurry I didn't bother with the watert or vineger stop, just poured the developer out and fixer straight in, never seemed to make any difference to the film, just made the fixer's life shorter, I sometimes do the same thing today, still doesn't seem to make a difference,
Richard
Click to expand...
Sounds a bit like I was taught. I did/do use acetic acid stop. Darkroom didn't "smell" right if it didn't smell like vinegar. My motto on developer and fixer was/is: "when in doubt, throw it out". I think, sometimes today, we overthink what we are doing in the darkroom. My time is worth something to me, if not to anyone else and rather than agonize over whether the developer nor fixer is exhausted or not, throw it out and mix fresh. That is why I asked about using "plain fixer".......Regards and thank you.
 

Randy Stewart

#4
Plain hypo fixers were used for decades before modern "rapid" fixers became the norm. Kodak published several fixer formulas for film and paper (F5, F6, ?), all based on hypo. If you do not care to buffer it, the old "handful in a tray of water will work. Compared to rapid fixers, hypo is slower to complete the fixing process and does not have the fixing capacity of rapid fixer. Back when Kodak was selling prepared photo chemistry, their product was labelled Kodak Fixer. I main advantage of hypo fixers: much cheaper to buy or compound. I still have most of a ten pound brown paper sack of hypo somewhere in the back of my storage closet.
 
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