Kodak Photo-Flo 200 Dilution?

[RalphLambrecht]

Alcohol will speed evaporation.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

As indicated by the name, Kodak recommends a dilution for this wetting agent of 1:200. My experience is that I need far less (1+2,000) to avoid water marks, and our water is not very soft either.

How do you dilute Photo-Flo, and what are your experiences with this product?

same here. i use 1+1or200,and that's plenty.any more and i get fotoflo marks.

 

[Pat Erson]

I get very satisfying results since... I dumped Photoflo in favour of Ilford's Ilfotol!

Clearly Kodak's wetting agent is not very good (check the consistency of the substance, it's gooey and sticky... yuck!). Ilford's is MUCH better : as it's semi-liquid it won't leave white spots on your films.

Do the right thing, life's too short and your negs are too precious!

 

[MattKing]

I get very satisfying results since... I dumped Photoflo in favour of Ilford's Ilfotol!

Clearly Kodak's wetting agent is not very good (check the consistency of the substance, it's gooey and sticky... yuck!). Ilford's is MUCH better : as it's semi-liquid it won't leave white spots on your films.

Do the right thing, life's too short and your negs are too precious!

My current bottle of Kodak Photo-Flo 200 is a clear liquid that flows like water. Maybe it is a slight bit more viscous, but not much. Any previous bottles I have worked with were very similar. If your Photo-flo is gooey and sticky, there is something wrong with it!

 

[Vaughn]

My current bottle of Kodak Photo-Flo 200 is a clear liquid that flows like water. Maybe it is a slight bit more viscous, but not much. Any previous bottles I have worked with were very similar. If your Photo-flo is gooey and sticky, there is something wrong with it!

Well, my Kodak Photo-Flo 2100 is a bit syrupy...

 

[clayne]

1:400

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Gerald

Thanks for the clarification.

distilled water is a good idea,because it cuts down on the residue casing water marks in the first place, alcohol, if not overdone, speeds up the drying, but oo much can make the film brittle

 

[Pat Erson]

Gooey sirupy... It's all bad to me! Try ILfotol at least once, you might not look back ever!

(let me add I'm not a Kodak hater at all. And there's plenty of ppl who think PF could be the worst wetting agent on the market).

 

[PeterB]

On 17 August 2010 07:17, Richard Knoppow wrote:

"It was suggested by Micheal Gudzinowicz, a Phd chemist who used to frequent the pure-silver list:

To one liter of water add
2.5ml of Photo Flo 200 (half the recommended amount).
30ml of 70% isopropanol (rubbing alcohol).
Soak the film in this mixture for a minute or two and hang up to dry without squeegeeing.

The amounts are not critical and stronger alcohol can be used. Make sure the rubbing alchol you get is just isopropanol and water, not ethyl alcohol, which will be denatured with a solvent, or "flavored" rubbing alcohol with oil of wintergreen or something else in it."​

 

[RalphLambrecht]

On 17 August 2010 07:17, Richard Knoppow wrote:

"It was suggested by Micheal Gudzinowicz, a Phd chemist who used to frequent the pure-silver list:

To one liter of water add
2.5ml of Photo Flo 200 (half the recommended amount).
30ml of 70% isopropanol (rubbing alcohol).
Soak the film in this mixture for a minute or two and hang up to dry without squeegeeing.

The amounts are not critical and stronger alcohol can be used. Make sure the rubbing alchol you get is just isopropanol and water, not ethyl alcohol, which will be denatured with a solvent, or "flavored" rubbing alcohol with oil of wintergreen or something else in it."​

i use this suggestion since 1839without having any issues.

 

[MattKing]

i use this suggestion since 1839without having any issues.

Ralph - you are a lot older than you look!

 

[fotch]

i use this suggestion since 1839without having any issues.

You look so young, how do you do it?

 

[NB23]

I never measure. I just pour a few drops, shake and end of story.

But even the streaks are no big deal if/when they occur. A light whipe with a micro cloth takes care of the problem beautifuly.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

You look so young, how do you do it?

must be the fixer fumes
keep brearthing also helps

 

[RalphLambrecht]

that's more like 1,00:1 isn' it?

 

[RalphLambrecht]

only rocks and fossils re older than me

 

[Helinophoto]

No wonder you get streaks.

PhotoFlo -stock - is to be diluted to 1:200 -working solution-.
From that solution i put 1-2 -DROPS- from a pipette into the empty tank (into the hole of the reel) and then fill 500-600ml water.
- even that is enough for it to foam quite beautifully. (the foam does die down quite quickly though).

That means that the bottle of stock PhotoFlo will last a lifetime, and then some, since you use 1:200 to make a working solution, and only drops of that into your actual tank thereafter.

Using several milliliters of stock (or even the 1:200 working solution) is way too much, but I now know where there stories of gunk on reels comes from.

I didn't even know that some even use the PhotoFlo during development too, not sure why though, anyone know why?

 

[bdial]

If that works for you, great. But, the working solution is the working solution, it shouldn't be diluted further for use.
That said, water varies quite a lot, and diluting more than 1:200 works better for some folks (including me).

 

[RalphLambrecht]

The dilution you need varies with the quality of your water.
The 1:200 is probally for the worst case water quality.
I use distilled water for the final rinse and just a few drops is all I need.

that's what I ended up with too.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

Photo-Flo contains an antifoaming agent which unfortunately can leave a residue especially with hard water. Kodak's recommendation is far too much. I use 3 to 5 drops per 250 ml (1 roll). The antifoaming agent is there for commercial installations with machine processing where foaming is an issue. The home user really doesn't need it. I now use a mix of Triton X-100 and proplylene glycol instead. This is the same as Photo-Flo but without the antifoaming agent.

 

[bvy]

This is timely as I was about to post about continued problems with drying marks using PhotoFlo at the recommended dilution. I'm using distilled water for the last rinse before soaking and for the PhotoFlo solution itself. I really don't want to squeegee the film with my fingers if I can help it. Maybe I'll try cutting back.

 

[Helinophoto]

I know that if i use too much (4-5 drops of the 1:200 working solution for 600ml water), i tend to get streaks and marks.

So this stuff seems to be designed to be used very sparingly.

I always wait until the bubbles are gone before lifting the reel out gently. Then i centrifuge the film by swinging the empty tank with the reel back and fourth a few times.

Gets rid of most excess water, seems to work.

 

[silveror0]

I avoid all these problems by using Edwal LFN; one drop per 16oz distilled water. At this rate of consumption it'll outlast me.
Dead Link Removed

All it has to do is break the surface tension on the water droplets (as a surfactant).

 

[bvy]

I avoid all these problems by using Edwal LFN; one drop per 16oz distilled water. At this rate of consumption it'll outlast me.
Dead Link Removed

All it has to do is break the surface tension on the water droplets (as a surfactant).

I had the same problem with Edwal LFN and distilled water. It's hard to use less than a drop (more water, yes, but I buy the water too). I went back to PhotoFlo.

 

[bernard_L]

Kodak recommends a dilution for this wetting agent of 1:200

Late at the party, but... On my bottle of Photo-Flo (that will outlive me too) the directions say dilute 1 part in 600.
The label also states: CAT 503 8286 Made in France by Kodak Pathé (back then there was this large Eastman Kodak facility at Châlons sur Saône, birthplace of Nicéphore Niepce).
I conform to that dilution using an eyedropper that I have calibrated, and use distilled(?) water for final rinse. Never wipe film. Never a water mark, never a dust speck.