Mix and match chemical product lines

I have been developing my negatives with XTOL and the other associated Kodak chemicals. I am setting up a new darkroom, to now include paper processing, in my home and I am wary of using some of these chemicals for processing. Mostly the odor, one weakness at least out of the gate is going to be better ventilation.

I've been looking at some of the odorless stop and fix products from Silvergrain and Sprint, but I was wondering about their effectiveness with XTOL, or other developers. Does Kodak work with Kodak, does Sprint work with Sprint, etc? What are any pros or cons, and/or gotchas associated with mixing and matching developers, stops, and fixers for both film and paper?

I'd like to experiment with different developers but ideally stick with an odorless stop and fix.

Joel.

Fixer is fixer, developer is developer, and stop bath is stop bath. The formulations of different brands may be different, but they all do they same job and they all work together. You do not need to use the same brand for all your chemistry.

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Yep. I have used Arista paper developer with my Kodak stop and fix and had great results. I got some Arista film developer but I honestly think I'll sell it and stick to the HC.

So in answer, play away. You'll have no problems.

In general, processing chemicals work the same on any brand of film or paper, regardless of manufacturer. The key is to find a product that gives you good results. I don't know anything about the odorless products you mentioned, but they probably work. A bathroom exhaust fan is a good investment for any darkroom. It will keep down the odors. The darkroom odors come from sulfur dioxide (which comes from the sulfite in all developers and fixers), acetic acid (in stop baths and fixers) and ammonia (from ammonium thiosulfate in rapid fixers). The only criterion for a stop bath is an appropriate, slightly acid pH. Anything producing a pH between about 3 and 5.5 will do nicely. Acetic acid is chosen as the acid for stop baths because it is cheap, readily available, and produces the appropriate pH. Other weak acids can be used, but they are generally a lot more expensive. Citric acid and citric acid buffers are often substituted, but they are good media for mold growth, so they don't last long. Most people now use non-hardening fixers, particularly for prints. These can operate at a higher pH and avoid using acetic acid. But the ammonia odor from a rapid fixer becomes more of a problem as the pH increases into the alkaline range. There are many inexpensive fixers with barely acid pH that have very little odor. The odor from sulfur dioxide is usually not a problem with solutions in the alkaline to slightly acid range (above about pH 5).

Mix and match to your heart's content, it makes it fun. In an article from the 1970's I read about someone who used Ilford film with kodak developer and printed on Agfa paper, it was described as a "hybrid process" times have changed.

I've mix and match for a long time and so far had no problems(other than mental problems!)

Jeff

......and I often have more than one brand of film in the tank...

Fleath said:

Mix and match to your heart's content, it makes it fun. In an article from the 1970's I read about someone who used Ilford film with kodak developer and printed on Agfa paper, it was described as a "hybrid process" times have changed.

Click to expand...

Yes, now we all print on Ilford paper.