The taste of fixer

hadeer · Feb 6, 2012

Quite a few years back I used to check if the paper was sufficiently washed by lifting the sheet from the washer, let most of the water drip off and then taste the last drops that fell off with the tip of my tongue. If there was fixer residue those drops had a typical taste and I had to wash some more. I have no photos from that time that show bad fixing. Anyone ever used the same method?(I use a chemical for testing nowadays)

cliveh · Feb 6, 2012

I believe Van Gogh use to drink absinthe diluted with ink. I enjoy comments by mad artists.

ic-racer · Feb 6, 2012

I know a good way to check you blood sugar...

clayne · Feb 6, 2012

If it's sodium thiosulfate I doubt it'll do much to the body at all. Isn't it also used for tap water treatment?

If it's ammonium thiosulfate that might be different, but PE could probably answer more.

Robert Hall · Feb 6, 2012

As a child I was told I was fond of dirt. I grew out of that... I think.

Funny how we seem to think that using our tongue for testing is just something we even consider.

Sodium Sulfite used to used to preserve meat IIRC. It tastes like a nasty salt.

mhcfires · Feb 6, 2012

Robert Hall said:
As a child I was told I was fond of dirt. I grew out of that... I think.

Funny how we seem to think that using our tongue for testing is just something we even consider.

Sodium Sulfite used to used to preserve meat IIRC. It tastes like a nasty salt.

Sodium NITRITE is used to preserve meat. A big difference

polyglot · Feb 6, 2012

mhcfires said:
Sodium NITRITE is used to preserve meat. A big difference

Nitrites yes, but also sulfites (E222) though not for meat preservation.

bdial · Feb 6, 2012

Not a method I've tried, or considered.

Aristophanes · Feb 6, 2012

Maybe you were confused by the fumes and grabbed, of, say, the bottle of gin instead?

That might also explain the memories about it you are having now.

paul ron · Feb 6, 2012

Instead of tasting, I smell the wet print up close. I actually ran a test using the hypo HT-2 test solution n I am very close to smelling a completed wash.

.

NB23 · Feb 6, 2012

I have no idea. But I recall quite a few times where I sipped a mouthful of Dektol while syphoning it. Tastes like Fish.

clayne · Feb 6, 2012

paul ron said:
Instead of tasting, I smell the wet print up close. I actually ran a test using the hypo HT-2 test solution n I am very close to smelling a completed wash.

.

This is the quote of the day. I can only imagine this absurd session by session trial of how close Paul has gotten to sniffing out an unwashed print.

"Nope! This one needs *at least* 7 more minutes!"

Roger Cole · Feb 6, 2012

I read a comment once either here or on LFPF about an old photographer, mentoring the poster, who used to taste the fixer itself to check its condition. Eventually, he turned blue.

This is quite plausible. There are several documented cases of people turning permanently blue from consuming colloidal silver.

hoffy · Feb 6, 2012

Wasn't there also a member here who grabbed a bottle of fix or dev and took a swig, instead of grabbing his beer?

MattKing · Feb 6, 2012

hoffy said:
Wasn't there also a member here who grabbed a bottle of fix or dev and took a swig, instead of grabbing his beer?

It was Sodium Sulfite, and in a tea cup.

IMHO, it included one of the most memorable APUG responses of all time (Thanks Murray ).
Here is the link: (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Newt_on_Swings · Feb 6, 2012

I would never ingest anything from the darkroom. Many things are quite toxic, and constant exposure can lead to a adverse reaction later such as contact dermatitis. Even if assumed somewhat safe, that washed print with lingering fixer could have cross contamination from the tray, or work surfaces, or spills from other toxic chemicals.

btw Did you know methanol, the stuff in lens cleaning solutions such as the eclipse brand, can cause permanent blindness if just 10ml of it is ingested? it goes straight to the optic nerve. 100ml is fatal. It's something people use routinely but don't think much about. Plus you can absorb it through the skin too.

Wayne · Feb 6, 2012

You must be a blast at parties.

Rudeofus · Feb 7, 2012

Roger Cole said:
I read a comment once either here or on LFPF about an old photographer, mentoring the poster, who used to taste the fixer itself to check its condition. Eventually, he turned blue.

This is quite plausible. There are several documented cases of people turning permanently blue from consuming colloidal silver.

I guess it's a question of dose, like with so many every day chemicals. BTW the symptom you refer to is called Argyria.

Newt_on_Swings said:
I would never ingest anything from the darkroom. Many things are quite toxic, and constant exposure can lead to a adverse reaction later such as contact dermatitis. Even if assumed somewhat safe, that washed print with lingering fixer could have cross contamination from the tray, or work surfaces, or spills from other toxic chemicals.

+1 to that. While the active ingredient of fixer is most likely some form of thiosulfite, people tend to forget all the other chems either intentionally included in fixer for adjusting/buffering pH, for improving keeping properties and making the product more fool proof, or simply accumulating in the fixer from other processing steps. There's probably no reason for hysteria when we spill some on our hands but I wouldn't intentionally get any of that stuff onto much less into my body.

edp · Feb 7, 2012

Isaac Newton stuck needles in his eyes, but there's no need to do it any more.

Same with drinking darkroom chemicals.

John Austin · Feb 7, 2012

Never Never Never Ever test Monkhoven's intensifier this way, unless you have a lot of old Voigtlander lenses you wish to bequeath to me

Nikola Dulgiarov · Feb 7, 2012

Actually, I did taste water run-off from washing a print once, as a curiosity. The taste is quite characteristic, easy to spot. Although I would never suggest that anyone do that, I believe it is of no consequence as we're talking of ppm quantities of chemicals easily broken down by metabolism

Helinophoto · Feb 7, 2012

Doubt that tasting (not actually swallowing) and spitting out will cause any harm what so ever.

Never done it myself, so I am not sure how a badly rinsed paper taste like, I normally let them sit for 15-20 minutes in a large holding tray, then i shower them thoroughly with warm water, both sides.

If they are not clean by then, then to hell with it

Rudeofus · Feb 7, 2012

Helinophoto said:
I normally let them sit for 15-20 minutes in a large holding tray, then i shower them thoroughly with warm water, both sides.

If they are not clean by then, then to hell with it

Oh no, you're doing it all wrong!

... Waits for the next APUG flame war about archival washing ... :munch:

Helinophoto · Feb 7, 2012

Haha, none of my photos are worthy of existing beyond 5 years anyway.
- I also yell and swear at the prints now and then, just to let them know who's boss ^^

Besides, I can always make new ones.

If they become worth something after my death, too bad, not my problem

removed account4 · Feb 7, 2012

hadeer said:
Quite a few years back I used to check if the paper was sufficiently washed by lifting the sheet from the washer, let most of the water drip off and then taste the last drops that fell off with the tip of my tongue. If there was fixer residue those drops had a typical taste and I had to wash some more. I have no photos from that time that show bad fixing. Anyone ever used the same method?(I use a chemical for testing nowadays)

hard to believe people would make it a regular practice to ingest poisons ...

do you for other residual poisons the same way ?
arsenic? cyanide ? lye? selenium? ...

blue man group might be looking for additional members after you process a few more
batches of film and prints

The taste of fixer

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