The fog in the whites you see is almost certainly age fogging. Old paper does this. One way to deal with this is to add more potassium bromide and/or benzotriazole to the developer. These are restrainers/anti-foggants and will clear the whites, but require more exposure time under the enlarger.
My preferred method for dealing with slight fog is to bleach the print to clear the whites. I use a potassium ferricyanide/potassium bromide bleach for this purpose. Start with 1/8 teaspoon of each per liter; the proportions aren't critical, just adjust as needed if the bleach is too strong or weak. After fixing and a minimum 3 minute rinse in running water, give the print 45-60 seconds in the bleach and then move it back to the water rinse tray. Rinse a while and see if the whites are clear. Adjust time and/or bleach dilution as needed to fine-tune and get clear whites. Evaluate the print and make exposure adjustments to compensate for the bleach step and make you best print. If the result is satisfactory, you're good to go. Refix the print and wash as usual. Refixing is necessary, since the bleach is rehalogenating; the resulting bromide compounds from the bleach need to be fixed out.
If the paper is too fogged, however, no amount of restrainer or bleach will help.
I've used this method on fogged paper when needed with good results. A positive side-effect is that such light overall bleaching often gratifyingly tweaks print contrast and clears the whites a bit even with paper that is not fogged. Overall bleaching is now a regular tool in my printing toolbox.
Best,
Doremus
My preferred method for dealing with slight fog is to bleach the print to clear the whites. I use a potassium ferricyanide/potassium bromide bleach for this purpose. Start with 1/8 teaspoon of each per liter; the proportions aren't critical, just adjust as needed if the bleach is too strong or weak. After fixing and a minimum 3 minute rinse in running water, give the print 45-60 seconds in the bleach and then move it back to the water rinse tray. Rinse a while and see if the whites are clear. Adjust time and/or bleach dilution as needed to fine-tune and get clear whites. Evaluate the print and make exposure adjustments to compensate for the bleach step and make you best print. If the result is satisfactory, you're good to go. Refix the print and wash as usual. Refixing is necessary, since the bleach is rehalogenating; the resulting bromide compounds from the bleach need to be fixed out.
If the paper is too fogged, however, no amount of restrainer or bleach will help.
I've used this method on fogged paper when needed with good results. A positive side-effect is that such light overall bleaching often gratifyingly tweaks print contrast and clears the whites a bit even with paper that is not fogged. Overall bleaching is now a regular tool in my printing toolbox.
Best,
Doremus
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