Vinegar as stop bath?

No I have never tried it, but yes, the acidic content of white vinegar, don't use balsamic, is very close to standard stop bath. It has to be diluted somewhat. I forget the percentage, something like 2 tablespoons of white distilled vinegar to a gallon of water.
 
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I have used it for paper at 1+4 or so
for film 1+5 or 1+8 should do.

Distilled vinegar (dilluted acetic acid) works best

In the US distilled viengar (Europe vinegar for cleaning) has about 5% acetic acid

kodak recommends 1-2% acetic acid for paper. IN FB paper it is quite common to see bubbles coming out of the paper during stop bath... that means it is still good

For film a lot has been debated pro and cons of stop bath. It is up to you and depends a lot on the type of film ou use as well
 
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Considering that stop bath is cheap, I don't see any advantage of using vinegar. Real stop bath has indicator too, so you know when it's gone bad.

B2 - water cuts down on the life of the fixer.
 
I think if you are using tablespoons to the liter, you are not getting any real effect from the stop over, say, plain water. Try 1+3 or so, white vinegar to water. The main point of a stop bath is to protect the acidity of your considerably more expensive (and photographically important) fixer. If you were only doing one print in a printing session, you could dispense with it altogether.

A buffer and indicator are advantages to a Kodak, Ilford or Sprint product over plain vinegar and water; however, unless you are in a communal darkroom or print more than 60 8x10's in a printing session, you probably won't be getting much benefit from these extra "features." BTW, white vinegar in five-liter containers can be had at very little cost from Costco or other North American box-stores.

Warning: making your stop bath too strong can cause rapid outgassing in film/paper emulsions and result in pin-holes.

Have fun in that darkroom!

Ben Marks
 
For years I've used either glacial or (lately) 80% acetic acid, which costs very little and lasts a very long time when bought by the litre, diluted to 1-2% and used one-shot. Yes, clear (spirit) vinegar will work -- but unless you KNOW it's pure, I'd be hesitant, and I doubt it's a lot cheaper.

Cheers,

R.
 
one other question - does regular stop bath (i.e. Kodak indicator stop) need to be kept in a light tight bottle, or would a transparent bottle work?

Thanks,
 
Are people still using stop bath for film? I've seen it recommended not to as it can cause pinholes in some emulsions. I've used plain water for years and it works fine. Who needs to spend the extra money? And pour even more chemicals down the drain?
 
I use vinegar as stop for film and paper. I use about a cup of distilled white vinegar to the liter of water for RC paper, and a cup and a half to the liter for fiber papers. For film, I dilute it a bit more. Been doing this with all sorts of films and papers, in my own work, and in processing and printing for many clients- never had a problem. It's the same sort of acid, cheap, and I use it for cooking and cleaning, too. I haven't bought stop bath in ten+ years.
 
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