Arista Premium Odorless Powder Fixer (New)

[ChrisP]

Does anyone use this stuff? Is it a rapid fixer? Does it need Hypo clear (from my understanding rapid doesn't old school does is this correct?) How long does it take to fix?

If you don't reccommend it, what do you reccommend (prefer powder for shipping purposes).

Thanks,
Chris

 

[RayPA]

I'm kind of a fixer slut. I'll use any fixer in a pinch, and I'm not really dedicated to one. I have preferences. I usually use the Photographer's Formulary's TF4. I like the non-hardening, no-stop, no hypo aspect (and that it gets the stain out of TMAX films). I like that I can cut some of the other chemicals our of the process. A the very least, I generally look for a non-hardening fixer. This Arista Premium Odorless sounds like something I could get along with.



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[ChrisP]

In case anyone cares this the answer I got

"The Arista Premium Powder Fixer is a rapid fixer which contains Sodium
Thiosulfate, Sodium Metabisulfite and Ammonium Aluminum Sulfate"

 

[Gray Fox]

It's what I've been using with my Caffenol-C-M and have no complaints. I just got another shipment with several gallon size bags of it. I may be wrong, but I trust the stuff Freestyle sells, and if I have questions I just call their toll free customer service number. A real person who knows what they're doing actually answers the phone. Rare as film these days.

 

[RayPA]

In case anyone cares this the answer I got

"The Arista Premium Powder Fixer is a rapid fixer which contains Sodium
Thiosulfate, Sodium Metabisulfite and Ammonium Aluminum Sulfate"

Yup! Answers all your questions, right there! 😛




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[ChrisPlatt]

Isn't Freestyle required to supply the MSDS for their products?
If it's not on the package, it should be supplied separately with the product
or be available on their website.

Chris

 

[Freakscene]

In case anyone cares this the answer I got

"The Arista Premium Powder Fixer is a rapid fixer which contains Sodium
Thiosulfate, Sodium Metabisulfite and Ammonium Aluminum Sulfate"

Except that "rapid" fixers use ammonium thiosulfate, not sodium thiosulfate. The ammonium aluminum sulfate is alum, a gelatin hardener, and doesn't provide enough ammonium to make this a rapid fixer. This fixer will work, but won't fix silver iodide as well as an ammonium thiosulfate fixer and therefore may not be as archival with modern materials, all of which use iodide as a proportion of their silver halides.

Marty

 

[ChrisN]

Isn't Freestyle required to supply the MSDS for their products?
If it's not on the package, it should be supplied separately with the product or be available on their website.

Chris

Yes. available on their website

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Except that "rapid" fixers use ammonium thiosulfate, not sodium thiosulfate. The ammonium aluminum sulfate is alum, a gelatin hardener, and doesn't provide enough ammonium to make this a rapid fixer. This fixer will work, but won't fix silver iodide as well as an ammonium thiosulfate fixer and therefore may not be as archival with modern materials, all of which use iodide as a proportion of their silver halides.

Marty

Yeah, I have read several places that Sodium Thiosulfate fixers should not be used with modern films because they cannot completely fix them, and they are no good for papers because research has shown that with fiber base paper, the longer the fixer contacts the paper, the harder it is to remove in washing...so real rapid fixers, the Ammonium Thiosulfate kind, are the only ones suitable for archival processing of paper too.

these old-fashioned Sodium Thiosulfate fixers are dinosaurs that should not be made or used anymore. So far as I know, no one makes a powdered Ammonium Thiosulfate fixer.

 

[charjohncarter]

I have used the Arista liquid odorless fixer, and it works fine with Tmax, TriX, efke IR, and SFX. It is not rapid fixer, 8 minutes with Tmax. Some of my negatives are 5 years old and have zero browning or other changes.

 

[Tom A]

I like the smell of fixer! Stop-bath no, but Fixer has a nice "olfactory" whiff to it. Could be decades of sniffing the stuff though.
I use Kodafix for film and Ilford fix for paper. Hate mixing powder so I stick with Liquid Fixers as a rule. One less thing to keep around in plastic drums and having to scoop out.

 

[KenR]

Tom, if you like the smell of fixer, what do you think of selenium toner? both of those are the only reason that I ever consider giving up the darkroom.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

Yes. available on their website

Thanks. I see at the very bottom of the MSDS it says CLAYTON CHEMICAL.

Chris

 

[Tom A]

Tom, if you like the smell of fixer, what do you think of selenium toner? both of those are the only reason that I ever consider giving up the darkroom.

Selenium I treat with respect. Does not mind the smell - but it is absorbed through the skin - so tons and gloves are used.
After multi decades in darkrooms - my sense of smell is probably somewhat compromised.

 

[wblynch]

Clayton has some very nice products. I use their liquid rapid-fix and like it a lot.