Color Stabilizer = Black & White Stabilizer?

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mathiasprinz

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As I am running out of stabilizer from a c41-kit while still having loads of everything else, i was asking myself: Is this stuff the same as the photoflo/stabilizer that i use for my black & white films? Can i just cross-use it?

Any experience or knowledge is welcome!
 
Color film stabilizers have both the rinse aid like Photoflo, as well as an emulsion preservative - used to contain formaldehyde but some no longer do. You could use Photoflo in a pinch, but would be best to use C-41 stabilizer if at all possible.
 
Thanks for your answer, much appreciated. Im pretty sure that my usual Color-Stab doesn´t contain formaldehyde, as it doesn´t say so – it probably would if it contained any, as it´s pretty heavy stuff. Still, the Photoflo is chemically different?
 
They have replaced the old formaldehyde with something else - hexamine, I think, that keeps the emulsion from molding etc - not a property that Photoflo has. Seems BW emulsions must not be prone to the issues color ones are....silver rather than dye-based I gather...look here:

http://www.apug.org/forums/archive/index.php/t-62575.html

This states the Tetenal C41 kits lack the surface tension (wetting agent) which is what Photoflo has....so this is a discussion on adding it - consensus is adding Photoflo to stabilizer is OK, but substituting it for stabilizer may not be.
 
Black and white stabilizers (are there still any? I only knew Agfa Sistan, which is gone) were essentially antioxidants, while colour stabilizers are fixatives that immobilize the dye molecules in the gelatin. So no, they are not interchangeable - black and white film does not have dye bleed issues, the silver being a inherently immobile pigment.

Most (perhaps all) colour stabilizers come as a Stab+Flo mix for the final rinse and contain the same surfactants as commercial Photoflo preparations - so these can be used as a flo substitute. However they will have no stabilizing action on the silver, but rather the same effect on the gelatin as a hardening bath. That may be desirable on ancient soft films (like Efke), but on modern, prehardened film it will cause increased curl, so I would recommend regular wetting agents for general use.

As far as the Tetenal kit goes, its stab does bubble, which I'd consider a indication of a stab+flo mix, in spite of that APUG post.
 
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