Liquid detergent as PhotoFlo?

[mike goldberg]

Hi All,

A lot of guys here in RFF and in flickr B/W groups believe, that a drop or two
[no more!] of the simplest dish washing detergent... with the least amount of
perfume, in distilled water... is an acceptible substitute for PhotoFlo.

Some, who wash their films thoroughly for 30 minutes, use NO PhotoFlo [or
substitute] at all.

I'd like to get clarity on this here. In the next day or two, I'll be working out
film washing at a controlled temp, with narrow plastic tubing going down the
center of the stainless film reels, so the fixer is washed out... from the
bottom up.

Let's hear.
Thanks, mike

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

Yes. When I home processed I used a drop or two of the detergent you keep by the kitchen sink. Nowadays I think I'd try dishwasher rinse aid.

To test it why not put a roll of finished negatives onto a spiral and wash them for 30 minutes, then inspect them when dry?

 

[mike goldberg]

Hi Jon,
Great idea!
I just looked up Alentejo, and learned that is Portugal.

Re: Dish washing detergent:
We get Palmolive here, and there are locally made ones as well.
There's a green one near the sink that doesn't smell too much 😱
I would imagine that the detergent is basically the same crap in
all of them, and a drop or two will be just right.

Cheers, mike

 

[Sparrow]

I’ve been using Fairy Liquid for many years, same as my dad, fix, three “at temperature” rinses, squirt of Fairy, five minutes pressure wash with cold water. However I’m in a very soft water area and probably don’t need a wetting agent anyway.

 

[nikola]

Water here in Split comes through miles of rock and limestone, for that is pretty hard, leaving spotted neg's... and me frustrated! 🙂

I have tried kitchen detergent, but with limited success... they remove hard spots but leave oily marks... i guess the detergent has something "for the skin" in it. 🙂

I'll need to experiment more... now days it's pretty hard to find plain old detergent!

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

Alentejohas been compared to Tuscany.

It's a beautiful traditional region and very very photogenic.

 

[mrtoml]

There was a big discussion of this over at APUG last week:

http://www.apug.org/forums/forum37/37567-wetting-agents-can-they-used-over-over.html

The concensus was that it was false economy to use detergent when photoflo and the like is so cheap anyway. Detergents can have all sorts of other stuff in them that can leave residues on the film.

 

[maddoc]

Hi Mike,

30 min washing ? Following this link , I recently changed to the method recommended by Ilford, exchanging the water for 4 times with increasing number of agitation cycles(first 3 times, than 6 times agitate, 12x, 24x) Before starting the developing process, I place a filled 8 liter bucket into the sink, having same water temperature as the chemicals (usually 20 degrees) For the stopping and final washing, I simply dip the developing tank into the bucket until all air has been removed. Residual chemicals in the spiral (and thus near the film) can be washed out more effectively this way and I can reduce the amount of water used.

-Gabor

 

[willie_901]

Hi All,

A lot of guys here in RFF and in flickr B/W groups believe, that a drop or two
[no more!] of the simplest dish washing detergent... with the least amount of
perfume, in distilled water... is an acceptible substitute for PhotoFlo.

PhotoFlo is dirt cheap. Assuming whatever dishwashing detergent you choose did not affect the negatives, what is the price per roll advantage? PhotoFlo has to be the least expensive part of anyone's photography. Why take any risk?

willie

 

[nikola]

Why?

Because I can't find it here in Croatia! 🙂

 

[back alley]

i can send you some.
it lasts forever as you use so little.
joe