Spilled fixer. Smell still lingers?

[ItsReallyDarren]

After a bathroom developing mishap I had a small splash of fixer when I dropped the bottle of fixer. Maybe about 30ml of fixer splashed out, most of it got on me. Good thing I was wearing an apron. The rest that didn't get on me got on the floor, the mirror, the cabinet doors, pretty much anywhere in arms reach.

I cleaned up the entire area twice over with cold water first, then to hot water. No matter how many times I wiped the area clean I still smell a lingering scent of fixer.

Does it get any easier to clean if I let it dry and look for powdery areas? Besides water is there anything I could use to help clean up? I have hypo wash but I don't think thats a good idea to clean with.

 

[David William White]

After a while you get used to it.

 

[Al Kaplan]

Yup, you get used to it, but the odor will disipate by itself over a few days.

 

[maddoc]

I had overlooked cleaning a very small splash (droplet size) of fixing solution on the surface of our kitchenette (some kind of heat-resistant ceramics surface near the sink) and two days later a brown spot had developed, most probably from reduced metallic silver that had slowly diffused into the ceramics.

Maybe lots of water and absorptive kitchen paper towel help best to remove residuals.

 

[Al Kaplan]

The brown stains on white shirts are the worst! I bought a quart bottle of Photo Stain Remover K-14 made by Anchor Chemical Co. in Westlake, Ohio that gets rid of the stains. You just need to barely dampen the stain with the stuff. After the stain is gone, usually within minutes, they suggest rinsing with water. I have no idea if the company is still in business but somebody must still be making the stuff. I bought this bottle back around 1968 or '69 and still have about of 1/4 of the bottle left.

 

[ItsReallyDarren]

Yup, you get used to it, but the odor will disipate by itself over a few days.

That was my main concern. Not so much for myself but for the rest of the household that uses the bathroom.
Any chance of a powdery residue left behind if or when any missed spots completely dries?

 

[bsdunek]

It's the smell of creativity! (Someone else said that...) That's one of the things I like about my darkroom - the smell. Enjoy!!!

 

[sepiareverb]

A little bleach may help, sometimes I've had that work, and it does get the fixer smell out of my darkroom towels and clothes, but doesn't touch the stains.

 

[mgd711]

The brown stains on white shirts are the worst! I bought a quart bottle of Photo Stain Remover K-14 made by Anchor Chemical Co. in Westlake, Ohio that gets rid of the stains. You just need to barely dampen the stain with the stuff. After the stain is gone, usually within minutes, they suggest rinsing with water. I have no idea if the company is still in business but somebody must still be making the stuff. I bought this bottle back around 1968 or '69 and still have about of 1/4 of the bottle left.

I was wondering why all my white T shirts had brown blotches all over them. Now I know its fixer splashes and not the wife screwing up the washing..... 😀

 

[Benjamin Marks]

I have always thought that the fixer is not particularly toxic -- in fact sodium thiosulfite is an ingredient in some anti-swimming pool shampoos for serious swimmers (don't know whether that is cause for comfort or not, given the stuff that winds up in shampoo -- but that is another matter). The silver in used fixer is usually the thing you worry about. Now having said that, you have to be the judge of how much appetite you and yours have for the "fixer in the bathroom" situation. The fixer in solution is mildly acidic. I think that wiping down the surfaces with a mild household bleach solution (mildly basic) should wipe away any trace of fixer and replace the smell of hypo with one folks associate with "recently cleaned bathroom." Repeated water wipe downs should work too as the fixer residue is soluble in water.

Ben Marks

 

[MaxElmar]

I'm teaching my children about film and developing and we were mixing up some chemicals last night. The D-76 didn't make any impression but the fixer made my 5 year old wrinkle her nose. I told her, "Sometimes stinky is good!" - she says "No daddy, is just stinky."

Sorry, no point. Just mildly entertaining.

 

[Al Kaplan]

I have the washing machine at one end of my darkroom between the sink and the enlarger counter. It makes for handy extra counter space, discharges into the sink which dilutes discarded chemicals, and I usually do a load of laundry while I'm out there anyway. If there are any women out there who'd like a fully equiped B&W darkroom (complete with man who washes clothes) in a fully paid for house PM or email me.

 

[David William White]

Warning -- Not Kidding

Warning -- Not Kidding

A little bleach may help, sometimes I've had that work, and it does get the fixer smell out of my darkroom towels and clothes, but doesn't touch the stains.

Some fixers are ammonium based. If the ammonia hasn't fully evaporated from the stain, I WOULD NOT attempt to clean with bleach. Death will be swift and painful.

 

[Papercut]

hahahaha, classic! 😀

I was wondering why all my white T shirts had brown blotches all over them. Now I know its fixer splashes and not the wife screwing up the washing..... 😀