Calgon instead of distilled water for final rinse/stabiliser?

[Athiril]

I need to mix 4 litres of stabiliser or final rinse to avoid drying marks on my film.

There's no distilled water at the shop and its basically midnight now and I need to process this film so I can post it off in the morning for a telecine.

I happen to have a container of 500g of calgon for photographic chemical use here, and was wondering if this will help avoid drying marks and if I can mix it with stabiliser? (Flexicolor Stabiliser III).


I need a practical answer, I'm off to load the tank now and start the developer stage.

[RalphLambrecht]

A drop of dish washing liquid per liter of water avoids drying marks. That's what my Dad did for decades without any trouble. If you're worried about residue, you can wash the film again in distilled water when you get it.

[Athiril]

Will that actually help hard/hardish water?

I should note I have the sodium hexametaphosphate variety. I'm not sure how much Im supposed to use per litre.


Currently in the bleaching stage atm. I'd like finish this before the sun gets up as I have to help out at the green screen this morning.

[Photo Engineer]

DO NOT USE DISHWASHER FLUID FOR ANY FILM, ESPECIALLY COLOR FILM!!!

The final rinse contains Photo Flo 200 + either Formalin or a proprietary bacteriocide. Adding Calgon to this will probably not do good things. The final rinse or stabilizer was designed to work without the need for distilled water although that would help in some extreme cases of hard water.

PE

[Photo Engineer]

Addendum: If you insist on using Calgon, it must be the unscented variety and must be used at about 1 gram / liter or less if possible.

PE

[Athiril]

It's sodium hexametaphosphate as described on the container, its not from a supermarket, its from a photo chemical supplier.

I'll just try the Stab III later on with tap water from the kitchen and see what happens.