I just got off the phone with a sales representative from Calumet. He informed me that it would cost me around $185.00 to ship a gallon of Glacial Acetic Acid to North Carolina where I live. Clearly these are new rates, as I've never paid this much before. Unless I can find a local outlet here, I am going to have to look at alternatives. Occasionally I've seen posts to this list which suggest that using a stop bath for fiber paper is really optional. A bath of plain water is sufficient to wash the developer off the print--prior to the first fixer tray. I need some information extolling the virtues of both sides of this question: To use stop or not. Also, has anyone else encountered difficulties in securing chemistry because of the high cost of shipping?

Thanks Tom Schumacher

-- Tom Schumacher (tlschuma@orotech.net), December 04, 2000

Answers

Tom,

A stop bath also preserves the life of the fixer as well as stoping the development action. With prints it is usually better to use a stop bath because of the relatively quick develpment time as compared to film which is generally longer.

A couple of suggestions, (1) use Indicator Stop instead of mixing from glacial, (2) buy in smaller quantities such as 8oz which are usually stocked by any camera store that carries darkroom supplies.

Hope this helps.

-- Jim Steele (jdsteele@hotmail.com), December 04, 2000.

Acetic acid is toxic. (Obviously it's toxicity varies with concentration, or we wouldn't put it on our salads.)

I've given up using a stop bath on film. I've gotten pinholes, and I'm certain the stop bath was the culprit. Water rinse cures the problem. For paper, I've used citric acid (shipped as a dry powder) or just a water rinse with no noticeable effects. I've also switched to TF4 (alkalai fixer)where an acid bath is to be avoided.

Good luck. Glacial is so strong that I have aways advised against using it in a darkroom. Much safer to buy 28%. It appears that your shipping costs include a hefty hazmat (hazardous material) fee, it's probably much cheaper to buy & ship 28%.

-- Charlie Strack (charlie_strack@sti.com), December 04, 2000.

Glacial is very caustic. It is also flammable. Not a good combo for shipping.

Try 28% instead. Most formulas assume 28% and you have to dilute the glacial to 28% anyway.

WRT pin holes, I use 1/2 strength stop for film. Enough to stop, but not quite as vigorous.

-- Terry Carraway (TCarraway@compuserve.com), December 04, 2000.

Can't you buy glacial acetic acid from your pharmacy?

We can buy 24% acetic acid at our grocery stores. Don't you have something similar in the U.S.?

-- Patric (jenspatric@mail.bip.net), December 04, 2000.

Why do you need glacial acetic acid if all you are using it for is as a stop bath? You should be able to get regular 28% acetic acid in any large photo store or chemical supply store. And you sure don't need a gallon of glacial acetic acid unless you are planning to a large volume of very large prints.

Look in your yellow pages for photographic and chemical supply. You should be able to drive up and pick this stuff up...

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), December 05, 2000.

As mentioned in a previous post, the stop bath is primarily there to save the acid fixing bath from premature exhaustion. It the fixing bath becomes alkaline, then its fixing action is greatly reduced, the chemical components start to break down, and it can cause staining. Rapid fixing baths are more prone to this than standard Sodium Thiosulphate types.
There are plenty of substitutes for Acetic acid as a stop bath. Acetic acid is usually used for its convenience, but you can use a 2% Boric acid solution instead.
Another alternative is to use Potassium metabisulphite, which forms a weak solution of Sulphurous Acid when dissolved in water. This is the same acid that's present in a normal acid fixing bath, so there should be no compatibility problems. Potassium metabisulphite is sold in tablet form for home-brewing and food preservative use. The tablets dissolve only slowly, though.

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), December 05, 2000.

28-30% acetic acid is available in the US from Oriental grocery stores. I have never seen it in normal stores.

Also any photo store, even the mall stores typically has indicator stop. This is higher than 28%, but not glacial.

Some people are using citric acid for a stop, but in "The Film Developing Cookbook" they express some problems with that. They recommend acetic acid or boric acid for film stop.

-- Terry Carraway (TCarraway@compuserve.com), December 05, 2000.

Try the Photographers' Formulary, www.photoformulary.com. They list 1 liter of Glacial Acetic Acid for 8.95. Hazardous shipping charge (probaly for the whole shipment if you order several liters) is $20.00. Hope this helps. ;^D)

-- Doremus Scudder (ScudderLandreth@compuserve.com), December 05, 2000.

By the way, the reason you would choose glacial over 28% would be, ostensibly, to save money. With HazMat shipping charges, there's really no need to consider it now, if you can't get it locally.

-- Charlie Strack (charlie_strack@sti.com), December 05, 2000.

As a stop bath one can even use regular white home vinegar.

-- Herbet Camerino (herbetb@yahoo.com), December 07, 2000.