----- Original Message ----- From: "Godfrey DiGiorgi"
Subject: Re: OT Stop bath
The whole point of a stop bath is to neutralize the development process with an acidic environment in order to save the fixer. When I went to all "one shot" development chemistry for film 22 years ago (more consistency that way), I dispensed with it for film entirely.
The spirit vinegar works fine for stop bath with prints. I did that for years until I stopped making darkroom prints.
The point of stopbath is to stop the development process. Using plain water as a stopbath doesn't allow for an accurate development time, since the develoment continues until the acidic fixer is dropped into the tank. If you are using a non acid rapid fixer, development continues, albeit slowly, until the film is fully fixed.
William Robb
