Ilford Ilfofix ?

[EdmundH]

I've just been lucky enough to be given many of the contents of a darkroom - mostly quite old stuff from the early 70s, but some newer items I really needed.

Sifting through a box of chemicals, I came across a large pack of ILFORD ILFOFIX HARDENING FIXER - its a powder to make 25 litres. I can't find any reference to this online, so can anyone tell me what it is suitable for (film/paper)? Is hardening fixer even a good idea with modern film and resin coated paper? Does anyone have an old data sheet for this stuff?

Any advice appreciated!

Luckily the other products are recognisable and some should still be ok, Ilford Ilfotol, and Tetenal Drysonal both unopened.

[Svend]

Hi Edmund,

Too bad this wasn't asked a couple of months ago, as I just recently cleared out my old chemical storage bin and tech leaflets, and recall tossing one out for Ilfofix. I could have scanned and emailed it to you. Shame...

It's been many years since I used Ilfofix, but I recall using it for film back in the day. With the modern emulsions there is no need to use a hardening fixer for film (I probably didn't need it back then either, but used it anyway). But there is no reason you couldn't still make use of it for film now -- it will just require extra processing in hypo clear, is all. It is also suitable for paper, as are all thiosulphate fixers as far as I know, hardening or not. If you can't get hold of a tech sheet you can probably glean something about it's applicability (fixing times, mixing instructions) by looking at Kodak's equivalent powdered hardening fixer, which is more than likely the same basic formula. These standard fixers were/are pretty conventional recipes; nothing unique here.

The only thing I am not sure about is whether the powder has expired after all this time and is still usable. You might want to look for an expiry date on the box. Failing that, maybe someone here knows something about the shelf life.

Hope this helps...

Best,
Svend

[MartyNL]

This should be a good start.

[Svend]

Good find.

Looks like you're OK on the expiry question -- indefinite shelf life if unopened.

Being that this is a tech sheet for the non-hardening version of Ilfofix (vs. the hardening version you have), I would perhaps look to Kodak Fixer literature or a good darkroom book to find out about post-fix hypo clear, washing, etc., to see if there's any difference.

Svend