Response to Ilford film washing procedure

There's a problem in testing easily for the 'archivality' of any washing of negatives and so I always use a 'belt and braces' method, that is, I overdo things if anything. A critical thing of course is the wash water temperature, so from my domestic supply I raise a large container of filtered water to the film processing temp. - 20 deg.C. From that reservoir I nearly fill the dev. tank after the fixer has been poured out, and invert/roll/shake it for about a minute. Drain thoroughly. Next Kodak Hypo Clearing Agent is used - continuous agitation for 2 to 3 mins - thorough drainage again. Then I go into the Ilford sequence, using of course the water at the prepared temperature. Occasionally and probably for no good reason other than to satisfy myself that I've done all I can, I'll lower the temperature of my reservoir of water progressively to that of the mains water coming into the house. This I do by no more than 5 deg.C. at a time and at each lowering I accustom the films in the tank to the new lower temperature. Finally the tank is connected to the cold tap and filtered water is run through for say 20 mins. I must say I'm now tending to do this last thing less and less. I also understand it's important not to be using a hardener in the fixer as that encourages the emulsion to hang onto the thiosulphate.

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