Response to Grainy film - What am I doing wrong?

Try this:

For one test, mix _all_ solutions with distilled water and use distilled water for the wash. To use it for the wash, fill and dump the tank at least eight times. Be sure all temperatures are as close as you can get them.

Compare negs from that test to your grainy ones.

The reason I mention this is that many years ago I had a problem in which negs suddenly became _really_ grainy; the only difference was a change in water supply.

I went through mixing solutions with distilled water only to have the same results but I didn't change the wash water. Ed Meyers referred me to a chemist at Agfa who said that the wash water was the likely cause, especially since it was the only thing left.

I installed a Culligan ion-exchange water softener and the graininess problem was solved; the negs were back to normal.

So...assuming you haven't moved to a new water supply, perhaps what's happening is that there's some seasonal change in the hardness of your tap water or what's being put into it.

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