Alkali-Fix is a rapid-action alkaline fixer for use with film negatives and papers.
Alkali-Fix has been specially formulated to maximise the beneficial tanning and staining qualities of Prescysol, but works perfectly with all monochrome negatives (except chromogenic) and papers regardless of the developer used.

Developers are alkaline. Stop baths and almost all commercially available fixers are acid. Plunging the film from an alkaline to an acid solution, and the radical ph changes that result can stress the film emulsion; ideally the whole processing procedure should take place in solutions of a similar ph.

We all know what happens to a metal when it is in contact with an acid; the acid reacts with and eats away the metal. Immersing the delicate silver grains of your fine print in acid is not the best thing you can do! The delicate high values are at risk, and you are in danger of burned-out highlights, particularly if your mixing/timing routine is lax. The answer is an alkaline stop (or water bath) and an alkaline fix. MonochromePhotography.com has the perfect solution with its new formulations of alkali-STOP and Alkali-FIX.

Alkali-FIX has several major advantages over traditional acid fixers:

You can use and acid stop and an alkali fix during the same process, for example when lith printing and the infectious development needs to be stopped immediately. Simply rinse the paper under running water for one to two minutes after using the acid stop and then use Alkali-FIX as normal. Alkali-FIX is superb in retaining those delicate highlights so beautifully produced by lith printing. You should not use a hypo-clearing agent with alkaline fixers!

Fixing films

Dilution for all films is 1 + 4, so to cover a 35mm spiral, mix 60ml Alkali-FIX with 240 ml water. (Tap water if fine, but as always, we recommend that you attach a filter to your tap, or filter the water with a domestic carbon-filter water jug). To cover a 120mm spiral, mix 100ml Alkali-FIX with water.

After development, use Alkali-STOP for 30 seconds, run under fresh water for one minute, or wash, with constant agitation, in 4-5 changes of fresh water for 10-12 seconds each time.

It is a good idea to perform a quick test for time if you are not using fresh fixer. Cut a small piece from the leader of undeveloped film and agitate in the fixer, making a note of the time it takes to clear completely. Fresh fixer will show clear in the test in about 30 seconds. Once the time to clear reaches 60 seconds the fixer should be discarded, although we recommend not keeping used fixer longer than 24 hours. Fix for three times the clearing time; with fresh fixer, for 90 seconds, and if the clearing time is, say, one minute, then fix for 3 minutes. Do not fix for longer than 3 minutes.

Please note that you should not give extended fixing times with tabular grain films (such as T-Max) to remove the dye; over-fixing is never a good idea. To remove the dye, let the film stand in 3, five-minute baths after fixing. Any dye left after that should be removed in the normal wash, but if some still remains after that, just extend the wash time until it is removed.
Wash as normal. Your film will be washed to archival standards in four minutes.

Fixing RC prints

Dilute 1 + 4 for a fixing time of 30 seconds, or 1 +9 for a more economical fixing time of 60 seconds.

Fixing FB prints

Dilute the stock solution 1+ 4, submerge the paper and agitate continuously for one minute.

Capacity

One litre of working solution at 1+ 4 dilution will fix approximately 40 10x8 FB or 80 10x8 RC prints, and at 1+9 dilution will fix approximately 80 10x8 RC prints, although you may wish to reduce these figures by 25% for absolute assurance.

Full instructions are supplied with every order.