Abax
Hello,
I’m currently looking at the formulations used by various developers. Microdol-X is the only one where I’ve come across the addition of table salt (NaCl).
What is the purpose of the salt? What would happen if I added salt to D-76?
Claus
Lichtjahr
Hello,
What do you hope to achieve by doing this?
Just give it a go and let us know how it turns out.
According to my records, sodium chloride is used in the production of silver chloride emulsions and as an additive in fixer solutions.
Microdol-X is a classic metol-sulphite balanced fine-grain developer.
With the addition of Calgon and NaCl, you can safely omit these two substances.
Here is an original recipe from the ‘Bavarian State Institute for Photography’:
Metol 4 g
Sodium sulphite, anhydrous 100 g
Make up to 1000 ml with water
Development times depending on exposure: 8–12 minutes at 20°C.
Agitation: 30 seconds continuously, then tilt once per minute.
Best regards,
Edi
Klaus_H
According to Anchell and Troop’s *Film Developing Cookbook*, NaCl was introduced in 1944 by Richard Henn (Kodak Microdol) to reduce the size of the silver grains. One advantage of NaCl is that it does not result in an increase in development time.
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Best regards,
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Klaus
tomsand
30g of NaCl is part of the Microdol-X or Perceptol formula. It slows down development and the film loses half a stop of speed. Pure metol-borax developers without NaCl are very balanced and can also be used for pushing. Adding table salt to D76 also works and, in my experience, produces a slightly finer grain. It also acts as a clarifier, but this comes at the cost of a loss of speed. An even stronger fine grain effect can be achieved by adding ammonium chloride to the D76 formula. In that case, I would say the loss of speed is a full stop.
