U of S | Mailing List Archive | alt-photo-process-l | Re: apples to apples Javel to Chlorox

Re: apples to apples Javel to Chlorox




I'm not sure where the calcium hypochlorite fits in, because according to Nadeau, Javel water is dilute potassium hypochlorite, but I'm not going to worry about it because I don't think trying to reconcile present and past practices to such a precision is very useful anyway, given in how many ways practices are different now.

kt

Ohhhhh yes, Katharine, don't we already know that about you. But if this were the case (practices differ now and therefore make reconciling past and present practices to such a precision unuseful) then why are we (and you) practicing the bleach method anyway? It IS a past practice. And you are trying it out, and, it seems, having fun! And Marek himself (as well as John Grocott) is also practicing past methods to their liking. Personally, I don't find present practice that much more novel than the past, except in the use of digital.

Also, as I said in my post, there are several hypochlorites, and I am not so sure Nadeau is correct in saying it is potassium. Maybe so, maybe not. In any case, this recipe called for "bleaching powder" which refers to the calcium form. I was reconciling that recipe with John and Marek's. Javelle is said to be potassium or sodium form. This, too, should be reconciled with Chlorox if Chlorox is used as a replacement for bleaching powder. Seems to be a no brainer to me, anyway, but each to his own I suppose.

To my way of thinking, it is very important to find out the concentration of bleach in this solution because it prevents the use of a straight Chlorox bleach bath which as John has pointed out so clearly, would be overkill.

My two cents.
Chris