Seriously, there is a debate about hardening's ill effects
on gelatin. My personal view is that making the emulsion
less flexible could lead to potential trouble, especially
in environments where temperatures vary a lot but
humidity is low. I prefer not to use something whose
effect on my photo is questionable. Ilford's
current dogma on fixers is never to add hardener if
doing archival processing, and I believe they do not distribute
any hardening fixer in the U.S.
Admittedly I haven't got anything hanging in the Tate or the
Louvre (yet!), but I have to think of all the money my descendents
will make when they discover my shoeboxes full of rejects after I'm
posthumously discovered! Wouldn't want thm to crumble into
dust, now, would we? ;-)
Have a good day!
Ed Lukacs
--_/_/_/_/ _/_/ _/ _/ | Edward M. Lukacs _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ | eml@gate.net _/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ | 11286 Southwest 169 Street _/ _/ _/ _/ | Miami, Florida 33157 USA _/_/_/_/ _/ _/ _/_/_/_/ | Telephone: (95) 305-235-9098