I would use a hardening fixer for soft emulsion films like Fomapan. After that it’s just a buying decision.

@@TheNakedPhotographer Is ILFORD hard or soft emulsion? And for FOMAPAN I use FomaFix, so that is a hard fixer I suppose... How can I determine if I have soft/hard fixer?

Soft emulsions like Foma will be more durable

This is what I do too. The extra step isn't necessary, but also it definitively won't hurt. So why not.

I stated at the beginning that this is the second time I’ve done this project. The first time I used full rolls (funded by a university then) and I got the same results.

Are you using a hypo clear or hypo eliminator? They are different solutions and Kodak warns against a hypo eliminator because it makes emulsions brittle.

@@TheNakedPhotographer It is classified as a hypo eliminator. I'm not aware of Kodak's caution. I have used it on film and paper for 40 years without incident. I compound it from a formula published years ago in the Dignan Newsletter. I have never done a with/without comparison test of it, so I have gone on faith that it is effective. As to film processing, I doubt omitting it would make a difference in outcome. When I first started using it, I used it on fibre-based paper and ran hypo tests, which were very positive.

If it’s the Kodak HE-1 formula with hydrogen peroxide and ammonia then you may want to reconsider using it. After the 1970’s Kodak warned against its use since prints were cracking from being too brittle. Turns out a tiny amount of residual fixer is needed to keep the gelatin flexible.

Not yet but I plan to at some point. I don’t use anything but water for print washing

@@TheNakedPhotographer OK, thanks!

No thank you

Awww okay

I use a five minute running water.

That last part is just insulting and unnecessary.

Hardening fixers are used typically in older film stock to keep the emulsion stable while wet, esp. when drying. Nowadays though most film stocks are prehardened, though AFAIK Efke film and ADOX CHS 20 II need to be finished with hardening fixer.

@@studiosnch I would also recommend hardening fix for Fomapan films.

Per other comments, modern B&W films from the major manufacturers are pre-hardened. This has been the circumstance for more than 40 years. If your film selection strays into the second tier makers, as others note, there may be a need to use hardening fixer to avoid scratching the unhardened, wet emulsion. If you go for films from repackagers, like Lomo, they are selling various emulsions, often from different sources under the same repackaged name. For these, you'd do best to either test what you get or demand to know what fell off the back of a truck for their sales.

Absolutely

@@TheNakedPhotographer Being young I never had to use an hardening fixer before, I’ll keep in mind to use some hypo clear to wash off this kind of fixer. Thanks for your time.

Wash aid is Ilford’s name for hypoclear. Both Ilford and Kodak say cold storage is good for unexposed film, bad for exposed.

Chemist here. A lot of chemical processes are what we call diffusion limited. There are two phases that do not mix, in this case emulsion and water. What determines the amount of time for the process to complete is diffusion out of the emulsion. This diffusion takes place inside the emulsion. Flow rate and agitation of the water have little effect because the limiting process is not in the water. You need a little flow rate or a little agitation and changing to keep diffusion through the water from becoming another limiting factor, but increasing flow rate or agitation beyond that little amount has essentially no effect. Greg didn’t mention this, but temperature does have an effect. Diffusion is a strongly temperature dependent process.That’s true of pretty much any diffusion process. Temperature measures the speed of random molecular motion and diffusion is random molecular motion. Hardening has a side effect of slowing hypo diffusion out of emulsion. Hypo clearing agent largely restores the diffusion rate.

Check the bottle

My test was at 20°C, but you can use a temperature range of 18-24°C without a time change

The colder the water, the less effective the wash

Ilford fixers do not have a gelatin hardening chemical in them, but Kodak fixers do or can be added.

@@TheNakedPhotographer thank you

That’s probably not enough

@@TheNakedPhotographer Kodak lied to me? :( I don't just fill and dump, I use the reel holder and slosh the reel up and down until water is filled to the brim.

Without testing I couldn’t say if that adequately washed the film or not

@@TheNakedPhotographer Any way to tell? Or do I just have to wait and see over a few years.

@@Adrian-wd4rn Did you watch the video? He shows how to do that...