# rinse step



## C. M (Oct 14, 2020)

Can you REUSE the rinse water? Im just asking as BW is fun, but I have hard water and well im thinking i should try distilled, but thought to ask,, 

when i pour the cinestill monobath developer out, and put the rinse water in,,, can i simply pour a few gallons of distilled water into a big bucket and reuse it for multiple rolls of developing?


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## compur (Oct 14, 2020)

Hard rinse water shouldn't be a problem. I would save the distilled water for mixing your developer, fix, etc


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## webestang64 (Oct 15, 2020)

When rinsing film you want to use running water at a minimum of 20-30 mins. Hard water for rinse is fine, I've been using St. Louis hard water since 1980 and have no problems. 
For sure use distilled water fro mixing chems.


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## compur (Oct 15, 2020)

C. M said:


> is using the same volume of water to rinse multiple rolls of film going to create problems on the rolls as far as chemical reaction goes?



Yes.

The purpose of rinsing is to remove fixer and other chemicals from the film. Putting film back into the used rinse water containing the chemicals you just removed would defeat that purpose.


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## smithdan (Oct 17, 2020)

I have used in the distant past a product called hypo clearing agent that claimed to reduce rinse times.  Think I mainly used it on fiber base papers though.  Maybe someone here has used it more recently.


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## webestang64 (Oct 17, 2020)

Yes, Hypo can be used with paper (mostly Fiber as RC has a short wash time) and film to reduce washing times.


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## terri (Oct 17, 2020)

Give the so-called Ilford rinse method a try.   Basically it's a way to reduce water use, of any type (but never USED water!), in which you fill the tank and invert in 5-10-20 times in stages, dumping and refilling the tank between inversions. 

I would really advise you follow up _any_ kind of wash with some kind of wetting agent (Ilford will mention their brand in the link, there's also Photo Flo by Kodak - I use LFN by Edwal - lots of options).    All these products help reduce water spots on film, which might be more of a problem the harder the water is.


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## webestang64 (Oct 17, 2020)

terri said:


> I would really advise you follow up _any_ kind of wash with some kind of wetting agent (Ilford will mention their brand in the link, there's also Photo Flo by Kodak - I use LFN by Edwal - lots of options). All these products help reduce water spots on film, which might be more of a problem the harder the water is.



Plus no need to use a squeegee. Just tilt the film and let it drip off the end, hang to dry. (I'm anti-squeegee cause I develop BW film on a professional commercial level).


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## terri (Oct 17, 2020)

webestang64 said:


> terri said:
> 
> 
> > I would really advise you follow up _any_ kind of wash with some kind of wetting agent (Ilford will mention their brand in the link, there's also Photo Flo by Kodak - I use LFN by Edwal - lots of options). All these products help reduce water spots on film, which might be more of a problem the harder the water is.
> ...


The idea of squeegees over film scare me!      I hang my strips, let them dry and inspect them for any marks before cutting and sleeving.   "Film clean" type products can buff most anything out if it's there.


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