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Process control

Kodak’s film wash is 20–30 or 5 by sheet

Shows that Kodak’s film and process sheets examined here publish three film-wash framings: T-MAX F-4016 and F-4043 print only a 20–30 minute plain running-water wash and name Hypo Clearing Agent to save time and water without stating a shortened wash duration; TRI-X F-4017 and AJ-3 explicitly fork 20–30 minutes without Hypo Clearing Agent versus 5 minutes after it; and developer/summary sheets J-109, J-86 and ED-BWF print only the Hypo Clearing Agent then 5-minute wash path in their final-steps tables.

Published by AnalogFixer ·

Kodak does not publish one film-wash duration across the sources examined here for film sheets, developer sheets and process summaries.

On T-MAX film sheets F-4016 and F-4043, the FINAL STEPS block states a 20–30 minute running-water wash and then tells the reader that Hypo Clearing Agent saves time and water — without printing the shortened wash time those other sheets attach to that product. On TRI-X F-4017 and on AJ-3, the same 20–30 / 5 fork is explicit. On XTOL J-109, T-MAX Developers J-86 and the ED-BWF summary, the final-steps tables show only Hypo Clearing Agent followed by a 5-minute wash.

This article compares those wash framings. It is not a wash recipe, and it does not measure residual thiosulfate or rank the paths for permanence.

T-MAX sheets: 20–30, and HCA without a reduced clock

F-4016 for KODAK PROFESSIONAL T-MAX 100 Film / 100TMX, June 2018 (Revised 6-18), under FINAL STEPS, states:

Wash for 20 to 30 minutes in running water at 65 to 75°F (18 to 24°C) with a flow rate that provides at least one complete change of water in 5 minutes. You can wash long rolls on the processing reel. To save time and conserve water, use KODAK PROFESSIONAL Hypo Clearing Agent.

The same paragraph appears in the February 2016 F-4016 hosted on a Kodak Moments business domain. Sister sheet F-4043 for T-MAX 400, February 2016, repeats the same 20–30 minute wash and the same “save time and conserve water” Hypo Clearing Agent sentence.

Neither T-MAX sheet’s FINAL STEPS block prints a 5-minute wash after Hypo Clearing Agent, or any other shortened wash duration for that product. A complete-document search of F-4016 June 2018 and F-4043 February 2016 examined here finds no 20:00 to 30:00 / 5:00 wash fork of the TRI-X kind.

On those same FINAL STEPS pages, Hypo Clearing Agent also appears in a different role: removing a slight magenta (pink) stain after fixing. That stain use is not a wash-time figure and does not fill the missing shortened wash clock.

Bar chart of three Kodak film wash framings: 20–30 min plain, fork with HCA, and HCA plus 5 min.

TRI-X and AJ-3 print both numbers

F-4017 for KODAK PROFESSIONAL TRI-X 320 and 400 Films, December 2016 (Revised 12-16), puts the fork in a FINAL STEPS table at 65 to 75°F (18 to 24°C):

Wash path Times printed
Running water alone 20:00 to 30:00
Rinse with water, then Hypo Clearing Agent, then running water 0:30 / 1:00 to 2:00 / 5:00

The table labels the two routes with an explicit “—OR—”. The 5-minute wash sits only on the Hypo Clearing Agent branch.

AJ-3, How to Process and Print Black-and-White Film, February 2016 (Revised 2/16), does the same in its small-tank process table. Step 6, Water Wash, is timed:

5 minutes after Hypo Clearing Agent
OR
20 to 30 minutes without Hypo Clearing Agent step

AJ-3’s later chemicals summary adds the product claim that Hypo Clearing Agent “reduces the wash time to 5 minutes for films” at a 1:4 dilution. That summary matches the short side of the AJ-3 / F-4017 fork. It is the duration F-4016 and F-4043 never print beside their “save time and conserve water” sentence.

Developer and summary sheets print only the short path

J-109 for KODAK PROFESSIONAL XTOL Developer, February 2018, under Final Steps in Small-Tank, Tray, and Rotary-Tube Processing, sequences Stop Bath, Fixer, Rinse, Hypo Clearing Agent (1 to 2 minutes), then Wash at 5 minutes, with the usual complete-change-in-5-minutes flow note and the small-tank fill-and-dump alternative (repeat the cycle 10 times). That table does not print a 20–30 minute plain-water alternative. A complete-document search of J-109 examined here finds no 20 to 30 wash wording.

J-86 for KODAK PROFESSIONAL T-MAX Developers, December 2017 (Revised 12-17), page 12 Quick Reference to Processing Films, likewise lists Hypo Clearing Agent for 1 to 2 minutes and Wash for 5 minutes, with the same flow / fill-and-dump notes. It does not reprint AJ-3’s “OR 20 to 30 minutes without Hypo Clearing Agent” line in that quick-reference table.

ED-BWF, Processing KODAK PROFESSIONAL Black-and-White Films, March 2023 (Revised 3-23), page 2 final-steps table matches that short path: wash aid (Hypo Clearing Agent) 1:00 to 2:00, then Wash 5:00. It cites F-4016, F-4043 and F-4017 as reference publications and does not reproduce F-4016/F-4043’s 20–30 minute plain wash or F-4017’s dual-path layout. A complete-document search of ED-BWF examined here finds no 20 to 30 wash wording.

So a reader who opens only J-109, J-86 or ED-BWF for “the” Kodak film wash meets a 5-minute step after Hypo Clearing Agent. A reader who opens only F-4016 or F-4043 meets a 20–30 minute plain wash plus an untimed Hypo Clearing Agent tip. A reader who opens F-4017 or AJ-3 meets both numbers on one page.

What a citation has to carry

Anyone quoting a Kodak film-wash duration from this set is quoting one of three published framings unless the citation names the document:

  • T-MAX F-4016 / F-4043: plain wash 20–30 minutes, with Hypo Clearing Agent named to save time and water but without a printed shortened wash time;
  • TRI-X F-4017 and AJ-3: explicit fork of 20–30 minutes without Hypo Clearing Agent versus 5 minutes after it (AJ-3’s chemicals summary restates the 5-minute film reduction);
  • J-109, J-86 quick reference and ED-BWF: final-steps tables that print only the Hypo Clearing Agent then 5-minute wash path.

No sheet in the sources examined here marks another sheet’s wash framing as superseded, supplies a residual-thiosulfate test tied to these minute figures, or explains why T-MAX FINAL STEPS omit the shortened clock that TRI-X, AJ-3, J-109, J-86 and ED-BWF publish. Choosing a working wash, treating “use Hypo Clearing Agent” on F-4016 as identical to AJ-3’s timed fork, or collapsing the three framings into one Kodak wash time goes past the documents. Ilford’s December 2017 sundries sheet publishes its own final-wash conflict after Washaid; see Washaid’s final wash is five minutes and twenty on one page. J-86’s Quick Reference crosses rinse and Hypo Clearing Agent notes even when the five-minute wash path looks normal; see J-86’s quick reference swaps the rinse and Hypo Clearing Agent notes.

References