Dan wrote:
"I'd not noticed how 'slippery' developer is until now -- doing things one
at a time, I could move all the prints around with tongs, but now I have my
hands in it's very noticeable. I'm using stop bath to stop things, which has
the rather pleasant side effect of making my fingers nice and squeaky again
as it cancels out the developer on there as well as on the prints."
Developer needs to be quite strongly alkaline for it to work. The stop bath is
acidic to stop development.
Strong alkali denatures (and hence dissolves) the surface of your skin. This is
what causes the "soapy" feel of developing solution. When you dip your fingers
in stop bath or fixer the acid neutralises the alkali. You are eroding the
surface of your skin, and this is not good.
I'd strongly advise you to use rubber gloves or pincers for dipping into
developer. Also be very careful to avoid splashing (or rubbing) any developer
into your eyes for the same reason. If you are not a spectacle wearer then get
some safety glasses. If you do this by accident get your head under a cold tap
and flush out with lots of clean water. Then get yourself to a hospital.
Hope this helps.
Chris Barrett
Malvern
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