I recently made the mistake of using thiourea toner after it was exhausted. Instead of getting the cold brown tone I was looking for, some of the prints towards the end of my session got warm- and even yellow-brown. My guess is the sodium hydroxide, which makes for a colder tone, in the solution was no longer active. My question is: Is it possible to rebleach these already toned prints and retone them in fresh thiourea toner to obtain the cold brown I wanted? Any feedback is much appreciated.

Thanks, Jon

-- Jon J. Eilenberg (jon.eilenberg@westgroup.com), April 22, 1998

Answers

Jon,

Based on my own experience, I believe that the honest answer is 'No'. I don't think that re-bleaching and re-toning will get ytou anywhere at all. Even if it did, I do not believe that the results would be at all satisfactory. Toning is a tricky issue at the best of times, as there are far too many variables involved to allow any departure from a strictly tried-and-tested procedure. Personally, I would grit my teeth and re-print the pictures. If you are using a proprietary Thiourea toner, you might like to consider mixing your own. This would reduce the cost, and hence the temptation to push your chemicals too far. If you need a formula, please e-mail me.

Regards

Joe R.

-- Joe Rooney (postmaster@parkphoto.co.uk), June 16, 1998.