Sepia Sulfide 221 Toner is a classic bleach and redevelopment toner that produces rich permanent sepia-brown tones. Most types of paper tone well with this process, including resin coated paper. Different brands of paper will give you different tones, therefore it is advised you test the paper you are using before toning a print. Oriental VC Plus developed in G.262 toned slightly red, whereas prints developed in GAF-125 became a deeper, richer brown. The bleach contains potassium ferricyanide that changes the metallic silver to a silver salt. After bleaching the print is then redeveloped in sodium sulfide. The end result can give the impression of a print made in the late 1800°s.

Red tones may be obtained by first toning the print with Sepia Sulfide Toner 221. This process involves an intial bleaching of the print with Sepia Sulfide Toner 221, Bleach and Redevelopment. The well washed print is then toned in Gold Toner (GAF 231) or Gold Thiocarbamide Toner (Ilford IT-6) for 15 to 45 minutes. For redder tones one-half the specified amount of Ammonium Thiocyanate may be used with Gold Thiocarbamide Toner (Ilford IT-6).

Thiourea Print Toner uses the same bleach solution.

CHEMICAL SAFETY

SODIUM SULFIDE is not Sodium Sulfite. Sodium Sulfite, a preservative used in almost all photographic developers, is considered to be a bland chemical. Sodium Sulfide is a powerful fogging agent, is used mainly in toning bath and is a dangerous chemical if used incorrectly. Sodium Sulfide should be used with considerable care. Do not allow it to come into contact with acidic solutions. Sodium Sulfide (as a solid or in solutions will react with acid to form hydrogen sulfide, a foul smelling and poisonous gas. Hydrogen sulfide gas will fog photographic emulsions so keep paper and film isolated when toning. Sodium Sulfide and its solutions are caustic. Do not allow them to come into contact with the skin as they can cause a chemical burn. If contact should occur, wash the area first with cold waterfollowed by soap and water. Dispose of solid Sodium Sulfide or a solution of Sodium Sulfide down a drain. First run cold tap water down the drain for a few minutes to make sure no acid remains in the drain trap, place the solid or pour the liquid into the drain. Run tap water down the drain for at least 5 minutes.

POTASSIUM FERRICYANIDE: In spite of the fact that this compound contains cyanide, it is not particularly toxic. The reason is that the cyanide groups bind to the iron atom and are not free to act as a poison. The cyanide groups can be released as hydrogen cyanide gas if the Potassium Ferricyanide is placed in a strong acid solution. Dispose of excess Potassium Ferricyanide down the drain with excessive amounts of water.

MIXING THE SOLUTIONS

CAUTION: Never use metal utensils or containers in the preparation of or in the use of toning solutions.

BLEACH SOLUTION

Chemical	Amount	Units
Water (125°F/52°C)	750	ml
Potassium Ferricyanide	50	g
Potassium Bromide	10	g
Sodium Carbonate (mono)	20	g
Cold water to make	1000	ml

Place the warm water in a mixing container and add the Potassium Ferricyanide. Stir the solution until the solid completely dissolves. Add each chemical in the order given above, stirring the solution after adding each until it is completely dissolved. Finally add cold water to bring the final volume of the solution up to 1000 ml. Stir the final solution to ensure it is mixed thoroughly. It is best to store this working bleach solution in the dark. Potassium Ferricyanide solutions are somewhat light sensitive. Should the stock solution turn blue, the bleach has been ruined and must be discarded.

STOCK SOLUTION B (The redevelopment solution)
This solution must be mixed in a well ventilated area. Small amounts of hydrogen sulfide will be given off during mixing. This compound is a poisonous and powerful photographic fogging agent. Since sulfide solution is quite caustic, you should wear rubber gloves while mixing and transferring this solution.

REDEVELOPMENT STOCK SOLUTION

Chemical	Amount	Units
Water (120°F/48°C)	750	ml
Sodium Sulfide	90	g
Cold water to make	1000	ml

Place 300 ml of water in the mixing container and add the Sodium Sulfide. Stir the solution until the solid completely dissolves. Add cold water to bring the volume up to 1000 ml and stir to ensure the solution is mixed thoroughly. After mixing, clean all the utensils thoroughly with water followed by soap and water. Should any of this solution be spilled on your skin, wash immediately with cold water followed by soap and water.

USING THE TONER
Correctly exposed and fully developed prints work best. This toner MUST be used in a well ventilated area.

BLEACHING THE PRINT
Undiluted Stock Solution A is used at room temperature as the bleach. The print to be bleached must be thoroughly washed and wet before it is immersed in the bleach solution. If residual hypo is left on the print, the hypo combined with the ferricyanide in the bleach will cause permanent loss of the image. Pour just enough Stock Solution A to cover a print into a plastic or glass tray. Immerse the print in the bleach solution and gently rock the tray. The black image will be converted to a light brown or straw colored image, or may disappear altogether depending on your paper, within one minute. Wash the bleached print in running water (68°F/20°C) for 10-15 minutes. During the wash, the yellow ferricyanide color on the print will be lost. The bleach solution can be reused.

REDEVELOPMENT
A redevelopment working solution is prepared by diluting one part of Stock Solution B with 8 parts of water. This working solution is to be discarded after a working session (see the Safety Discussion on the disposal of sulfide solutions

USAGE
Place the working solution in a plastic or glass tray and immerse the well-washed, bleached print. Redevelopment of the image to a rich sepia tone will occur in about 1 minute.

IMPORTANT: Use clean trays, free from exposed iron spots especially with bleaching bath. Otherwise blue spots may form on prints. After redevelopment, wash the print in running water for about 30 minutes.

AFTER TREATMENT
The sulfide bath will soften the emulsion of the print. Therefore, it is advisable to harden the print before it is dried. You may fix the toned print in a fixer with hardener Photographers' Formulary (Cat. No. 03-0146) for 30 minutes, with a 10 minute wash to follow.

NOTE
The Bleach solution is the same used by Thiourea Print Toner

REFERENCE
Photo-Lab-Index, Section 15, Supplement 172, p. 64.
Sepia Sulfide Toner 221, Kit No. 06-0035, Photographers' Formulary (800-922-5255).
The Darkroom Cookbook, Stephen G. Anchell, p.160.

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