I think I may have the explanation for Ron Mowrey's cryptic comment on
Microdol-X ingredients:
Metol
S. Sulfite
S. Citrate *
Chlororesorcinol
* The secret ingredient
Chlororesorcinol as an silver sequestrant was disclosed in the (in)famous Henn
patent #3,161,514, so obviously not a secret. I can't find any Kodak patent
that lists S. Citrate as a developer ingredient for silver sequestration though
there is mention of it's use as a pH buffer. This would make it's use in a
developer as a silver sequestrant "trade secret."
I am going to retry the experiment with S. Citrate as sequestrant using
homebrew M-X at 1:3 developing a roll of TMZ. The Henn patent mentions that
the dichroic fog problem gets worse with high speed emulsions and I imagine the
use of dilute developer might exacerbate the fog. At this point it may be that
S. Citrate alone is not sufficient.
The next step, I imagine, would be to add hair coloring to the developer...
--
Nicholas Lindan
Darkroom Automation