Farmer's Reducer is used mainly as a bleaching agent for photographic paper and film. One example of its use would be if you have a print that is too dark and wanted to lighten it. It is also used in retouching prints to remove dark areas or black spots. A more advanced use is in bleach and redevelopment processes: you develop the print normally, wash it (but do not fix!), bleach in Farmer's Reducer and wash, then develop again (usually with a different developer) - some interesting colour shifts and effects can result.

Farmer's Reducer as powder chemicals lasts virtually indefinitely if kept cool and dry, but once mixed has a very short working life (a matter of hours). That is why it is sold in multiple packs - the Fotospeed offering is four packs, each of which will make up to 250ml at full strength. (We also offer Tetenal's Reducer, which comes in a pack of 12 lots that each make 250ml.)

Because it is a bleach, you need to avoid skin contact and avoid splashing onto clothing or worktop surfaces - we supply 'finger cotts', lab aprons, lab coats and other products to reduce such risks.

For lower value items, we offer a choice of normal post or recorded delivery. For the cheaper normal post option, we will keep proof of posting and will accept no responsibility for non-delivery. Recorded delivery is trackable and we will replace items not received. If you wish to buy several items from us at the same time, we can quote a p&p cost based on actual package weight: this is usually substantially less than the sum of the individual p&p costs. (For overseas customers the equivalent choice is between standard air mail and Royal Mail Signed For service.)