Time for rinsing?
In the photographic book "Enlargement Technique in Photography" by Tadeusz Klimecki, I found such recipes for baths to shorten rinsing time:
-125ml of hydrogen peroxide water -15ml of ammonia -water to a volume of 1l -500ml oxidized water -3% ammonia 100ml -water to a volume of 1l In both the bath time is 5 min. Has anyone used it? How long should one rinse in water after this bath? |
Hi.
That is a hypo eliminator formula. It is not recommended to use this except in very specific circumstances where you need to remove *all* fixer residue from a print or film - doing so actually reduces the lifespan of the material. It was quite popular back in the day, but is rarely used with modern materials. If you wish to reduce washing times, use hypo clearing agent. This is a different concept that uses sodium sulfite (approx 20g per litre of water) to make the fixer ("hypo") residue rinse out of the paper more readily. Exact times depend on how you fixed the paper: fresh fixer at 1+4 dilution means a 1 minute fix, then 1 minute rinse followed by at least 5 minutes in the hypo-clear, followed by a final 10 minute wash (all washes in running water). Weaker fixer will require longer times as the longer time required in the fixer means more of it soaks into the paper. This is only recommended for traditional Baryta and other papers that are not resin-coated. RC papers wash in a couple of minutes as the paper does not absorb the fixer so hypo-clear is not useful. Film also washes quickly without it, so it is rarely used for film. |
Hypo clearing agent is very good as it eliminates more hypo from fiber prints than 1h washing.
I usually do hypo clearing for 3 minutes agitation and then 1 hour wash to be sure print will last long. Downside is only its tray/shelf live - no longer than 24hrs. |
Kodak HCA suggests a rinse after fixing for 1 minute, then HCA for 3 minutes with constant agitation then wash for 20 minutes, I agitate for 4 minutes, then wash for 30 minutes, I prefer to err on the safe side for prints, I don't use it for films, 20 minutes washing is fine for films, Kodak Hypo Clearing Agent is a powder, and makes 3.8 litres, and dilutes at 1/4, that is for 1 litre 200 ml of HCA to 800 water, and I mix fresh for every print session, For film and RC paper it is not needed, only for FB paper
Richard |
I make photographs for decades. There still exist some of my prints form the seventies. Of course, I worked rather sloppy in my younger day. And: The only paper of that time was Baryta.
I got problems with prints only if they were not fixed properly. If they glued at each other in the fix or so. This gives brown or magenta staining. I don't believe that is necessary to wash prints so far. There are clues that some fix in the print protects it. Now I make baryta most for exhibition prints. I was them 3..4 times with fresh water in a tray, only one print in the tray, face down. I make this in the darkroom and make something other during that time (other prints). That need less water, nearly no extra time. I have prints washed this method which are 20 years old. If we think what could be happen with not proeperly washed prints: The remaining silver (thiosulftate compllex) may be reduced to silver again and may give a slight stain. This stain will be subtle - even after a short wash there is not mcuh remaining silver. And this stain will be rather homogenous. If you are in a doubt I recommend to wash a test strip and give one half in a strong Selenium (1+10) toner. This toner converts all the remaining silver complex into silver selenide. Do you see something? It will be detected most easily at the white border. |
BTW, anyone interested may like to read Martin Reed's investigative article reproduced in the Articles section. In two parts, the first is mostly theory (http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.or...read.php?t=296) and the second part is primarily practical (http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.or...read.php?t=344).
In practice, like Uwe, I leave the paper(s) soaking in either 1st rinse, sulphite and/or final wash while I get on with the next print and as long as the final wash has been > 10 mins (per FADU Android timer!) I move everything along one step. |
I agree with Bob and Uwe. How and what you do to wash your prints will depend on getting the cubic rate of water put through right. to slow will not wash properly to fast will not wash properly. (see above of links about this)
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