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  #1  
Old 1st July 2020, 06:22 AM
High Sierra High Sierra is offline
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Default Washing Prints

Can you wash your RC print for too long? Is it ok to leave the print floating in water for a couple of hours or more?
Pete
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Old 1st July 2020, 07:22 AM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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My darkroom has no running water, so when using RC paper I put my prints in a holding bath, and have left them there untill the end of the session, sometimes 4 or 5 hours without problems, washing under running water is different, maybe 19 to 15 minutes in a print washer id fine, but wash them for a hour can cause the endss of the rc paper to de laminte,so they say I have never tried,it,
Richard
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Old 1st July 2020, 08:01 AM
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MartyNL MartyNL is offline
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Naturally it's best if you can devise a system whereby prints can be washed while you're working.
In my case, after using a holding tray in the darkroom, I put water in the bath and use a small pump to circulate the water through my print washer in a closed-loop type of system.
Recently I've been toning prints, all fb and I'm happy to report no incidents of staining. So the process appears archival proof.
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Old 1st July 2020, 08:29 AM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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For rc prints you can easily make a print washer, take an old print developing tray, or a large cat litter tray, to take the largest praper you use, then drill a lot of holes in the bottom of the tray, for a litter tray fix a three lengths of wood or plastic strip in between the holes to keep the paper from settling over the holes and blocking them, and you have a perfect washer for RC paper, I have even washed FB paper in one, I would wash 2 sheets of RC or FB paper at a time under running water,while making the next 2, and it worked fine, prints both FB and RC I washed 10 years ago still no stains Ect, for FB paper I would use Hypo clear,
Richard
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Old 1st July 2020, 09:11 AM
High Sierra High Sierra is offline
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Thanks for these answers.
Pete
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Old 1st July 2020, 11:01 AM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Just to reinforce what has been said: When I was on my evening class for b&w darkroom work at Leamington College all 20 students left their prints in a giant holding bath until near the end of the session when nearly everybody queued for the machine which dried the prints in about 10 secs each . A great piece of kit for volume RC

So clearly a lot of prints were floating in that bath for maybe a couple of hours of more ( it was a 3.5 hour session each time) and I cannot recall anyone saying that their prints had come to any harm. It was along time ago now but I suspect there was a very slow change of water occurring in that bath so it wasn't entirely still water so some washing movement of water was taking place albeit an almost imperceptible movement

Mike
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Old 1st July 2020, 11:45 AM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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My RC prints get left in a print washer, way past Ilford's recommended times, as my particular method of working is easier for me.

I have never seen any separation of the RC from the paper layer.

Only once, did I forget about a few test prints that I had put in the washer. They ended up being left overnight in the water.

The following day, I took them out of the water, and there was still no separation of the different layers. But, the emulsion had started to dissolve and the print slid off of the RC paper base.

From this experience, I have never been too worried about leaving prints in a water bath for an extended time, although I do try to keep it to the minimum, when possible.

Terry S
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Old 1st July 2020, 12:11 PM
High Sierra High Sierra is offline
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Thanks Terry and Mike.
Pete
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Old 2nd July 2020, 10:56 AM
JOReynolds JOReynolds is offline
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Default Wash and Dry

I do exactly as Richard Gould. I don't have running water in my darkroom, so I put finished RC prints in a tray full of water (which may be a bit fix-contaminated) and wash them in a butler's sink at the end of the session. I fashioned a drain standpipe (which takes contaminated water from the bottom of the sink) to maintain the level in the sink.
Years ago I invested in an Ilford dryer (I drove hundreds of miles to collect it) which is next to the sink. I think the gearbox is a bit tired but I only switch it on for perhaps twenty minutes each session, so it should last me out. This is a really efficient way of finishing a batch of prints. And the gloss is superb.
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Old 2nd July 2020, 12:23 PM
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I made the same mistake as Terry by leaving a print overnight with the same result! I seem to recall some very slight (1 mm or less) separation at the edges after a few hours, but I'm not 100% sure now as that was some years ago and my normal process is to wash RC as soon as it is fixed.
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