Bichromate Process and Bathroom Fixtures

[Jeremy]

As I live with my parents while attending university I have to keep the bathroom where my washing happens stain-free. With pd this hasn't been a problem, but I need to make sure that my move into gum bichromate won't stain any of the porcelain in the bathroom. I figure the pigments shouldn't be a problem because watercolor is water soluble, but I need to know of anything I might run into which couldn't be removed.

Thanks!

 

[Michael Mutmansky]

Jeremy,

That's a good question. The dichromate can stain things pretty easily, but I haven't tried it on anything glazed. It can leave yellow stains on fiberglass trays and other plastics, depending on the material.

My guess is that if you can avoid getting stains on things from the palladium solution in pt/pd than I think you will probably be fine with gum bichromate. Don't leave any cloudy water sitting around, though, as it may leave a ring on things that will build up into a noticeable stain over time.

I think the pigment is the majority of the staining that I see, but it wouldn't penetrate into a glazed fixture, so you souldn't have to worry about that.


---Michael

 

[Jeremy]

Thanks, Michael. I'm not worried about the trays, but when I dispose of the pd chemicals I dilute them with water and they go down the bathtub drain. The same thing will be done with the gum chems.