Bleach - pink stains in selenium

[Myxine]

Hello all,

I apologize if this is something that has been already discussed or should be common knowledge, but something very annoying happened to several of my prints, and I really would like to avoid that in the future.

So: I printed yesterday a photography from "White House" taken at Canyon de Chelly. I wanted to draw the attention to the little pictograph that is at the bottom of the picture (you can actually see an ok print in my gallery, just wanted to improve it).
After I fixed the print twice and washed it a bit, I used bleach from my Moersch sepia toner kit (so i don't exactly know what kind of bleach it is) to lighten a bit the little dude on the pictograph. Was careful not to overdo it.
I then washed the print thoroughly for an hour.

Today I tried to tone the print in selenium (1 + 10) and an awful pink stain appeared where I used the bleach. Actually, on a bigger area. The print went to the trash. It actually happened to me every time I used bleach before toning in selenium. I thought I had not washed the print enough in the past, but this time I was careful.

What I am doing wrong? Any idea on how I could prevent that from happening? Thanks for your advices

 

[cowanw]

Do you re fix after bleaching?

 

[Myxine]

I haven't, no. Was this my mistake?

 

[cowanw]

I believe the bleach will rehalogenate the silver. It could be developed again or you should fix it out.

 

[Myxine]

Thanks! Wont make the mistake anymore

 

[Doremus Scudder]

Always fix after bleaching. The bleached-out silver needs to be removed from the emulsion.

Even so, bleaching often changes the characteristics of the silver grains in the print, making them tone differently. You need to be aware of this and take appropriate cautions when toning.

I have a very weak toning solution that I use on prints that have been bleached (I use a potassium ferricyanide/potassium bromide rehalogenating bleach) and I watch the bleached areas very carefully when toning for any undue change in tone. If I see something amiss, I'll pull the print right away. It may be alright, but if not, I know that the next print (I usually have several of each to tone) needs less time!

I sometimes have to live with a bit less toning than I would otherwise wish. Many times, however, the bleached area of the print tones just fine. The effect varies from paper to paper.

Best,

Doremus


www.DoremusScudder.com

 

[Myxine]

Thanks a lot for your advices!