Clearing Platinum Prints with Permawash?

rmann · Aug 20, 2011

I have had some problems clearing platinum prints using EDTA, even an overnight soaking wasn't enough to remove a yellow cast. Is there a shelf life to EDTA?

I had a little Permawash in the darkroom, and tried that yesterday, seems to clear the yellow cast in about 15 minutes. Has anyone else used Permawash for clearing prints?

deisenlord · Aug 20, 2011

Yes, probably the most common clearing agents are HCA and Permawash. I've heard of many problems with straight EDTA, I've used sodium sulfite+EDTA effectively. You need your bath to be acidic.

Mark Fisher · Aug 20, 2011

I had problems clearing Kallitypes and Permawash was the only thing I could get to work reliably.

TheFlyingCamera · Aug 20, 2011

I've always used an EDTA + Permawash bath for clearing my pt/pd. I'm going down to my darkroom in a bit and I'll look up the exact recipe, but off the top of my head it's one tablespoon of EDTA plus 3/4 oz Permawash per liter/quart of water.

Vaughn · Aug 20, 2011

I use a dilute bath of citric acid (30 grams in 1500 ml water) for the first bath, then two baths of Kodak HCA (with a little EDTA tossed in). Works for me.

Last Light, Yosemite National Park
4x10 Platinum/Palladium Print

rmann · Aug 21, 2011

Thanks everyone, looks like I will be getting some more Permawash.

donbga · Aug 21, 2011

Vaughn said:
I use a dilute bath of citric acid (30 grams in 1500 ml water) for the first bath,
Last Light, Yosemite National Park
4x10 Platinum/Palladium Print

Exactly what Vaughn said. I would add go directly to the citric bath without any intervening water rinse.

doughowk · Aug 21, 2011

Another variation from others: I use 3 baths ( 5 mins each) preceded by brief water rinse.
1st & 3rd baths are:
30 grams EDTA (tetra)
15 grams Citric Acid
15 grams Sodium Sulfite
For liter distilled water

2nd bath - Hypo Clear:
200 grams Sodium Sulfite
50 grams Sodium Bisulfite + liter water

Not sure where I got this, but seems to work fine.

TheFlyingCamera · Aug 21, 2011

I tried going directly to the clearing bath from the developer today - it works. That said, you get a LOT of carry-over from the developer in the clearing bath, which would lead to accelerated exhaustion of the clearing bath. I'm not a big fan of wasting chemicals if I don't have to, and this seems like waste to me. Unless you are having problems with pH that lead to clearing failure, I'd still go with the water wash before the clearing bath. It's similar to going direct from developer to fix for your silver-gelatin prints. You certainly CAN, but you'll exhaust your fix that much faster.

Vaughn · Aug 22, 2011

I used a short water bath before the Citric Acid -- perhaps I will not next time. Citric Acid is not too expensive ($52 for 10 pounds...if I needed that amount!) and I can easily make up several baths depending on my output.

I also rinse the prints between the Citric Acid and the HCA/EDTA...just to get the surface Citric Acid off the paper before the next clearing bath. I tend to do long washes, but I have never measured the pH level of the finished print. Between the Citric Acid, and the presoak of the paper in 3 to 5% Oxalic Acid, I suppose the washed print might lean towards a sub 7.0 pH.

Vaughn

donbga · Aug 22, 2011

TheFlyingCamera said:
That said, you get a LOT of carry-over from the developer in the clearing bath, which would lead to accelerated exhaustion of the clearing bath. I'm not a big fan of wasting chemicals if I don't have to, and this seems like waste to me.

Click to expand...

That's why I use a 3% citric for the first clearing bath. It gets dumped after each print. Citric is cheap compared to other clearing agents. I'd rather dump the citric than have a wasted print too. In fact I had to do this to prevent staining when making Kallitypes. After the citric bath I rinse in tap water, before the next clearing step.

It's similar to going direct from developer to fix for your silver-gelatin prints. You certainly CAN, but you'll exhaust your fix that much faster.

Click to expand...

Hardly an apt comparison since dev. to fixer is definitely a no-no for silver gelatin.

Clearing Platinum Prints with Permawash?

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