Fogged Paper Disposal

I've got 2-300 sheets of RC paper which has fogged badly and is only capable of very low contrast even with G5 filtration. No huge loss as some is from ebay for next to nothing, some donated from friends, and the tail end of a couple of boxes bought over 5 years ago.

My time is precious, so not really interested in experimenting with anti-fogging additives, and I think it's probably too far gone for that anyway. It's really only fit for the bin, but I don't like the idea of sending all that silver to landfill.

Is there anywhere in the UK I can send this where the silver can be recovered? I'll even pay for postage if necessary rather than just see it go to waste.

Thanks,
Ian

There’s not much silver in a modest amount of paper. About the easiest way to extract it is to soak the paper in fixer. That dissolves the silver salts from the emulsion. The silver salts are then in solution in the fixer. The silver can be extracted from the fixer by electrolysis. It used to be that all high-volume photo labs had silver recovery units to remove the silver from spent fixing baths. Some amateur darkrooms were equipped with small units. In the US a popular version was sold under the name, “The Silver Magnet.”

Here’s one with a different name.

http://www.porters.com/silver-magnet-silver-recovery-unit.html

http://www.pneac.org/sheets/all/silver.cfm

As you're in the UK, perhaps ask Simon at Ilford/Harman if they could accept it to put with their silver waste for recovery? (Sorry if I'm speaking out of turn in that, but I understood from the factory visit that they recover all the silver from their waste like paper and film offcuts).

I'm not sure if it could be appealing to you, but (depending on brand) you could try developing those sheets in lith developer...I nearly tossed the same amount of old fogged Kodak Polymax, and tried it in lith...now it's the only paper I use with lith.

Just my 2c. Otherwise: See above poster (Ian C)

Donate the paper to a school, the students can have fun making sun prints by placing various objects on the paper and exposing it to sunlight. The light will darken the paper and no development is required.

Why don't you give it away on the forum? Someone making lumen prints or experimenting might find it useful. I'll bet someone nearby you snaps it up if you offer it.

If they havn't been processed, how about giving (or selling) it to someone who is doing carbon transfer printing?

Ricus.stormfire said:

I'm not sure if it could be appealing to you, but (depending on brand) you could try developing those sheets in lith developer...I nearly tossed the same amount of old fogged Kodak Polymax, and tried it in lith...now it's the only paper I use with lith.

Just my 2c. Otherwise: See above poster (Ian C)

Click to expand...

Yes, I was going to suggest donating to someone who does lith. Even if they are too fogged for lith prints, they might make nice "old brown" generators...

Carbon printer sending a PM...

--Greg

I do lith print, but never got anything I liked with any of this paper even before it went bad. I'd not considered it would be usable by anyone else. International shipping is a bit steep, but if someone in the UK can use this paper and wouldn't mind covering my costs I'll be happy to send any combination of the following:

All quantities are a rough guess; may be more, may be less.

8x10 (50 sheets) and 12x16 (5 sheets) (also a few sheets of some unidentified 9.5x12 that's probably the same paper) Ilford MGIV RC Pearl
10x10 Kentmere Bromide Glossy RC Grade 2 (30 sheets) and Grade 3 (50 sheets)
5x7 (60 sheets), 8x10 (60 sheets), 12x16 (5 sheets) Kentmere VC Select
8x10 Ilford Merit RC Grade 2 (20 sheets) and Grade 3 (20 sheets)

Once again, I'll make it clear that I've been unable to get clear highlights on any of this paper. The graded has very noticeably lost contrast, and the multigrade is unable to get to more that G1-2 even with G5 filtration. The newest paper is around 6 years old, and some is 10 or more and has an uncertain storage history.

Ian

hi stan

i sell silver magnets if you have the hankering to go that route . they cost 55 + shipping.
i have armloads of fogged paper used for paper negatives and sun prints, its fun

have you tried to make paper negatives with your paper?

good luck !
john