hard lesson - don't oversoak your prints

[Leigh B]

Back in "the day", 50+ years ago, we left prints in the wash for the entire printing session (several hours).

Of course, RC paper didn't exist then... it was all fiber.

What was the water temperature?
Elevated temp can cause the emulsion to separate from the substrate. Should be the same temp as the developer and all other chems.

- Leigh

 

[pstake]

The bath temperature was room temperature. 68-70.

I had just mixed my developer (a new gallon of stock) about 2 hours beforehand. It was mixed at 80-90 degrees. And I didn't check the temperature when I used it, and I used it undiluted by cold water. So I'm thinking that must have been what did it. It must have still been warm. Dumb mistake.

What would be the effect of too strong of Stop bath on prints?

 

[Leigh B]

Stop bath strength really doesn't matter. The "stock" solution (Kodak Indicator SB and similar) is already highly diluted.

Most likely the elevated developer temp is the culprit.

- Leigh

 

[kevs]

Does anybody know if either too warm of developer or too strong of stop bath could have caused this to happen?

No, these things wouldn't cause emulsion lifting - well, not unless you used glacial acetic acid as a stop bath! :-D It's definitely the extended soaking that caused it.

Cheers,
kevs

 

[pstake]

Stop bath strength really doesn't matter. The "stock" solution (Kodak Indicator SB and similar) is already highly diluted.

Most likely the elevated developer temp is the culprit.

- Leigh

This would make the most sense. I've been using these papers for a while and never had this happen. The developer may have been warm, and if warm chemistry will lift the emulsion, then it stands to reason that the developer was in fact still warm, and that warm developer was the culprit.

Kevs ... I've soaked prints in water for this long and longer, with this same fiber paper... and never had this happen. I've soaked the Arista RC paper for an hour or so and never had this happen, either. So I don't think it was the soaking alone.

I don't want to demerit either of these papers. They are both fantastic, two of my favorites, each for different purposes. I don't use RC paper if I want archival quality. It's usually to give to friends or put in a frame on my desk at work, etc.

Thanks to everyone who replied. Sometimes you have to float a lot of ideas around before an answer comes out. This is one of the great things about APUG.

Cheers,
Phil