Makeshift print washer

First of all, excuse me for my bad amnd quick writing. And typing on a iphone does not help.

A little background;

I’ve been actively printing in my darkrooms for the past 30 years, therefore I have ended up owning a multitude of print washers. I have slowly shifted from using the 11x14 Zone VI to a Plastic 11x14 Paterson for its extreme ease of use, for all prints 11x14 ans smaller.

The paterson fits inside a my plastic 24”x22”x 32” Laundry tub. I throw the hose inside the paterson all the way town in a corner and let it overflow. The overflow in combination with the drain hole at the bottom creates a very good corculation and flow. Perfect wash. I fill it with as mush as 60 5x7 or 30 8x10.
Super easy access and easy to empty; Tilt.

I’ve been steadily printing 60 prints a day ever since the start of May. Sixty prints of any size, either 5x7, 4x6, 4x5 or 3.5x5. Images of kids ever since the day they were born. Small prints are so beautiful! And they make my wife cry every evening when I come home with a little stash of prints. Priceless memories.

However, I have run into a problem; the smaller the RC prints in relation to the print washer, they tend to turn themselves and stick face-to-back and thus the emulsion doesn’t wash (as opposed to back-toback/face-to-face) position. The whirling water makes the print swirl and go in this natural position. And FB papers tend to float!

These problems are exclusive to 4x6 and smaller.

Yesterday I finally finished printing through 5,000 rc papers and I switched to Fb 3.5”x5” and I quickly realized that I couldn’t wash them.
Although my Paterson washer was perfect fir 5x7 FB prints, it was unbearably painful to see all those 3.5x5 floating. I understood that I needed a smaller washer, and it would need to have have a whole set of technical specs. It had to be Small, great flow, easy access, top protection, easy to fill in under 1 minute and easy to empty in under 3 seconds for fast refills and perfect washes, and to be portable.

And then I had a rare flash of whit: I took advantage of the extremely fine and intelligently engineered Ilford 5L Bottle and customized it to my needs. Granted, it took me 20 seconds to make, but You have to give the credit to the minds that have created this 5L bottle, with all the exact specifications it needed to have in order to contain chemicals, not break, be able to whitstand shocks, and so on.

Here it is, the Ilford Multigrade washer for papers 4x6 and smaller.

specs and how to use:

-Accepts up to 50 prints. Fill with water with a hose through the lid hole, lift the handle and insert prints.
-great water flow
-empties in 3 seconds, fills within a minute with a 5L/minute water flow. That’s 60 cycles per hour.
-due to the size, the prints stay upside down.

Drill One or Two small 1/8” holes near the bottom in order for water to create its own natural whirl. It will overflow and drain from the little hole(s).

I will upload better pictures soon. I am extremely satisfied.

60 prints a day! I feel good if I can get 4-6 good prints from a darkroom session.

Pieter12 said:

60 prints a day! I feel good if I can get 4-6 good prints from a darkroom session.

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Yes, 6 days a week. I was starting to feel the burden of 12 years of kids photos. I had to roll up my sleeves and do something about it.

60 small prints is about the same as it takes me to print 8 11x14 good prints. However, the small prints are no works of art and there are a lot of contrast errors, but I do not care. I decided that the images fit my memory perfectly well.
60 is a lot of work and super deceitful at the same time, as they fit in one hand like a pack of cigarettes. Here is a stash of about 85 prints

edit: actually there are 65 in there

Great idea, I'll try this out

mattvo said:

Great idea, I'll try this out

Click to expand...

Thanks!

I’m can’t say how happy I am about this washer. Yes it might look like it’s a piece of shet but it has so many things going for it, it’s simply genius. The right height, right width, great water flow, easy to empty and refill. I really recomend that you cut it the way I did, by keeping the handle on top. It’s the handle that makes the whole thing working by enabling you to shake the washer, and simply manage the washer with one hand.

Just yesterday during my 4x5 (print size) printing session I decided I’d try my Paterson washer to see if I wasn’t kidding myself. And then the prints started to float all over the place, thus preventing a good wash. And not even counting the 500% extra use of water.

As you can see, I am delighted. Please share your experience.

(note: the handle will give you the possibility to convert the washer as a holding bath until you are finished printing, which you can later move to the bathroom and start washing directly in the sink, by letting water run into it. That’s for those who do not have running water in their darkroom).

Setting up a makeshift darkroom in a toilet or in a hotel room has always been easy. The problematic part has always been the washing. Using trays is not efficient and blocks you from printing more than 5 or 10 prints. This Ilford container solves all. It washes up to 60-70 prints in the upright position, a natural position once the water starts running.

And it weights nothing (insert a few laughing to tears emojis right here)