PRINT PAPER DRYING

[yya]

Hi guys
Here is a quick question
Due to space constraints, I cannot use fiberglass screen when drying fb paper, so my question is: is it possible to use rc paper rack and then use Heat Press to level fb paper?

 

[GregY]

I don't see why not. I don't know your heat press. I use fiberglass screens. Once the prints are completely dry, I flatten mine in a drymount press. I'd just watch the temperature. I use 190F for a minute or two (sandwiched between mat board with a layer of release paper.

 

[mshchem]

I would use a squeegee on the back of the print then a blotter book. Then gentle heat to flatten, over drying will induce the paper to curl on it's own.

 

[yya]

I would use a squeegee on the back of the print then a blotter book. Then gentle heat to flatten, over drying will induce the paper to curl on it's own.

Thanks!

 

[Hilo]

I have two lines over my sink and, after using a squeegee, I just hang them to dry using strong plastic clothes pecks. No extra heating for two reasons: 1) I don't want it go faster as then they curl more and 2) the prints will get more glossy (this is about fiber paper).
After that it is the drymounting press before 'resting' them between acid free blotters for at least a night.

Yes, the pecks leave marks on the prints. However, I always trim prints all around, about 1cm. This gets rid of the marks and it cuts the tension out of the paper which helps them to remain more flat.

 

[yya]

I have two lines over my sink and, after using a squeegee, I just hang them to dry using strong plastic clothes pecks. No extra heating for two reasons: 1) I don't want it go faster as then they curl more and 2) the prints will get more glossy (this is about fiber paper).
After that it is the drymounting press before 'resting' them between acid free blotters for at least a night.

Yes, the pecks leave marks on the prints. However, I always trim prints all around, about 1cm. This gets rid of the marks and it cuts the tension out of the paper which helps them to remain more flat.

Thanks！

 

[Hilo]

What I forgot to say: I often do 50x60cm prints (20x24in.) That's quite a weight when soaked with water.. So you need strong pecks. If you want I can show you some pictures.

 

[Paul Howell]

I use a couple of dish racks, the folding kind for RC, I just let them air dry unless it is test print to find how a print drys down I use a hair dyer. FB I dry on screen outside on my patio.

 

[yya]

I use a couple of dish racks, the folding kind for RC, I just let them air dry unless it is test print to find how a print drys down I use a hair dyer. FB I dry on screen outside on my patio.

if you use dish rack to dry fb, whats happend? I also use dish racks to dry rc in my dish washer

 

[GRHazelton]

Back in the day my Father (PhD in Chem Eng from Michigan) and I used a very dilute mix of ethylene glycol and water as a final brief soak for the fiber based papers of the day. The glycol solution made the paper slightly hygroscopic, so that it didn't completely dry out, and curled only slightly, if at all. IIRC Kodak made the print flattening solution we used.

Since ethylene glycol is poisonous, I imagine that propylene glycol, which is food safe, could also be used. Propylene glycol is used, for example, in treating wood salad bowls to prevent splitting. Perhaps there is a chemist or chemical engineer out there who could suggest the proper mix?

 

[Paul Howell]

if you use dish rack to dry fb, whats happend? I also use dish racks to dry rc in my dish washer

Too much curel, face down on a screen with a second screen on top FB dries somewhat flat, I then put into my mounting press to flatten.

 

[Doremus Scudder]

Blotter books are notorious for contaminating prints. Not because of the blotter book itself, but because of bad practice, i.e., drying not-completely-washed prints in the blotter book, which then contaminate the blotters and get passed to subsequent prints.

So, if you go the blotter book route, get a new one and be meticulous. Then you should have no problems.

I used to set up screens, separated by notched wooden blocks, whenever I needed to dry prints. Then I'd take the screens down and store them between printing sessions. (I've still got five or six of them, 2x3 feet, somewhere, in a plastic garbage bag - free for anyone who wants to pick them up). Point being, you don't have to have screens permanently set up.

Doremus

 

[snusmumriken]

It isn't very easy for moisture to escape from a heat press. I think you might have to take the print out to steam and in again a few times.

Before that, try a cold press. When the prints are dry enough that they don't flop when handled by the edges, stack them up neatly with a clean card or waste print at the top, and put them under a sheet of heavy glass with some books on top. (I use a sheet of strengthened glass from an old double glazing unit.) Leave them like this for a week. You can get FB prints surprisingly flat like this, and you may then consider the hot press unnecessary. It's best to do them in a stack so that there is an air gap at the sides for moisture to escape. Judging just when they are dry enough to place under the glass is something you will learn quickly. If they feel limp and cold they are too wet and will stick together. If they feel crisp they will flatten eventually, but not so perfectly and will take much longer.

I think your main problem will be to avoid pressure marks where the print touches the rack. If you can achieve that, you are 90% there.

 

[mshchem]

Back in the day my Father (PhD in Chem Eng from Michigan) and I used a very dilute mix of ethylene glycol and water as a final brief soak for the fiber based papers of the day. The glycol solution made the paper slightly hygroscopic, so that it didn't completely dry out, and curled only slightly, if at all. IIRC Kodak made the print flattening solution we used.

Since ethylene glycol is poisonous, I imagine that propylene glycol, which is food safe, could also be used. Propylene glycol is used, for example, in treating wood salad bowls to prevent splitting. Perhaps there is a chemist or chemical engineer out there who could suggest the proper mix?

I remember seeing propylene glycol listed on a label for soft cookies. If it works for cookies it should work for prints. I have bottles of the Kodak product, I need to try it.

 

[GregY]

It isn't very easy for moisture to escape from a heat press. I think you might have to take the print out to steam and in again a few times.

Before that, try a cold press. When the prints are dry enough that they don't flop when handled by the edges, stack them up neatly with a clean card or waste print at the top, and put them under a sheet of heavy glass with some books on top. (I use a sheet of strengthened glass from an old double glazing unit.) Leave them like this for a week. You can get FB prints surprisingly flat like this, and you may then consider the hot press unnecessary. It's best to do them in a stack so that there is an air gap at the sides for moisture to escape. Judging just when they are dry enough to place under the glass is something you will learn quickly. If they feel limp and cold they are too wet and will stick together. If they feel crisp they will flatten eventually, but not so perfectly and will take much longer.

I think your main problem will be to avoid pressure marks where the print touches the rack. If you can achieve that, you are 90% there.

I use a drymount press to flatten prints...not to dry them. They're dry before they get the 1-2min in the drymount press then 5-10 min under glass and they're flat

 

[yya]

I use a drymount press to flatten prints...not to dry them. They're dry before they get the 1-2min in the drymount press then 5-10 min under glass and they're flat

Thanks!

 

[yya]

Too much curel, face down on a screen with a second screen on top FB dries somewhat flat, I then put into my mounting press to flatten.

Can I ask what is your screen? fiberglass? or

 

[GregY]

Can I ask what is your screen? fiberglass? or

I have 8 Calumet 24x30 screens. I also have a stack of smaller fiberglass window screens bought at sale prices at the hardware store. They're all fiberglass screens with aluminum frames.

 

[yya]

I have 8 Calumet 24x30 screens. I also have a stack of smaller fiberglass window screens bought at sale prices at the hardware store. They're all fiberglass screens with aluminum frames.

I will DIY the screen with fiberglass and screen frame, one more thing, Do we need to store these screens very carefully? What I'm worried about is that the dust on the screen may affect the fb paper.

 

[GregY]

I will DIY the screen with fiberglass and screen frame, one more thing, Do we need to store these screens very carefully? What I'm worried about is that the dust on the screen may affect the fb paper.

i generally run a sponge over mine from time to time.... but have never had problems

 

[yya]

i generally run a sponge over mine from time to time.... but have never had problems

NICE!

 

[mshchem]

Dry fibre prints face up on the screen. On occasion depending on the paper, processing, and even warm temperatures you may get a slight impression of the screen in the gelatin.

 

[MattKing]

Some hang two prints together, clipped back to back.

 

[GregY]

Some hang two prints together, clipped back to back.

At the cost of 16x20" & 20x24," I'm not a fan of hanging paper....

 

[snusmumriken]

I will DIY the screen with fiberglass and screen frame, one more thing, Do we need to store these screens very carefully? What I'm worried about is that the dust on the screen may affect the fb paper.

In your OP you said you didn't have space for screens! Now you seem to be thinking of screens and a hot press. That's quite a lot of workspace.

What size prints do you intend to make, how many in each printing session, and what space do you have?