Thanks!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.
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.
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
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?
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
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
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.
i generally run a sponge over mine from time to time.... but have never had problems
Some hang two prints together, clipped back to back.
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.
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