I console myself with the thought that the water is not truly wasted. It will eventually fall as rain somewhere else.
Can you dry a print and continue to wash at a later time? I didn’t think that was possible.
Aquarium pump. So you don't have to spend water just for the sake of agitation.
Correction: Hypo Eliminator is problematic, and will make prints more susceptible to deterioration.
Hypo Clearing Agent will speed effective washing, and will enhance the longevity of your prints.
I hope not.
It is if (a) you are using Ilford paper, (b) monitoring fixer capacity closely, and (c) not overfixing.
Correction: Hypo Eliminator is problematic, and will make prints more susceptible to deterioration.
Hypo Clearing Agent will speed effective washing, and will enhance the longevity of your prints.
I'll note what I've seen at a couple of community darkrooms (where it makes sense to enforce a regimen to try and save water)
The fiber side has a 2-tray fix. I can't remember the times they specify for sure, possibly 2 min each?
Then, there is obviously a soak tray. The soak tray is in the darkroom tray area and under safelight. It is sometimes turned onto a trickle, and sometimes left off, but filled to the top and a bit of fresh added depending upon who/ how many people are in there.
Out in the main wash area is a pre-wash tray 5 min circulating, then a hypo-clearing tray 5 min, then an archival washer (big enough for 20x24) 10 min.
Usually, a survey of the current workers is taken and prints from a number of people go into the wash together, so the big washer isn't run for 2 pieces of 8x10.
As I type this out, I see where some savings could be made, but the instructions are clear, and they have monitors around to make sure no one really goes crazy.
Do you all rotate your prints in your hypo-clear tray? It makes sense to me to do so, but I cannot remember where I heard it.
I don't have running water in my darkroom setup, so I use a holding tray, a hypo-clear tray, and 2 wash trays. Wash tray #2 gets a complete dump and refill at least once. I get rid of/store all of my chemistry, clean trays, and then setup for wash which is why I use more than one for washing. In my head, it's easier than filling and dumping the single tray containing my prints. So I guess I use something approximating the Ilford method.
Y'all do know that there are easy and reliable tests for adequate fixing and washing, right?
Doremus
Has anybody used both Ilford and Fotospeed Washaid? How do they compare?
At B&H, the Fotospeed product at full dilution comes to about 1/3 the cost.
One simple way to conserve water is re-using the wash water for flushing the toilet (either directly from a bucket or turn off the water supply to the toilet tank and pour it in when empty) or for watering plants (maybe not the very first cycle). If it replaces water you'd otherwise use, you've effectively saved the whole amount.
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