Bad fixer and/or incomplete wash.
Agree with Matt - bad fix or incomplete wash, leaning towards the fix being bad.
Even when printing, I always do a clip test with a piece of film to make sure the fix is working before I start. It has become habit, even after mixing fresh fix (this becomes my reference point). Also, what strength working solution is your fix?
As for washing, what is your washing routine? You should be washing RC prints in reasonably decent flowing water - Ilford suggest a minimum of 30 seconds(!!!????) if you are in a hurry, but this would in no way be archival at all. The reason I have written this is that even with minimal washing, you shouldn't see print degrading overnight. I have always washed for around 4 1/2 to 5 minutes with a decent water flow.
Hmmmm, the Stock solution of the fixer was only 1 1/2 months old? I would say that the fix was OK, based on the age, but I suppose that there is something else that could have caused it to go bad. I'm using Ilford Hypam fix and my current bottle of stock solution is over 18 months old and it still seems to be OK.
So, I assume that you have no fix left? Had you mixed the fix fresh, or were you using fix from before?
Based on the extra information, I'm not as convinced as before.
The usual cause is retained fixer, generally from an insufficient wash. If your water is cold or if you get less than one change a minute, you may need a longer washing time. Sometimes prints stick together of hover close to one another in the wash, which interferes with the agitation and washing. Use an archival washer or wash one at a time. Washing RC prints for up to 30 minutes (and probably longer) does no harm. It could conceivably be the water, Sometimes sulfides get int the water, and that can turn print brown.
Has anyone else here had the experience of prints that are OK about 10-12 hours after the fixing/ washing process and then brown as little as 12 hours later? That is what has happened to the OP's prints. If fix has exhausted would it give this effect?
Unless his water suddenly became different to what it has been when doing previous prints then does it seem likely to be connected with water? Nothing wrong with his washing routine that I can see or his fix in terms of age. I presume that he had used this fix recently and anyway it's only a month and a half old
I am completely puzzled.
pentaxuser
Oh and the browning is mainly on the print boarders not in the print itself.
Oh and the browning is mainly on the print boarders not in the print itself.
It could have something to do with your name.
Here's a thought. What if you somehow had a trace of fixer on your fingers after you had washed the print and then picked it up. I have no idea if fixer from fingers on a washed or washed and dried print would go brown but if it does and is nearer the edge of the print with the middle being fine then this might explain it.
pentaxuser
The browning is only in the boarder with the exception of one print and that one has a brown spot near the top. The highlights are nice and white and I can't find any other discoloration in the prints.
Bad fixer and/or incomplete wash.
I think it adds a certain charm, the mark of the maker. Look at the work of Josef Sudek.
Hi, I wonder if you're not agitating enough in the fixer, and the discolored borders are a result of the sides curling up slightly, so that they are nearly out of the fixer?
In a way, it's probably good to have gotten this "wake-up call" so early, rather than 2 or 3 years down the road. I think this is the sort of thing that teaches people to be more conservative with their processing habits.
What he said. At least they are prints which can be redone. Negatives, not so much.
One further possibility.
RC paper is subject to delamination around the edges if you are particularly rough with it and/or you over-wash it.
Re: over-washing
Even 30 minutes probably isn't enough to always seriously damage RC prints. Check the corners and edges of your prints - if they are frayed and appear to have separated into layers, then water and chemicals can go where they are not supposed to be.
FWIW here is the washer I use http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/43230-REG/Doran_PR1114P_Rapid_Jet_Print_Washer.html
Aside from doing the clip test I'll also increase my washing time a little to be safe. As I said I've made prints before with no trouble but I'd rather be safe than sorry. Thanks for the response.
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