question for chemistry people ...

[removed account4]

i am planning on making salt prints soon ..
and i know if i use tap water i will pretty much
get silver chloride in my initial wash ...
if i use distilled water, rather than tap water
or water that has been brita-filtered to remove the chlorine
what will my water bath have in it ?
would it just be silver nitrate and water ?
or will it be something else that i am not aware of ?

thanks!

john

 

[Ian Grant]

Depends on the water if you filter it yourself but in most cases it'll be fine, I'd try it see what happens. I used to use de-ionised water for emulsion making and various alt processes with no issues at all, but the water was particularly good to start with, very soft, low mineral content. (OK I did have an industrial de-ioniser but the Brita filters use the same technology).

Ian

 

[removed account4]

thanks ian ...

after i made this post, i kind of changed what i will do ...
first i will distilled water for the bath, but then after i am done,
pour super saturated salt water into it so the silver precipitates out of solution
( like hypo check ) and then filter out the silver chloride before putting it through a trickle tank.

it is amazing how much "silver scrubbing" there is to deal with ...
john