RC prints - archival washer..

hoffy · Dec 18, 2012

OK, I should know better and I am nearly a little afraid to ask...

BUT, would it be sufficient to wash RC prints in a Patterson Archival print washer?

At the moment, I wash my RC prints in a tray with plenty of running water for around 5 minutes. My reasoning is that after all, you are just washing a piece of plastic, so there is no need for the fix to have to leach out of the paper. I feel that using an archival washer won't have the same water displacement and same effect.

Thoughts?

RalphLambrecht · Dec 18, 2012

there is no such thing as an 'archival washer'. sure, there are products calle that, but they are notarchival per say. a better name for them would be multiple print con venient washers.not the product but the washing technique makes print'archivaland these washers allow us to wash several prints at a time. a simple plastic tray can perform an archival wash,but it's time consuming and in convenient to do for all prints from a whole day of printing, and yes, archival prnt washers work just fine for RCandFB-base prints. make sure not to overwash RCprints.a brief rinse, followed by a 10-minutewash is sufficient.minute fixer residue actually protects a print.in any case don't skip toning if you are serious about'archival processing.

mjs · Dec 18, 2012

The point of a print washer is so you don't have to be there for an hour shuffling prints while the hypo washes out of the paper. Since you're using RC paper you don't need to wash for an hour, so the point of having the washer is a bit wasted on you. You can still use it but it's a bit much for the five minute or so wash RC paper needs, for exactly the reason you mentioned.

Mike

Photo Engineer · Dec 18, 2012

I wash mine in a tray and have for years. I use a standard test to determine retained hypo. Just remember that you can overwash as well.

PE

Maris · Dec 18, 2012

When I use RC paper I send it through a Paterson Major washer for 30 minutes. Residual silver and fixer tests say "perfect archival". To make things easy I put a $8 clockwork garden tap-timer between the washer and the tap. Now I just turn the dial to 30 minutes and have a rest while the cycle runs its course. The wet time sounds long but I have not encountered edge penetration problems on RC...yet.

cliveh · Dec 18, 2012

Photo Engineer said:
I wash mine in a tray and have for years. I use a standard test to determine retained hypo. Just remember that you can overwash as well.

PE

What is the result of overwash? I have never heard of this, apart from emulsion lift if left too long.

Photo Engineer · Dec 18, 2012

cliveh said:
What is the result of overwash? I have never heard of this, apart from emulsion lift if left too long.

See the very complete article on this by Ctein. It explains and shows the result.

PE

nworth · Dec 18, 2012

The archival washer should work fine if you allow it enough time. Remember that it takes longer to change the water in the archival washer than it does in the tray. One of the nicest washers I've seen for RC prints was made by Arkay some decades ago. It was simply an 11X14 tray with holes drilled in on end. At the other end was a small pipe with about 30 holes drilled along it over the width of the tray. A hose connected the pipe to the water supply.

Photo Engineer · Dec 18, 2012

An archival wash is achieved in much less than 30' with RC paper when you use running water and good agitation. You have to break up the bubbles that form on the surface of the print. Of course, this is true of any wash. Otherwise you get "measles" on the print as it ages.

PE

hoffy · Dec 18, 2012

Cheers for the info - The reason I wanted to use the washer, was so I can do an un-attended wash (I.E., while the prints are washing, I am exposing/processing the next set - I have a batch to do).

I am also very mindful of daming prints using trays (hence the attended wash). It is not uncommon for me to get dogeared prints when they start to float and bang around in the tray - yes, I probably could use a smaller tray, but then I probably won't fit as many prints in.

Cheers

polyglot · Dec 18, 2012

Have you considered washing in your Jobo? That's what I do. Change the water every couple minutes, change it maybe 5 times - a pretty thorough wash for RC.

hoffy · Dec 19, 2012

ahhh, but that would be an attended wash - I.E., I would need to stop what I am doing to change the water!

Now, I am going to change the question here - we all know that the paper manufacturers specify a maximum wet time for papers, what are peoples real world experience? How long would it, in reality, take until the paper starts to delaminate?

tkamiya · Dec 19, 2012

I've soaked Ilford MGIV RC for 30 minutes. Just a little bit of corner separated.
Soaked Arista something for 30 minutes. Quite a bit at corner separated.

These days, I wash my prints ATTENDED for 3 minutes in tray with running water. (RC)

RC prints - archival washer..

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