Rotating print washers - any good?

[2F/2F]

Hello,

What do you all think of rotating print washers? I was given one some time ago, and, being leery of it, I use it only to wash large batches of non archival fiber prints, such as failed prints, test prints, etc. (I save them for who knows what reason, but I do.)

The whole assembly is made of stainless steel. The washer is a footed tub with a rotating cylindrical "cage" inside of it that is spun by the water stream from the inlet to the bottom of the tank.

Do you all think these are good enough for archival washing?

How many prints can I put into one of these in one batch, and still get a decent wash?

Fiber prints seem to stay separated pretty well when the drum is moving, but RC prints tend to stick together.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

I have an old Arkay that I rescued a few years back. I use it all the time and they work well. My only qualm is that the prints tumble in the water and sometimes the corners get dog eared. I don't know if it's an "archival". But I always use hypo clear before washing. I used to use a Kodak tray siphon and that works well if the prints don't stick together during washing.

 

[bdial]

They beat up the prints a bit, but I have several 30 year old prints that were washed in one of those, and so far, they are fine.

 

[removed account4]

when i was in college they had 2 of them.
i still have prints washed in there and they are still good ...
the trick is to barely have it spin around and your prints
won't get too damaged. ... i remember students
had the water on FULL BLAST and the cage was flying ..
i waited until they took their prints away

 

[fschifano]

That's what I was thinking. It will beat your prints up. Why bother? RC Prints wash out really quickly. It only takes a few minutes. Fiber takes longer, and I don't thing that all that agitating does much to speed things up. It just takes time for all that fixer to diffuse out of the paper's fibers. Only a slight trickle of water is necessary for good washing.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

I'll try that tip

when i was in college they had 2 of them.
i still have prints washed in there and they are still good ...
the trick is to barely have it spin around and your prints
won't get too damaged. ... i remember students
had the water on FULL BLAST and the cage was flying ..
i waited until they took their prints away

I guess I've been dinging my prints running the print washer full blast.I'll try the trick of running it slower. Thanks!