Sticky prints

Marc Estalella · Dec 8, 2021

Helo everyone!

I recently recived my Intrepid enlarger and start printing my negatives. Everything good so far but my prints turn up a little bit sticky. Maybe they are not properly washed? It's normal?

I use:

Ilford Multigrade RC MGIV 10X15 44M (Pearl)
Kodak Polymax T (1 minute)
Ilfostop (10 sec)
Adofix plus (1 minute)

Then I leave the prints in a tray with water for 5 minutes approximately.

Thanks!

Buzz-01 · Dec 8, 2021

I use the exact same materials (ok currently Foma stop, but same dev and fix) and I wash my prints in a large bucket of water. Max 5 or sometimes 6 (8x10") RC prints per bucket before I replace the water.
I squeegee them after washing and then let the prints dry overnight and they are never sticky.

I would guess that a tray (developing tray ?) has too little water for a proper wash, or do you mean a tray with running water?

radiant · Dec 8, 2021

RC papers are washed with constant water flow. If you want to do it in still water, you probably need to wash 30min or more and changing the water few times during the wash.

gone · Dec 8, 2021

vedostuu said:
RC papers are washed with constant water flow. If you want to do it in still water, you probably need to wash 30min or more and changing the water few times during the wash.

This is the word. It took me a while to figure out washing prints too, but I was having issues w/ FB papers, not RC. It sounds as if you still have chemicals adhering to your paper. You can get the chemicals out by dilution too, just keep changing the water out over the course of a day or two, but 5-10 minutes under running water is sufficient.

Most of us have a largish water holding tank that the prints are put into after the fix. Mine is one of those large storage bins you get at a Walmart. It holds a lot of water, and I usually will take the prints out for a proper washing when they accumulate to around 5 or 6 prints in that tank, rather than dealing w/ a dozen or more at one time at the end of a print session.

.

Marc Estalella · Dec 8, 2021

Buzz-01 said:
I use the exact same materials (ok currently Foma stop, but same dev and fix) and I wash my prints in a large bucket of water. Max 5 or sometimes 6 (8x10") RC prints per bucket before I replace the water.
I squeegee them after washing and then let the prints dry overnight and they are never sticky.

I would guess that a tray (developing tray ?) has too little water for a proper wash, or do you mean a tray with running water?

With a developing tray. No running water. I would like to buy a washing tray

Marc Estalella · Dec 8, 2021

vedostuu said:
RC papers are washed with constant water flow. If you want to do it in still water, you probably need to wash 30min or more and changing the water few times during the wash.

I'll need one of this...

MattKing · Dec 8, 2021

If you can access an old tray, drill a few small holes spaced out diagonally along one side or end and dribble enough water into it to keep the tray mostly full and draining slowly and continuously. If you have that tray draining into another tray, you will have a two stage print washer. For RC prints, one minute in the bottom tray, then one minute in the top tray, and you will have a well washed print.
Like this, except the flow is increased greatly to illustrate the idea:

Marc Estalella · Dec 8, 2021

MattKing said:
If you can access an old tray, drill a few small holes spaced out diagonally along one side or end and dribble enough water into it to keep the tray mostly full and draining slowly and continuously. If you have that tray draining into another tray, you will have a two stage print washer. For RC prints, one minute in the bottom tray, then one minute in the top tray, and you will have a well washed print.
Like this, except the flow is increased greatly to illustrate the idea:
View attachment 292831

You can just use that one tray with the holes in the middle, no? I don't understand the bottom clear tray and the black tray at the top.

Thanks!

MattKing · Dec 8, 2021

The black nested pair of trays at the very top are my fixer tray . The fixer is in the inner tray, and the outer tray helps control splashes.
The circular tub/tray at the very bottom (which is actually white) happens to be an old type of large print washer with a convenient drain on it, but a regular tray that overflows at the edge works fine for that purpose.
The advantage of using two trays is that the lower tray accomplishes almost all the washing, while the top tray can be used to finish the very last bit of washing, one print at a time. Sometimes I develop several prints at once, which means that a fair bit of residual fixer gets introduced to the bottom tray when those prints are added to it. That tray does a good job of first rinsing off that fixer and then washing out most of the rest of the fixer in the print emulsion. The top tray than finishes the job.
But yes, if you are careful, the single middle tray with holes in its end can do the job. It definitely works best if you don't introduce too many prints at the same time, and make sure that prints remain submerged and kept moving. If you do that, you can set the water flow to very low.

Marc Estalella · Dec 8, 2021

MattKing said:
The black nested pair of trays at the very top are my fixer tray . The fixer is in the inner tray, and the outer tray helps control splashes.
The circular tub/tray at the very bottom (which is actually white) happens to be an old type of large print washer with a convenient drain on it, but a regular tray that overflows at the edge works fine for that purpose.
The advantage of using two trays is that the lower tray accomplishes almost all the washing, while the top tray can be used to finish the very last bit of washing, one print at a time. Sometimes I develop several prints at once, which means that a fair bit of residual fixer gets introduced to the bottom tray when those prints are added to it. That tray does a good job of first rinsing off that fixer and then washing out most of the rest of the fixer in the print emulsion. The top tray than finishes the job.
But yes, if you are careful, the single middle tray with holes in its end can do the job. It definitely works best if you don't introduce too many prints at the same time, and make sure that prints remain submerged and kept moving. If you do that, you can set the water flow to very low.

Thank you very much. That really helped!

jeffreyg · Dec 8, 2021

Search (E Bay) for a Kodak automatic tray siphon. I use one for pt/pd prints usually one or two at a time. I have used it for silver gelatin but usually use a divided print washer for my silver gelatin prints.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

http://www.sculptureandphotography.com/

radiant · Dec 9, 2021

Marc Estalella said:
I'll need one of this...

If I were you I would pick this one: https://www.fotoimpex.de/shop/fotolabor/paterson-bilderwascher-24x30-cm.html?cache=1639039682

brian steinberger · Dec 24, 2021

In my experience soaking or washing RC prints for too long results in warped and curled prints once dry. For that reason I don’t hold RC prints in a bath until the end of a session. For me it’s too easy to just wash them for 2-3 minutes with running water in a tray with Kodak tray siphon mentioned above. Then onto the line they go where they can dry a while. At the end of the session if I have any toning to do they just come off the line and back into the toner. I keep wet times with RC to a minimum.

Marc Estalella · Dec 25, 2021

vedostuu said:
If I were you I would pick this one: https://www.fotoimpex.de/shop/fotolabor/paterson-bilderwascher-24x30-cm.html?cache=1639039682

OMG that is not expensive at all. I will ask Santa if he gift it to me.

Marc Estalella · Dec 25, 2021

brian steinberger said:
In my experience soaking or washing RC prints for too long results in warped and curled prints once dry.

I get curly prints with small paper like Ilford Multigrade RC MGIV 10X15 44M (Pearl). But I use a FOMA 8X10 paper that when it's dry it is pretty flat.

Sticky prints

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