Temperature and print washing efficiency

Greetings,

I've just been having a bit of a read of Way Beyond Monochrome and the information on archival print washing.

In there, it states that the most efficient temperature range for print washing is 20 to 27 deg C. At that temperature, the suggestion was to wash for 30 to 60 minutes (after initial wash and wash aid)

While that is achievable during the summer here (easily), my cold water temp this time of the year is around 16 Deg C.

Is there a rule of thumb for extending print washing times with the colder temps?

Oh, one other thing - my bottle of wash aid concentrate (Ilford Washaid) has been sitting idle in a half full bottle for around 3 years. Is there going to be any danger in using this?

Cheers

Ilford reccomend washing fibre papers at above 5deg C (41F) for up to one hour, a bit less for classic. On this basis 16deg C should be fine.

Tony

If you can get the HT-2 hypo test solution then you can check how long it takes to wash your prints at different temperatures.

thefizz said:

If you can get the HT-2 hypo test solution then you can check how long it takes to wash your prints at different temperatures.

Click to expand...

Is that still available (commercially)?

hoffy said:

Is that still available (commercially)?

Click to expand...

Fotospeed currently make it.

All that anyone will ever need to know about print washing was dealt with by Martin at Silverprint in the UK back in the 1980s.

Part One of a two section article can be found at the UK analogue users website:

http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.o...1gYAN&usg=AFQjCNGFfGycUjgzFySAq2vkixR9J8jKXQh

Bests,

David.
www.dsallen.de

Thanks David.

BTW, does anyone have any opinion on the washaid shelf life? I know that Ilford state 6 months for a half filled bottle (& 4 years for a sealed bottle), but they also say that for Ilfotol, which I have been using from the same bottle for the last 5 years!