Tong marks -- bleach?

I just printed two lovely 16x20 prints. Except ... tong marks on both! I'm printing 12x12 images on 16x20 paper so I have a lot of white around the edges. The marks are in the margins -- they don't reach the image.

Is there any way to get rid of them? Bleach? Other solution? Give me ideas, give me recipes, give me a way to make them clean.

Sanders McNew

Hi Sanders,

Did the marks come from the tongs used in the selenium toner tray? I've found that the selenium toner tray can, after a time, start to get a dark coating which the tongs can then rub off and transfer to the print. When the print is wet it's easy to rub off with your finger...don't have an answer for after the print is dry though.

Hope this helps,

Murray

So long as it's not selenium stains like Murray's mentioned then a simple ferricyanide/bromide bleach, applied locally, followed by a rinse then re-fixing should remove the stains.

Ian

Sanders, try bleaching your tongs after use then scrubbing them off and see if this helps in general. Not sure exactly where the contamination is happening for your process, but the above suggestions are good ones.

If you decide to try an amidol developer, use cheap gloves and not tongs. I used an old set of tongs in the developer and have found that by repeated use, they can carry a bit of developer into the image from contact and pressure. Cheap gloves which you throw away are better in this case, as they get tossed before the problem surfaces (nitrile from Harbor Freight on sale at $7.99 a box). My amidol doesn't always dissolve 100% and can carry a small amount onto the surface which shows up as spots which can be rubbed off under water. I'm now using a coffee filter to get rid of the problem. tim

My guess is that this may be caused by pressure, kinking the paper as it is lifted from one tray to the next.

I have seen it from time to time with Kentona but I don't use Kentona much and usually use a Nova slot thingy so don't use tongs on it that often either... but my tongs are cleaned after every use and dedicated to one chemical each so I do not think it is contamination. Try lifting the paper gently, avoiding a sharp bend at the tongs or use gloves instead and see how it goes.

Sorry, no idea how to clean them: I never tried. I print with wide borders so just cut them off.

Cheers, Bob.

I suggest getting rid of the tongs and replace them with nitrile or latex gloves. Use a bucket/pitcher of water to dip your hands for rinsing and change out the water frequently. I started doing this out of frustration with tongs, especially with the larger sheets of paper which are fairly heavy and unwieldy when wet. Gloved hands work much better.

Not sure what to do about the tong marks. If you marred the surface of the print you might spend more effort trying to fix it than you would re-printing it.