transporting wet fiber prints and drying at home

[msbarnes]

OK so I usually do everything at my university darkroom however today is the last day but I want to do a ton of printing (all day ).

I'm going to talk to them to see if I can pick up the dried prints tomorrow but incase I cannot.

What is the best way to take them home, and dry them?

Typically I run a squeege and let them rest on a screen in the darkroom.

Can I just sandwhich the prints individually between some blotting paper to carry them home and then do I hang-dry them (like I do for film)?

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Keep them wet until you're home.

When I first started printing my darkroom was at a friend's house, so I used to do the same thing. To get the prints home safely I acquired a large tub with a lid that seals tight. In there rest the print with little bit of water sloshing around. Too much and the prints will float around, which is a bad idea because they get creased, too little water and they dry out (depending on how long your commute is).

 

[Shawn Dougherty]

I take mine home from a friends darkroom in a Rubbermaid container full of water sometimes... I make small prints though.

 

[tkamiya]

If you use blotting paper with smooth surface FB paper, texture of the blotting paper will be transferred and it will NOT come off even if you re-wet it and air dry. I did this and never again.

 

[Whiteymorange]

A question and then a hint from someone who knows a lot more than I do of these things.

Would there be any problem in transporting wet prints in a zip-top plastic bag?

Now the hint: A very experienced photographer and printer (Jim Dow) suggested clamping two squeegeed prints together, back to back, and hanging the pair to let them dry. He uses a clamp at each corner and says that they dry nice and flat. This is the way he did all of Walker Evan's images for a show at MOMA back in the 70's. The clamp marks are supposedly the only way that museums and galleries can now tell his printing from that of Walker himself, for whom Jim served as darkroom man for some years before the show.

 

[Andy Tymon]

I used to this when I was at university. I would take a piece of mat board slightly larger than the print.The squeegee the prints and place them one on top of the other until the last one (which was usually a contact print) which I placed emulsion to emulsion then slipped that in a black plastic paper bag and took them home to wash. When you get home fill the bag with water and carefully remove the prints, then place the whole stack in a tray of water till the separate.

 

[George Collier]

I use Whitey's (Jim's) method all the time for all sizes of fiber prints. I use a hanging line, back to back, top 2 corners from the line, bottom two with clothespins (the plastic kind). They come out as flat as they can, edges buckled somewhat depending on humidity at the time and rate of drying (these two are interdependent). The dryer the room, the more edge buckle. You can read a lot about flattening prints in the second sticky of this forum.
But as to the OP question - either do a complete wash before or after getting home, but I would transport the prints just like Thomas says.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

A question and then a hint from someone who knows a lot more than I do of these things.

Would there be any problem in transporting wet prints in a zip-top plastic bag?

Now the hint: A very experienced photographer and printer (Jim Dow) suggested clamping two squeegeed prints together, back to back, and hanging the pair to let them dry. He uses a clamp at each corner and says that they dry nice and flat. This is the way he did all of Walker Evan's images for a show at MOMA back in the 70's. The clamp marks are supposedly the only way that museums and galleries can now tell his printing from that of Walker himself, for whom Jim served as darkroom man for some years before the show.

I've tried hanging prints back to back like that, and while it works pretty well I find it more 'helps' than produces a nicely flat print.
In the end I flatten the dry print between two pieces of rag board in one of those cloth print dryers. Works like a charm to get things flat.

Regarding the ZipLoc bag, I don't see why it wouldn't work, unless it gets punctured somehow. Maybe double bag?