Unsufficiently rinsed prints on (really old) fiber paper

[Erik Petersson]

Hi, I have been making more prints recently, on some really old fiber paper, from the 1930:s and so on. In the instruction sheet it says rinse for two hours, which I did in a tray over the kitchen sink, occasionally changing water. Now a friend said that this is insufficient, that I should use HCA and a bath in which the prints stand up and the water circulates. Also, once when I dried a print in a hot paper drier machine it got a stain. Rests from the fix, my friend thought.

This is all ok, I have access to an excellent dark room with everything described above. But I need some advice on how to re-rinse the prints so that I don't have to worry again. How long in each bath etc. I don't remember how long they stayed in the fix. There are several different papers from different eras.

(Complication, the prints are lumen prints, but I guess that rinsing is the same. I also guess that I can dry them in the hot paper drier just as ordinary prints, as soon as they are totally free from fix.)

Thanks!

 

[Doremus Scudder]

Erik,

Two hours for fiber-base paper sounds (more than) sufficiently long. Tray-washing of prints is fine as long as the water is changed often enough (maybe you didn't) and the prints are agitated so that there is fresh water getting to all surfaces regularly. For single prints in a tray, a Kodak tray siphon, or even a tray with some holes drilled along an end, will allow you to use running water and not worry so much about agitation. Just soaking prints in a tray of water for two hours is not going to sufficiently wash the prints.

Using HCA or some kind of wash-aid is always a good idea (and best practice) with fiber-base paper. It can significantly reduce wash times.

Stains can be caused from insufficient washing, but also from insufficient fixing. The two are not the same. Make sure you are fixing long enough in fresh fixer and don't exceed the manufacturer's capacity. Two-bath fixing is really the way to go with fiber-base prints unless you want to use a lot of fixer (or just have a few prints to make).

Re-washing prints is easy. Soak them in water for 3-5 minutes, then treat them with a wash-aid (HCA) and then wash in an archival washer or tray with running water. If you suspect that the prints may have been insufficiently fix, then add a fixer step after the water soak: i.e., soak -> fix -> quick rinse -> HCA -> wash.

Hope this helps,

Doremus

 

[Erik Petersson]

Hi Doremus. I think I will both refix and re-wash some time soon. It seems easy enough.
Yes, it could just as well be bad fixing.
And thanks!