Warm wash water.

[Blighty]

I know print washing has been covered sooo many times in this forum but, it occurred to me that if one uses the 'fill and dump' method of washing (as I do), then raising the temperature of the wash water would make the process more efficient. Is this the case? And what would you fellow Apuggers agree as an upper limit on wash water temperature? Regards, Blights.

 

[jeroldharter]

I think time or water volume would be better variables to adjust for the most part. The downside of high temperature could be fragility of the paper and emulsion so that it would be susceptible to handling marks. My temperature tends to fluctuate and sometimes gets over 80 degrees without problem.

 

[nworth]

Up to a point, warm water washing will be more efficient. That point depends a bit on the paper and where the gelatin softens and the residual hypo does strange things. 80F is certainly safe. The super-hardened color papers wash quite nicely and quickly at 100F.

 

[Sparky]

...the residual hypo does strange things.

what experiences have you had...? Do you mind me asking...? I'm doing some kind of exotic toning and am having some problems with staining and am wondering if it could be due to this and elevated wash temps... what specifically have YOU noticed though...?

 

[Lee Shively]

I am plagued with warm wash water all summer long. Cold tap water will run 90 degrees and over during the hottest part of the summer. I use higher temperatures for all my chemicals to make it less of a variation from chemical bath to wash. I process film at 75 degrees, use a hardener with my film fix and I've never had any bad experiences. I don't use the fill and dump method I use a film washer.