Washing fiber prints, floaters in the tank

rexp · Apr 29, 2005

Well I jumped into trying fiber paper this week. One thing I discovered was that my prints were floating to the top of the water during the early stages of washing. Later they were settled to the bottom, but I did notice streams of tiny bubbles coming from a few spots on the edges of the paper. This was after 30 minutes or so of being wet, which surprises me. I didn't expect there to be air in there after being in the water that long.

I used a piece of 12AWG copper wire bent into a lazy "S" and placed it on the top edges of the prints to keep them on the bottom of the tank. Don't recall hearing of this problem before. Either it is real common, or I have gas.

rogueish · Apr 29, 2005

I see this from tap(city) water. I think it may be the chlorine and/or fluoride(?) they put in. Someone correct me if I'm wrong on this.
Looks ok but after 30 or so minutes, you start to see tiny bubbles (no singing please!) form on the sides of the container. When I wash prints (FB or RC) I make sure to shuffle them around every so often. If you notice these bubbles on the print, take it out of the water so ALL bubbles break,
re-imurse, and move it back and forth a couple times. I have found if you just try to shake the bubbles off while underwater, they quickly reform in the same place. Recheck in 5-10 minutes.
I have been told more than once that using filtered or distilled water will solve this. Some how I've yet todo that. :rolleyes:

fschifano · Apr 29, 2005

I don't think this is a real problem anyway. You need to give your prints a shuffle every now and then anyway and that's enough to dislodge the bubbles. As far as using distilled water, well if you really like throwing money down the drain that's your choice.

rexp · Apr 29, 2005

Well... I use a well. Well water that is. Not on city water and positive there aren't any additives, other than salt from the water softener. There are no bubbles sticking to the surfaces of the prints, except maybe where the air is bubbling out. The air trapped inside is what's making them float.

Ole · Apr 29, 2005

The bubbles are air. There is always some air dissolved in water, and with changes in pressure or temperature it bubbles out.

hka · Apr 29, 2005

It seems that the water temp is above the 22°C.

George Collier · Apr 30, 2005

I remember a conversation I had with one of the folks at Gravity Works (makers of archival washers, the kind with plexiglass dividers) with my first 16x20 washer about the bubbles. He said what others in this thread have said-they are in the water, and not to worry about them. Their contact area with the print is so small that they don't interfere with the washing. I like the idea of a shuffle a couple of times during the wash, though.

Mongo · Apr 30, 2005

I shuffle my prints every 20-30 minutes just to make sure the full surface of the prints are getting fresh water. I don't know that I need to do this, but I do it out of habit and it works for me.

One thing I'd be careful about: If I was going to put something on top of the tank to hold the prints down, copper (or any other metal for that matter) would not be high on my list of things to use. I'd fear migration of metal into the edges of the paper. Better to find something plastic, or a heavy wire with a good plastic coating on it. Just my thoughts...

Be well.
Dave

Washing fiber prints, floaters in the tank

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