Xícara de Café Posted July 21, 2019 Share #1 Posted July 21, 2019 (edited) Advertisement (gone after registration) Hello, I'm keen to make some prints today on fibre based paper which I've never used before. All the instructions I've found for washing involve Ilford Washaid or Hypo clearing agent. I don't yet have either of these solutions. I gather the washing time needs to be longer without them. How long should i wash for? The other thing is that I don't have a good tray and hose type arrangement for washing. I'll be using a bucket under a tap to wash as I've been using for RC paper. So, i don't know if this will affect the timing of the wash. Any advice will be greatly appreciated! All the best, Edited July 21, 2019 by Xícara de Café Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 21, 2019 Posted July 21, 2019 Hi Xícara de Café, Take a look here Washing FB prints without Washaid. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Michael Hiles Posted July 21, 2019 Share #2 Posted July 21, 2019 Ilford says 30-45 minutes in running water. I would do at least 1 hr. I would also interleaf the sheets frequently and empty your bucket 6-8 times in the hour. And do not wash any sheets you do not want to save – throw away test strips etc. You want as few sheets as possible in your wash process. And look for something like a Kodak tray siphon (cheap on EBAY), and get some wash aid. A bucket is nowhere close to advisable. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xícara de Café Posted July 21, 2019 Author Share #3 Posted July 21, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, Michael Hiles said: and get some wash aid. Thanks Michael. I'd have to import washaid, etc. and it gets expensive with import duties of 100% on the goods and shipping. I've read of people using 1 teaspoon of Sodium sulphite per litre of water. This would be a very cheap option. Anything wrong with doing this? Edited July 21, 2019 by Xícara de Café Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted July 21, 2019 Share #4 Posted July 21, 2019 55 minutes ago, Xícara de Café said: I've read of people using 1 teaspoon of Sodium sulphite per litre of water. Four (4) teaspoons sodium sulfite per liter works well with fiber based paper. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xícara de Café Posted July 21, 2019 Author Share #5 Posted July 21, 2019 Thanks. Will this dissolve without heating the water? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrogallol Posted July 21, 2019 Share #6 Posted July 21, 2019 I wash my “paper” paper prints in the bath. Several changes of water after an initial rinse. They might well stay in the bath for an hour or two having a soak. Resin coated paper only needs a much shorter wash. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hiles Posted July 21, 2019 Share #7 Posted July 21, 2019 Advertisement (gone after registration) I can't comment on sodium sulfite - I am sure that our colleagues above have as much or more experience as me. My only comment is - do not under fix or under wash. Either one will come back and bite you. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted July 21, 2019 Share #8 Posted July 21, 2019 Sodium Sulfite will dissolve in water at room temperature. If you have hard water, be glad because it shortens wash time. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adan Posted July 23, 2019 Share #9 Posted July 23, 2019 Wash aids use Ammonium Sulfite. Sodium sulphite is likely fine also. The main idea is to have a sulphite that will replace the "stickier" Sodium Hyposulfite (i.e "Hypo" - fixer) in the prints, via ion-exchange, with something more water-soluble that can then be washed away faster. Discovered by the US Navy during WW2 - with limited fresh water for on-board darkrooms, they used sea-water for washing prints, and found that it removed the fixer faster. Hyposulphite solution (like all salt solutions) is denser than pure water (Dead Sea effect) - it tends to sink to the bottom of the washing tray/tub/device. Thus the usefulness of a siphon (or just drain holes punched in the bottom of the tub) - the contaminated water is the first to be sucked away down the drain. There is a solution sold for testing if any hyposulfite remains in a print. A drop in a white border of the print (or a test-processed bit of blank photo-paper) will turn yellow-brown in the presence of hyposulphite. Probably not easier to acquire than washing aid - but the formula is Silver Nitrate 0.01mg per cubic meter of water + Acetic Acid at 10PPM. https://www.freestylephoto.biz/static/pdf/msds/formulary/Formulary_-_Risidual_Hypo_Test_Kit_-_MSDS.pdf 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xícara de Café Posted July 23, 2019 Author Share #10 Posted July 23, 2019 Thanks everyone. And for negatives? Is a 4-teaspoon per litre sodium sulfite solution OK? I have a Kg of the stuff arriving by post this week. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotohuis Posted August 1, 2019 Share #11 Posted August 1, 2019 The cheapest and always available wash-aid is a 1% Soda solution (Sodiumcarbonate). However the disadvantage is that it softens the emulsion so you have to take care only use it for an intermediate 1-2 minutes after washing out further. It is an old Agfa recommendation on fiber papers. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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