Wash tray |
For some
time now I have been looking for a way to improve my print washing. This is more to do with how well
they are washed when I have a batch of half a dozen or so processed prints. At
the moment I use a homemade tray that is sloped, with running water coming in
at the top and is dammed at the bottom to create a reservoir before flowing
through holes that control the level. But this only allows me to wash a couple
of prints at a time which needs to be agitated now and again by hand. The
solution would be a slot style washer.
This has
been a thorn in my mind for sometime, that now needs to be removed. So before I
build a new one I should do some research. I started off by asking a question
on FADU
First of all
we need to go back a step to the fixing process, because what you do here has a
big bearing on how well and quickly your prints are washed. I prefer to use a
rapid fix which is a plus point but it needs to be timed correctly. Next it is
a good idea to place the newly fixed print straight into a water bath and
agitate for a minute before placing in the hypo clearing; which is a must for
FB papers in reducing wash time. ( I no long use Hypo clearing because my new wash method has shown it's not needed) When it comes to RC papers I exclude the Hypo
as the papers absorption rate is next to nothing.
When I
embarked on this research I had not envisaged how complex the wash process was.
I suspect not many others give it the consideration it needs either.
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