Originally Posted by
Drew Wiley
I use an ample pre-wet, which among other things helps bring the inside of the drum to the correct temperature, then do a brief ample rinse after the stop bath, taking care that the bottom of the drum get rinsed too. It't just a bit of insurance because there have been a few instances, especially using large drums, when a bit of previous developer somewhow still clinging to the bottom, or perhaps around the entry rim, caused a blemish. The final rinsing after the Blix step I'd classify as washing instead. And I do five or six changes of water for that, AFTER the final blix; so yes, considerably more thorough washing than in commercial roller-transport processors. Why? Just a hunch that the long term result will be better, more permanent. It certainly doesn't hurt. Those extra rinses aren't for sake of cleaning out the drum, but in relation to image permanence itself. After the print is removed, I always rinse it out by itself a little more, and even gently hose of the prints itself briefly before placing it on the squeegee board.
And Wayne is referring to re-use of chemicals in a drum, presumably with a bit of replenishment, and correctly states it in the context of being satisfactory to certain people. To me that sounds like, "good enough for government work" - not my own cup of tea, or should I say, day old cup of tea. And he correctly points out that a rinse after development is not standard practice. Well, a stop bath is, and I happen to add a minor water rinse after that, just for sake of a little extra insurance, that's all.
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