How archival is toning with Tea?

[Shen45]

This question occurred to me twice today. First driving home for lunch and now while having a second cup of black tea.

I have seen very pleasant results toned/stained with tea and wondered if the stain is "archival"

Steve

[Paul Bujak]

It's archival on white shirts but I don't know about photo paper...

[PViapiano]

Bravo!

[W K Longcor]

Here is my 2 cents on the subject. Tea isn't really a TONER since it is not having a major chemical reaction with the metalic based image. It is a stain -- staining the print base -- and does a nice job of it. BUT, being an ORGANIC stain, it is probably far from archival. But, Hey! If you are working late in the darkroom and need a wake-me-up boost - you can always drink your toner!:D

[Emil Schildt]

Here is my 2 cents on the subject. Tea isn't really a TONER since it is not having a major chemical reaction with the metalic based image. It is a stain -- staining the print base -- and does a nice job of it. BUT, being an ORGANIC stain, it is probably far from archival. But, Hey! If you are working late in the darkroom and need a wake-me-up boost - you can always drink your toner!:D

yes and no..

using tea as toner for cyanotypes, it actually IS a toner - the tannic acid and other components do tone the image.

Archival - to my knowlegde, yes.

[Michael Alpert]

These days, it seems that the word "archival" means whatever you want it to mean. Tea, black or otherwise, is not a chemically discrete, stable, non-acidic substance. The use of it would just unpredictably complicate what is already a complicated chemical situation. On the face of it, tea is something that should be avoided if you want your silver photographs to last in a state that is close to what they were when new. And I very much doubt if any specific type of tea has been proven to be stable when used in cyanotypes.