I am going to do a larger amount of 50x60cm RC prints in a row and I will wash them in a tray using a „DEVILLE Washer - for darkroom trays 30x40 cm and larger“ https://www.fotoimpex.com/darkroom/d...che=1616050031
Would it make sense to use hypo clear prior to washing to shorten washing time or just to make sure?
I am a bit concerned that the flat tray can’t handle many sheets in a row (unless I continuously swap out the water completely).
Last edited by Kornscharfsteller; 17-Mar-2021 at 23:48.
Hypo clearing agent is wasted on RC paper and is not a fix for inadequate circulation in the wash. With a tray siphon or similar device like the Deville that you mention, they key is to make sure that the prints keep circulating and "seeing" fresh water. You can't just put the prints in the tray and leave them alone with the siphon running, because the prints will clump together. You need to stand there and manually circulate the prints. You should arrange your workflow to accommodate that.
The other thing that will make a difference in the final finish and flatness of your prints, is how long they sit in the water. If they wait in a water bath and accumulate before their final wash, they absorb more and more water through the edges, and will have a curl when they dry. Processing them straight through each part of the cycle, not holding in water waiting for the final wash, will give you a better result.
I agree with Oren.
If you read the instructions with RC paper, only 5 or 10 minutes wash is required, as the fixer does not penetrate the paper base, and is easily washed out...
Don't wash too long, or moisture starts penetrating the edges and stays in the paper for life of print... If exposed to heat or light, this can cause emulsion to come up like peeling paint (in worst cases)...
Hypo clear not needed...
Steve K
Also, if you overwash the prints will never lie flat, in the worst possible way, because all of the disturbance comes from water soaking in from the edges but not the middle, which I think stretches the margin all around relative to the center. Washed correctly RC paper lies beautifully flat.
I did tests of hypo clearing RC in the 70s, and at that time not only were Kodak's times totally good--like no measurable residual fix, but when I overwashed the test solution stained the print, which was weird.
Another thing you want to be careful of with RC is to always use fresh fix.
Thanks, but I'd rather just watch:
Large format: http://flickr.com/michaeldarnton
Mostly 35mm: http://flickr.com/mdarnton
You want digital, color, etc?: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stradofear
I'm not finding any picture of it on the link. But if it's a tray siphon device, you want to use a tray distinctly somewhat bigger than your largest intended print size; and only wash one print at a time if it fills most of the area. As others have explained, RC prints don't need to be washed very long, but the water flow does need good exchange during that amount of time. The old Kodak tray siphons work quite well.
The Ilford instructions call for 30 seconds in film-strength rapid fixer followed by a wash of 2 minutes. I give it 2 minutes and 30 seconds to be on the safe side. For non-Ilford paper, one should test to make sure that the 30-second rapid fix is sufficient before using this procedure - in the past some other-brand RC papers didn't fix quite so quickly, and the very short wash depends on the ultra-short fixing time. I have no experience with current RC papers other than Ilford so can't comment beyond that.Originally Posted by LabRat
It can take a bit of practice to pull off such a rapid processing sequence crisply with large paper such as the OP intends to use.
https://www.fotoimpex.com/darkroom/d...nd-larger.html
Thank you, I have corrected the link.
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