Hi all,
I've been doing considerable traveling lately, including a cross-country trip that brought me from Arizona to Pennsylvania. I've towed a small travel trailer behind my Land Rover which has made for perfect campsite hotel room. I'm now considering converting the trailer into a functioning mobile darkroom. I have no reservations about the idea except that the trailer does not have a hook up for running water. This relates to the issue of washing prints. Now, I've started to do quite a bit of research on people's methods for washing prints without running water, something that is actually not that uncommon apparently. I'd love to hear opinions on how to approach the issue. The only issue that I've come up with regarding this mobile darkroom idea is the concern of running water so I'd love to work out a solution for this.
There is always handwashing prints in trays using the rince-and-dump method but that is tedious and involves carrying a large amount of water. I have a reservoir tank of a few gallons but I don't think it would work well. I've heard of people using recirculating methods of various sorts. These systems use very small amounts of water and recirculate the water washing the prints. (FYI, for those shaking their heads at the recirculating concept, some recirculating washers have been shown to be among the most efficient in terms of cleaning prints thouroughly. Google for more information if curious.)
There's also the concept of using a variation of the rince-and-dump method using filtering of some sort to efficiently clean and reuse the water. I know people use diatomaceous earth (for pool systems) to filter Chinese Amidol. Diatomaceous earth is inert and capable of filtering down to the Chlorine molecule so very efficient. I wonder if this could be used to filter water for washing prints. It might look something like this: using two trays of distilled or otherwise clean water for washing prints, wash the first print in the first tray for five minutes then transfer the print to the second tray of water. While the print is in the second tray of water, pour the first tray water through a funnel containing diatomaceous earth and lined with a filter (coffee filter would work) into a jug. Once the water has filtered, pour back into the first tray to which the print can now be returned and the filtering process can be repeated using the water in the second tray. The process would repeat for however long was necessary to wash the prints. Thoughts?
Any insight into this will be hugely appreciated! Thanks!
P.S. Sorry if there is any odd formatting in this message. Internet is shotty where I am and I'm writing this on my iPhone.
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