kallitype first rinse

[Wayne]

In Sandy King's kallitype method, the first rinse must be neutral or acidic running water. My water is alkaline, and if I neutralize it it wont be running. Any solutions? I suppose I can mix multiple trays of a neutral solution, although that wont be very convenient.

[sanking]

Just omit the rinse and take the print directly from the developer to the first clearing bath. This will make the clearing bath go bad faster, but citric acid is very inexpensive so no big deal.

Sandy

In Sandy King's kallitype method, the first rinse must be neutral or acidic running water. My water is alkaline, and if I neutralize it it wont be running. Any solutions? I suppose I can mix multiple trays of a neutral solution, although that wont be very convenient.

[Jim Noel]

I have switched to the single tray method of processing kallitypes.
I dump the developer back into its beaker and pour a very small quantity, 25 ml for a 5x7, acidified water onto the print. The tray is rocked to cause the water to move over the print several times. It becomes slightly discolored indicating that clearing has begun. The rinse is dumped and the first clearing bath is then poured in, etc.
Using this method my clearing baths last longer and since the acidified water is fresh each time I do not have to worry about it becomnig exhausted.
I think I came up with this after reading Sandy's info on using a single tray.
Jim