DIY FB paper on the cheap

[delphine]

Hi,

I have a conventional 9x12 fiber base paper washer, but recently I have been printing bigger format and I faced the challenge of archival washing without a dedicated FB washer. I won't be printing enough large prints to justify buying another washer.

I am thinking that may be it could be done on the cheap. My initial thoughts are to buy a plastic container, about the size of a print washer, drill it and install some tubes, then glue inside some dividers.

Any thoughts/recommendations welcome.

Delphine

[Bob-D659]

In the "dark ages" before RC paper, thousands of thousands of prints were washed in a tray with water.

[Jim Jones]

Tray washing can be very saving of water, if not time. After the hypo clear, rinse them and put them in a holding bath and, when done printing. shuffle them through several changes of water in a tray, draining them well between changes.

[delphine]

I did some washing by dispersion as you are suggesting, but I was dubious as to its effectiveness.

[Stan160]

I use tray washing for all my FB prints - no plumbing in the darkroom so water comes and goes in buckets! Following the Ilford fix and wash method timings up to and including the HCA bath, then cycling prints through three generously filled trays of water, 10 minutes each with intermittent agitation, gets me to one step from archival on the HT-2 hypo check chart. I'm sure that a couple more trays of water would get to the final step. I tend to wash the prints two at a time to avoid the need to shuffle them in the trays.
If you don't use it already, HT-2 is about £5/bottle from Silverprint.

Ian

[Sundowner]

+whatever in regards to tray washing. It works.

[delphine]

Thank you all for your input.

[MartinP]

If you can find a Kodak tray siphon, wash-aid and a tray one size larger than the prints you want to wash then you will have an easy time of it. Use the water-tap sufficiently (perhaps intermittently) so you have half a dozen changes of water and test the edge of the prints. Main thing to avoid is the prints sticking together in a corner of the tray, so it isn't quite as hands-free as a commercial washer.

[PDH]

I have a coule of washers for prints up to 11X14, I wash 16X20 in a plastic childrens wading pool. I use 2 Kodak sphions for circulation. I live in a town home in the desert Southwest so weather is good for washing on the patio. The runoff goes into a storm drain and sewer, the waste water is treated, why I dont know, and sold to a neclear power plant and used to generate steam for power and cool the fule rods, none of the water makes it way to the Sea of Cortez. If I lived in an area in which run off is not collected I would rig a drain to the washing machine drain.

[kapro]

In my early darkroom times at the age of 14-15 as a self-taught "printer" I didn't know anything either about archival washing or hypo clearing etc. I usually left the prints the tray and changed the water 2-3 times. Then I put the prints into the plastic bucket or basin without changing the water for couple of hours. After the 33 years the prints are still here without any signs of degradation. I don't want to say this is the right way how to do it but I wouldn't be afraid of washing the prints in the tray with water inlet/outlet. Quite cheap and effective solution.