I have a home darkroom, and I have a well system, so water conservation is a big concern for me. Is there a way to thoroughly wash prints without a constant stream of water? Obviously one can fill a tray with water and change it every few prints, but I wonder if i need to hand agitate it for several minutes or if I can let the prints sit at all. Any guidelines or tips? Thanks.

-- J. Hathcock (overpop@clnk.com), October 07, 1997

Answers

Try the illford system for print washing. Mix your fixer at twice the strength (use rapid fixer only), wash for 5 mins., clear for 5 mins, and wash for 5 mins. This system has been proven to clean prints to excepted standards. With many modern papers it is important not to over wash. This will wash out the brighteners in the papers and give a duller look to the dried print. You would use just as much water by filling and dumping a water tray as running the water into a wash tray, because the issue is not how much water, but how often you recieve a complete change of water.

-- jim megargee (mvjim@interport.net), October 12, 1997.