I'd like to set up a darkroom in my office. The problem is that it has no plumbing. There is a bathroom near by where I can get water to mix chemicals, but no place to set up a print washing system.

Is there any way that I can process fiber-based prints, store them and wash them hours later? I was wondering if they would continue to "fix" and be ruined by the time I get them home and into my washer (say, six hours later). I also assume that they would need to be transported in a water bath, is this correct?

-- Craig Brown (csbrown@tastybuzz.com), September 13, 1999

Answers

When I am printing I store finished prints in a water tray for up to an hour. There is no running water in my darkroom so I have to carry them to a seperate room. I've had no problems with this arrangement. Some folks wash FB paper for hours so there should be no harm in storing them in water for awhile.

-- Tim Brown (brownt@ase.com), September 13, 1999.

Hello Craig You Could probly Carry them home in some kind of water tight container. But what ever you do DON'T leave them in fixer! it will ruin you prints for shure.

-- chris (C_j_c_104@yahoo.ca), September 13, 1999.

FWIW, I've left FB prints in wash water for over 24 hours and when I went to retrieve then, the emulsion slipped off so don't leave them in water too long. Personally, I see no harm in giving the FB prints a short wash to remove fixer, carrying the prints home in an empty tray or container and then giving them a through wash including a wash aid. If in doubt, test for residual fixer at the end of your wash cycle.

-- Gene Crumpler (nikonguy@worldnet.att.net), September 13, 1999.

Listen to Gene! Your photo's will get Crumpled when they stay to long in a water bath after fixing. At least FB will. Since I discovered that after 6 hours of sleep the emulsion slips off, I don't leave them wet any longer then necessary. RC is another thing, but that is easy to understand because in the end FB is just natural paper and RC is less so.

-- Lot (lotw@wxs.nl), September 13, 1999.

Hi Craig,

My understanding is that RC paper isn't supposed to stay wet for very long, so it would be a poor candidate for storage. Fiber prints can certainly stay wet for a couple hours, especially if the water is cold. It doesn't take many changes of water to get them reasonably free of fixer, so I'd use a couple of trays and give them three or four changes (maybe from a gallon jug of water). Six hours is really too long. You might try an experiment- get the prints reasonably well rinsed, then store them in a cooler with some of those plastic ice gadgets. You might get to six hours without the emulsion falling off, but you're in uncharted territory here!

-- Conrad Hoffman (choffman@rpa.net), September 13, 1999.

I routinely hold prints for as long as 12 hours total wet time. My water is usually at most 60 degrees (F), and I have had no problems. Your milage, water temperature, and tap water chemistry may vary.

You definitely need at least a short wash before you take them home.

-- mike rosenlof (mike_rosenlof@yahoo.com), September 13, 1999.

Her's how I would do it: transfer the prints from the fixer to a tray of Kodak Hypo Clearing Agent at about 1/2 normal dilution--say, 1:10-- for three to five minutes. Then drain the prints for 20 seconds or so and lay them out on clean white cotton towels, interleaving them so that there is a towel on each side of the print. Gently roll up the towels and place them in a plastic bag to prevent them from drying out. Then, when you arrive home, rinse them in water, then treat them with Perma Wash or another archival wash aid. Then wash normally. If you find that the prints dry out, sprinkle the towels with a little water. The towels will have to be washed after each session.

-- Peter Hughes (leonine@redshift.com), September 14, 1999.

RC prints can be washed in a print washer in two minutes. Surely you can spend two minutes in the washroom using running water in the sink, this would be just as good. Afterwards you can leave them to dry on a towel or absorbent paper whilst still at the office and take them home ready to mount/frame/display/whatever without further ado. If they're FB don't even think about it. -- Martin Hodgetts

-- Martin Hodgetts (hodgetts@btinternet.com), September 26, 1999.