We are in need of a print washing system that will recycle the wash water, not let it go down the drain..Can someone help? Thanks Louise

-- Louise Millmann (millmann11@aol.com), May 19, 1999

Answers

No go on that one; it's like washing dishes in yesterdays dirty dishwater. You can, however, wash a print in a minimal amount of water using multiple changes of water. The idea is that the fixer will diffuse into the water until the concentration reaches equilibrium, then you pour out that water, pour in fresh, again and again, until the amount of remaining fixer is so small the print is considered "washed." For fiber paper, after treatment in a wash aid, put the print in a tray and pour in enough water to cover it about 1/2". Let it sit an hour, pour out that water and pour in more, let sit etc. Do this maybe six or eight times and the print will be clean. As you can see, it'd be rather time-consuming to wash one print at a time this way. RC paper would of course wash much quicker. If you must use the least water you can but still work in a practical manner, consider investing in one of the low-flow washers such as a Versalab.

-- John Hicks / John's Camera Shop (jbh@magicnet.net), May 20, 1999.

John's right---you can't reuse wash water. But you can reduce the amount you use, by using the soak-and-dump method he described instead of pumping gallons and gallons through an archival washer. It takes longer, though.

-- Chuck Albertson (chucko@siteconnect.com), May 20, 1999.

Use the Ilford archival processing system to reduce water useage. The total recommended wash time for FB prints is just 10 minutes, 5 minutes before the wash aid and 5 minutes after. I didn't believe this at first, but I read the technical paper published in a peer reviewed journal, and from the view point of a practicing chemical engineer for 36 years, I have made the switch. If you would like a copy of the paper, let me know or you can request it from Ilford by e-mail.

The whole sequence is takes just 22 minutes, this approaches the porcessin and wash times for RC papers.

-- Gene Crumpler (nikonguy@worldnet.att.net), May 27, 1999.

Gene, thankyou for imparting such valuable info. For too long people have been misled about washing times. The emulsions are just not that thick and the chemical reactions are pretty fast. I have been using short wash times since I started doing my own processing/printing and my prints are still pristine. In addition to saving precious water resources it helps maintain the crispness in the blacks and the subtle highlights that are overfixed and washed out. Fix is a bleach but most don't realize it. Thanks again for helping dispell the washing myth. James

-- james (james_mickelson@hotmail.com), August 07, 1999.