RE: VDB nasty staining problem
Hi again David, One more suggestion that could make Stonehenge work for you: Use a dessert spoon of Na4EDTA + a dessert spoon of Sodium Sulfite in 1lt water for the clear right after fix and then wash as usual and see if the stain will appear again... I had staining problems with Chrysotype (not New Chrysotype, just plain AFO + KAuCl4 - stain was showing up later when the print was exposed to daylight and / or UV light) and was able to get rid of it by Na4EDTA+Sulfite final clearing bath. Perhaps gold salt is attached to paper and causes stain later when it gets reduced... !? Who knows? Just try and see if that's the case for you. (The stain I experienced was kinda magenta/purplish...) Regards, Loris. -----Original Message----- From: david drake [mailto:daviddrakephoto@sympatico.ca] Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 9:53 PM To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca Subject: Re: VDB nasty staining problem thanks Loris, Don & Sam for your suggestions. I did some more staining tests yesterday with Stonehenge warm white. Even after washing the prints for 10 minutes between toner and fix, there was still staining. I had also cleared for longer 4.5 minutes (I usually do around 2.5 minutes) and longer first wash. The staining was much less severe but still noticeable. Then I tried the Platine which showed NO STAINING. happy happy joy joy!! The Stonehenge just is not clearing properly and I guess the gold toner is just enhancing the stain? For the time being, I'm going to go with the Platine because it just looks so amazing with the series I'm working on!! the dmax simply kicks butt! But I will try later with the Stonehenge again. I don't think that the problem is particular to the batch of paper I bought because I'm getting the same problem with white and warm white. I'm wondering if the issue has something either to do with humidity . I have been coating in a small room with higher humidity than with previous sessions (my meter says between 50-60%RH but who knows how accurate it is). The Stonehenge paper seems to be absorbing much more sensitizer than the Platine. Perhaps higher humidity just isn't as good for the Stonehenge as it is for the Platine? Which leads to the more absorbant Stonehenge not clearing as well? too many questions. Don, I will try using multiple citric acid baths in the future. It's a great idea but, also, alot of distilled water. especially with the big prints I'm doing now which use around 3 litres per tray and one shot. david
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