> Friends:
>
> But I have a couple of questions:
>
> 1. How long can the Albumen mixture be stored in the refrigerator before
> it goes bad? Would freezing it in aliquots prolong its life or damage
> it?
I have heard of refridgerated shelf lives of a couple of weeks. When it
smells bad, it is. I have found that adding a small quantity of formalin,
say 2ml/ liter of salted albumen will substantially increase the shelf
life. Mine lasts 6 months or more. The wetting agent/stabilizer from
Sprint is what I use, as the wetting agent in it helps with some of the
bubble problems encountered when coating. While I don't have any
experience in freezing, I wouldn't try it, especially since the formalin
works so well, and I would be afraid that the freezing and rethawing would
damage those fragile, long chain hydrocarbons that make up the albumen.
>
> 2. I will be using sunlight for the initial printing. Having done
> cyanotypes in the past, I have found that the glass, paper and negative
> sandwich gets quite hot, especially when it is 100+ F outside. Will this
> heat absorption be detrimental to the albumen or negative? Would adding
> a heat-absorbing glass plate be useful?
I have printed outdoors in the New Mexico summer, frame got hot but the
only result I noticed was an increase in emulsion speed, not any damage
to the materials.
Good luck.
John>