Your gum problems intrigue me, because I'm a great tester of (and lover
of) gum arabic.
I'm sorry I can't begin to imagine what has caused your present baffling
problem, though I can perhaps make some comments that may be of interest.
I'm the one who tested glyoxal versus formaldehyde when Mike Ware first
made the suggestion a couple of years ago -- as a gelatin hardener. I
found at the time that the glyoxal was (as noted) not NEARLY as unpleasant
to use as the formaldehyde. Formaldehyde had a residual irritating effect
for several days -- even after it was thoroughly dried outdoors, when I
brought the paper inside it continued outgassing so strongly, and was so
irritating to my eyes and throat, that I had to remove it from the studio.
Someone at that time reported that a print hardened in formaldehyde had
peeled the wallpaper off his wall (or something like that). The glyoxal
is in comparison so mild that we harden with it *indoors* (which we would
NEVER do with formaldehyde), but as someone else points out, just because
you don't smell it, doesn't mean there aren't harmful fumes. I suppose
it's none of my business what consenting adults do out of my sight, but
truth to tell, I'm a little uneasy at reading that you're glyoxaling
indoors.
I know you're up north somewhere, and maybe it's already 6 feet of snow --
but, and please understand that I mean well -- consider the possibility of
setting up a line to dry outdoors . On clothes line with wooden clothes
pins (yes we still have them in the US!) it dries in half an hour.
Oops -- this isn't what I MEANT to write, which was about gum arabic. Now
my server is acting funny (AGAIN!) as it does before cutting me off, so I
shall send this & continue in part 2...
cheers,
Judy