>
> One reason to use several changes of distilled water for the initial
> rinsing rather than doing it with tap water is to avoid any
> precipitation of silver chloride etc - after a few rinses have removed
> most of the soluble iron it is safe to add a clearing agent too. I think
> I used about 5 mins in total with several changes rather than the 1
> minute in KOL. (If tap water is alkaline it will also precipitate some
> iron(III) in your paper.)
I assume you're speaking of VDB here, not kallitype.
My tests using distilled for first VDB wash showed a distinct loss of
density and added grain, but that was compared to NYC water for wash. My
students found, BTW, that a longer wash (longer than 3 minutes) very much
improved contrast and D-max in VDB (done as a variables test). In one case
even up to 10 minutes showed improvement. If I were doing VDB again I
would repeat that test.
However there is a difference among papers. Thinner less absorbent paper
washes quicker than thicker more absorbent paper, at least judging by
visible runoff.
> Keepers of Light recommends a 5% neutral sodium thiosulphate, but I
> think this is stronger than needed and it would be better to be slightly
> acidified. I think I used 2% with a pinch of citric acid, but don't have
> my notes to hand.
It depends how long you fix. A slightly weaker fixer for 3 minutes, for
instance, is about the equivalent of a 5% fixer for two minutes. In my
experience continuous agitation is crucial & I preferred to do that for
only 2 minutes.
>
> I got little or no noticeable loss in highlight on fixing.
The issue was never the highlights, at least not that I noticed. The loss
of D-max was the concern, and loss with longer stronger fix was marked.
However, I only tested adding alkali (ammonia) for kallitype, was using
neutral fixer with aforementioned tests in VDB.
Judy