RE: Hardening with glyoxal

Judy,

> They were sized and hardened at least a year ago,
> maybe more...BUT BUT BUT they were rinsed after the hardening.
>

Do you rinse immediately after the glyoxal bath or does the paper need to
dry first?

I noticed that C. James gives a glyoxal - gelatin single coat option that
seems to save a lot of time and labor. I can see why this would appeal to
Chris after visiting her South Carolina atelier. This would certainly
enhance her productivity for producing work for her projects at school.

BTW, in case anyone was wondering Chris doesn't have a little rubber ducky
in her bath tub where she develops her gum prints :).

> Even before I figured out about rinsing after hardening, the paper didn't
> get bright yellow, so I'm not sure why yours did. One clue is that
> (following Tom Ferguson's lead) I only use 15 ml glyoxal per liter. So if
> you use stronger glyoxal maybe you get more yellow.
>

I'll make a note of that dilution and try it this week.

> And Don -- I don't think the glyoxal hardening gets used up, like fixer
> gets used up. It hardens as long as it's not contaminated, that is, when
> it's fresh. My experience is that it doesn't keep, or certainly not past
> a day or two. So I got in the habit of not mixing more than needed to dunk
> a few sheets of paper at a time and discarding it after one session.
>

How long do you dunk your paper in glyoxal?

> I tested the hardening by doing some 21-steps on the variables.. but
> ultimately I found that odor was a fair guide. When the working solution
> is fresh it has a very faint formaldehydish odor. In a day or two that
> odor is gone.
>

I infer from your remark about odor that one should not print on the paper
as long as it smells.
 
> Oh, and no distilled in any of it.... just sweet New York and Brooklyn tap
> water.

It's really expensive to get New York water delivered here, I guess I'm
stuck with muddy Georgia water hauled up from the creek :)

Don
Received on Mon Aug 16 19:04:06 2004