Re: gum redevelopment

On Wed, 7 Jul 2004, Christina Z. Anderson wrote:

> It is sometimes suggested that after a print has dried completely, and
> even after some time, you can resoak and redevelop it, if needs be.
> Demachy said that the suggestion to do this is really a half truth, as,
> for one, the shadows are more soluble than the highlights in this state,
> etc. etc.
> My poll: how many of you use this technique? If so, are you using
> warm water and/or an alkali like ammonia or bleach? And how long after the
> print has been dried (e.g.1 day vs 2 weeks or whatever)? How often do you
> use it/how good a suggestion do you consider it?
> I personally find the suggestion promises more than it delivers. It

Chris, I've done this on several occasions when I wanted brighter whites,
or to clear out some brighter/whiter accents. A little tuft of cotton on
a sharpened stick can gently wipe away grunge.

I used just a long soak in water, as my experience was that adding alkali
or bleach was too crude -- the mark too obvious. A bleach solution, say 1
part bleach to 2 or 3 parts water, can be great for cleaning up messy
borders, however.

Note, BTW, that, if your color is archival, "bleaching" absolutely will
NOT lighten it. What bleach does is destroy gelatin, and can remove tone
by dissolving the gelatin size under it.

Judy
Received on Wed Jul 7 23:10:46 2004