dichromate stain

On Sun, 13 Jun 2004, Kate Mahoney wrote:

> Do you really think it's your light? I used to use sunlight, found the
> stain less than with the mercury vapour lamp I'm using now - but I may
> have it too close to the work.
> Could it be your washing water or method???? I'm curious - I always get
> a little stain and I hadn't realised how pervasive it was when I was in
> the early experimental stage - until I finally cleared some prints
> properly. Then I was amazed!!!!

I've used 3 lights -- BL, Daylight fluorescent, and NuArc halide and never
noticed a difference in dichromate stain. I have noticed more staining
when the paper had been coated for a longer period before exposure
especially in hot weather,, and/or kept a longer period after exposure.

Another reason I have less staining is probably that my development times
tend to be long. I gather that some folks develop a half hour or less... I
usually develop an hour and up... and I have noticed that the really long
soaks come out wonderfully white -- and assume that, at least in part,
that is why I rarely if ever need a clearing bath.

However, I have a hunch that the wash water is also a factor if not THE
factor. I've heard of printers who did everything identically & one had
dichromate staining, the other not. The only difference was geographic.
I once brought a liter of water home from Washington State to test that...
but a liter wasn't enough --the test got screwed up somewhow, but from the
little I did see that was a real possibility.

J.
Received on Sun Jun 13 23:57:49 2004