 Willie Osterman |
Darkroom Water Problems Living in the country I am on well water. Recently I am finding after I wash my prints there seems to be a bit of slime or scum on the surface of the prints. I've tried soaking them in distilled water as well as spring water and this helps but does not eliminate the problem. As we speak I am trying a bit of photo-flo in the distilled water. Do you have any answers or suggestions as to where I may find info about this problem?
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Alan N. Marcus |
Generally problems related to water quality revolve around film. Problems related to prints are rare. First, others may advise mixing your chemicals using distilled water. I advise caution in this regard. Generally prepared (package) mixes, especially developers contain surfactants and water softeners like “Calgon”. These constituents are added to deal with impurities found in the water supply. Using distilled water for mixing is popular, however the already present mixing aids have nothing to work on and that’s not entirely good. Maybe a blend of 50% filtered well water with distilled of better yet de-ionized water. De-ionized is cheaper, its water that has been purified by a trip through a resin bed and filters. Resins are used in water softeners and commercial treatments to alter mineral content. First try a salt soak. After washing, bath the prints/film in a solution of one tablespoon table salt per quart / liter of water. Salt is a washing aid that neutralizes residual chemicals. You can try a few drops of household peroxide in this bath also, peroxide also neutralized. After a few minutes in the salt solution, pass the prints into a plain water bath, again for just a few minutes. Try this final bath using your normal water source. Likely this will solve your problem, if not use de-ionized water in the final bath. Photo-Flow is a good surfactant, it prevents water from beading thus it reduces water spots which cause uneven drying. The water spots keep the gelatin wet and thus the shrinkage of the gelatin is uneven causing drying marks. Films and papers all utilize gelatin as the binder to affix the light sensitive ingredients to the paper of film base. Gelatin swells and becomes soft and fragile when wet. Super pure water causes excess swelling and softening. In extreme cases where pure water is used for chemical mixing we must add Epson salts to “harden” the water a little other wise the gelatin is too fragile and in rare cases green stain may be encountered. Alan Marcus
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Alan N. Marcus |
Generally problems related to water quality revolve around film. Problems related to prints are rare. First, others may advise mixing your chemicals using distilled water. I advise caution in this regard. Generally prepared (package) mixes, especially developers contain surfactants and water softeners like “Calgon”. These constituents are added to deal with impurities found in the water supply. Using distilled water for mixing is popular, however the already present mixing aids have nothing to work on and that’s not entirely good. Maybe a blend of 50% filtered well water with distilled of better yet de-ionized water. De-ionized is cheaper, its water that has been purified by a trip through a resin bed and filters. Resins are used in water softeners and commercial treatments to alter mineral content. First try a salt soak. After washing, bath the prints/film in a solution of one tablespoon table salt per quart / liter of water. Salt is a washing aid that neutralizes residual chemicals. You can try a few drops of household peroxide in this bath also, peroxide also neutralized. After a few minutes in the salt solution, pass the prints into a plain water bath, again for just a few minutes. Try this final bath using your normal water source. Likely this will solve your problem, if not use de-ionized water in the final bath. Photo-Flow is a good surfactant, it prevents water from beading thus it reduces water spots which cause uneven drying. The water spots keep the gelatin wet and thus the shrinkage of the gelatin is uneven causing drying marks. Films and papers all utilize gelatin as the binder to affix the light sensitive ingredients to the paper of film base. Gelatin swells and becomes soft and fragile when wet. Super pure water causes excess swelling and softening. In extreme cases where pure water is used for chemical mixing we must add Epson salts to “harden” the water a little other wise the gelatin is too fragile and in rare cases green stain may be encountered. Alan Marcus
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Willie Osterman |
Alan, Thanks for the info. I had thought about the Photo-Flo solution and have tried that and it is drying currently. I will try the salt-soak w/preoxide as a test. I'll keep you informed as to my results.
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Mark Feldstein |
As you probably know, there are quite a few independent testing labs around that will tell you the precise make-up of your well water. It might be worth it to have someone check it out so you know exactly what you've got. Thenn, if the problem is impurities in your water supply and once you know what they are, the easier solution, I'd think, would be to go to Costco, drop about $40 bucks and buy a PUR water filter and set of cartridges. Hook that up to your darkroom sink and you'll likely be styling. It doesn't produce distilled water, but knocks out most of the basic gunk in the water supplies.
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
Or pour the water thru a Bounty paper towel.
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Mark Feldstein |
OR on the rocks with bourbon. That way you won't care about the water problems. M.
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