Black and White Photography

Manually agitate prints in the fixer remover by shuffling the print at the
bottom of the pile to the top. Keep shuffling until the recommended time in the
fixer remover is up. Wear rubber gloves when handling the prints in solution,
and be very careful not to physically damage the prints as you agitate.
The exact time needed to wash prints varies with several factors, including
the brand of fixer remover and (especially) the effectiveness of the wash. For an
effective wash, you will need a print washer that provides a constant supply of
fresh water. Soaking a print in water isn’t enough; to eliminate the fixer, you
need the wash water to recycle on a constant basis.
You can make a serviceable print washer using a plain processing tray (larger
and deeper than your other processing trays, if possible) and a siphon, an inexpensive
plastic device that clips onto the side of a tray. The siphon connects to
a water faucet with a rubber hose, allowing water from the faucet to enter the
tray at the top of the siphon, while it sucks out tray water from the bottom.
You can make the draining action, and thus the water exchange, more effective
by punching small holes in the sides of the wash tray, toward the tray’s bottom.
To guarantee that they don’t stick together and inhibit the wash, manually
agitate the prints much as you do in the fixer remover—shuffling the print at
the bottom of the pile to the top. To guarantee a completely fresh supply of
water, stop every minute or so and drain all the water from the tray and start
again.
This method will get the job done, but it is time consuming, and you will
have to be very careful not to physically damage the prints with the running
water and agitation. It’s best to use a proper print washer. There are several
types available, including archival washers with a tank made of thick plastic
and with several slots to hold prints—one print per slot. Separating prints from
each other in this way (with dividers) guarantees that each print gets a full and
complete wash.
Archival washers do their work automatically. Just fill the tank, and a hose
at the bottom of the washer takes fresh water in and drains fixer-laden water
over the top of the tank. Some models take water in from the sides and top, and
then drain it out the bottom.
The number of prints you can wash at one time depends on the type of
washer you use. If you are using an archival washer, fill it to capacity, one print
per slot; if you are using a more manual washing method, don’t wash more
than 15–20 8" x 10" prints at the same time—and fewer, if you are making
larger prints. If you have made more than 15–20 prints, wash them in separate
batches.
Once a wash has started, do not add another print from the holding bath. If
you do, it will contaminate the wash with residual fixer. If that does happen, start
the timing of the entire wash over from the moment you put in the last print. Part IX: Drying Prints
For quicker and more even drying, squeegee washed prints to remove excess
water. Place each print, one at a time, face down on a large sheet of glass. Plexiglas
or the back of a smooth-bottomed processing tray or any flat, clean, waterproof
surface also may do. Make sure the surface is extremely clean; traces of
fixer or other chemicals may cause a print to stain right away or as the print ages.
Run a clean rubber squeegee or sponge dedicated to this purpose over the
back of the print. Do not squeegee too hard or the print may crease or scratch.
Turn the print over, squeegee the glass or tray surface to remove excess water,
and then gently squeegee the front, taking extra care not to scratch the image.
Once squeegeed, prints are ready to be dried. You can either air dry them or
use a heated drier. Air drying is the simplest, cheapest, and in many ways the
best choice. There are two basic methods: hanging prints up or placing them
flat on a screen. Whichever you choose, expect a drying time of about 30
minutes for RC prints and 4–8 hours for fiber-based prints—and possibly even
longer, depending on room temperature and humidity.
To hang prints up, stretch a piece of string or light wire in or near your darkroom,
much like a clothesline. Then use a single plastic spring-type clothespin
(wooden pins can leave a stain) to hang each print by one corner. Or you can
clip two prints together, back to back on the line, clipping each pair of corners
(four clothespins total), to help reduce the tendency of prints to curl.
Another method of air drying is to place squeegeed prints on plastic screens,
much like window screens; don’t use metal screening, which will rust and stain
prints. You can get commercially made drying screens from a few suppliers, or
you can use new standard window screens, as long as the screening is plastic.
You also can construct your own drying screens by building a frame and attaching
plastic screening material (available at any hardware store) with staples.
Use four pieces of inexpensive 1" x 2" (or other size) wood stock for the frame,
and then screw the wood together, using metal corner braces to keep it square.
You can make drying screens of any size to fit your space and storage requirements.
It’s okay to stack several screens on top of each other to save space, as long
as the frames keep the prints separated; but the more space you leave between the
screens, the faster the drying time—especially with fiber-based prints. Make sure
you wash drying screens regularly with a mild soap or fixer remover solution,
followed by a thorough rinse, to keep them clean and uncontaminated.
For air drying on a screen, place squeegeed RC prints emulsion side up; otherwise
the screen might produce pattern marks in the plastic print coating. You
can safely place fiber-based prints emulsion side down or up on screens. Placing
them down helps keep prints flat, as fiber-based papers are more likely to curl when drying.

There are many types of heated print dryers available for RC and fiber-based

prints; some are set up to handle only RC prints, while others can handle both

types. In a pinch, you can use a hairdryer set on medium to quickly dry

squeegeed RC prints. For even drying, make sure you keep the unit in motion

as you dry—and don’t let the paper get too hot.

Simple print dryers have a smooth metal heating plate with a cloth (or other)

cover. You place squeegeed prints one at a time between the cloth and the plate,

and the heat dries them. Other types are essentially heated boxes with rollers;

you place your squeegeed print in one end, and the rollers pick it up and carry

it through the heated unit and out the other end, fully dried. There also are

larger and more elaborate models. With one type, you place squeegeed prints

on a cloth sheet, which rolls into a rotating heated drum. The drum pulls the

cloth and prints around at one end and deposits the dried prints at the other.

Heated drying is faster than air drying, and usually leaves prints flatter.

However, dryers must be maintained so they will keep working well. They also

must be cleaned regularly, because they can pick up residual chemicals from

poorly processed and washed prints, especially in a gang darkroom where

some individuals will be more careless than others. This means that heated

dryers, unless they are kept very clean, can potentially contaminate prints. Air

drying takes longer and often leaves prints slightly curled, but it is simpler, less

expensive, and relatively contamination-proof (assuming that, if you use drying

screens, you wash the screens regularly); curled fiber-based prints can be

flattened after they have dried.