The Paterson Major Auto Archival Print washer is the best value fibre based washer on the market.
Will take up to 12 prints 12×16″ or 24 prints 8×10″ etc. This is the best value archival washer on the market and is extremely compact for a 12×16″ washer – ideal for the small darkroom. Designed to wash prints with economical use of water – only low flow required. Approximate size: 8.5″(210mm) width X 19″ (490mm) length X 15″ (380mm) height.
Important note on this model washer – 12×16″ prints are a tight fit. And it may be necessary to trim them by a couple of mm or so. This is because it started out life as a 12×15″ washer, and Paterson adjusted the tooling to this more convenient size, but this was the maximum they could manage (to make completely new tooling would be cost prohibitive, £££!) However, saying this, the washer has been made the same for some 25 years. In our opinion, considering the competitive price of this washer, it is probably worth putting up with this aspect, particularly as it will not affect smaller prints.
When making fibre based prints, it is essential to efficiently and thoroughly wash them after processing to avoid stains appearing from any fixer residue left in the print. Unlike resin coated prints, fibre based prints do not have a plastic coating to prevent the paper fibre soaking up chemistry during processing. The Paterson auto print washers provide a rapid and efficient method of washing this type of paper and the unique agitation system ensures all chemicals are removed. Prints are held separately in the holder whilst washing takes place, allowing water to freely circulate across the surface.
Fibre based print washing is speeded up considerably with the use of a recognised washing procedure, including the use of hypo clearing agents / wash aids. There are many variations of washing procedures for FB papers, but, as a rule of thumb, our recommendation is as follows:
- Initial rinse in running water to remove excess fixer
- 5 minutes in hypo clearing aid / wash aid (not to be confused with rinse aid/wetting agent used for film) with agitation
- 30 minutes in the archival washer
- Wash water is 20 degrees C.
All wash water should be 20-24 degrees C. Less than this, wash times increase considerably. Never wash below 16 degrees, and, ideally, keep above 18. Maintaining water at this temperature can present challenges for any one without access to tempered water. If you are serious about archival FB print making, it may pay to install an instantaneous electric water heater that will run at around 20 degrees – the Stiebel-Eltron range is excellent (we have a 24Kw 3 phase model in the Ag Lab!) and there are some excellent models worth considering which feature a dial to set the exact temperature, especially for educational establishments, public darkrooms or professional artists. Alternatively, it is possible to use a shower or mixer tap with the shower head removed so you can plug the tap connector onto it and this will be a very economical solution. As with everything, experiment!
If the correct procedure is followed you can be assured of the finest quality archivally stable photographic prints which have been proven to last well over 100 years with no visible degradation – unlike inkjet papers, which have been subjected to accelerated testing to assess archival stability, traditional fibre based prints are proven to last well over 100 years because there are many millions of prints in existence which are actually this age!!
Made in The Black Country, England.
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