Digital BW, The Print

For people who use pigment inks (i.e., waterproof) there is a sort of 
funky way to de-acidify EEM which actually works like a charm.  Namely, 
after printing the image immerse the paper in a solution of water and 
baking soda.  The exact concentration of sodium bicarbonate is not 
critical - a teaspoon of Arm & Hammer baking soda per gallon of water 
will do nicely.  (For non-cooks this benign chemical can be found in 
the baking supplies section of the supermarket.) The immersion time and 
the temperature of the water are not critical, either.  One minute at 
room temperature is fine.

   The trickiest part, and even this is not difficult, is carefully 
removing the paper from the water so it does not tear - EEM does not 
have the wet strength of silver gelatin photo papers.  The larger the 
paper the more care is needed.  8x10 sheets can be hung on a line to 
dry. 13x19 sheets are better put on a drying screen. Blotting them is a 
good idea if you have blotting paper.

   The dried paper will have some waviness but not nearly as much curl 
as air-dried fiber-based silver gelatin paper. This is the reason to 
de-acidify last - it's probably not a good idea to run wavy paper 
through your printer.  If you hot mount the print the waviness gets 
flattened, of course.  I expected a residue of white baking soda on the 
print but none is visible.  In any case you can give the surface a 
clean water rinse before drying to avoid residue. To verify that you 
are causing no harm dip and dry half a test print and compare.

   After this process the Light Impressions ph testing pen on EEM 
(front, back, and core) shows not merely blue, meaning no acid, but a 
brilliant blue characteristic of highly buffered paper.

    Loren Cambello