Digital BW, The Print

I realize this was a private post to Paul Roark but I feel that I have a
comment to make concerning the washing technique.

Paper is a relatively complex material in its chemistry and gets more so
as it ages and as it is manipulated.  Long bath or washing times using
pure water (which is really quite aggressive in leaching the good with
the bad) can result in a paper which is less stable than it was prior to
the bath.

Paper conservators will often post treat a work of art on paper (if it
can stand the wetting) with a fresh water bath prepared by pure water
which has been standing for some days (at least the night before) in a
container with dolomite stone chips.  The formerly aggressive pure water
preferentially leaches several minerals (Calcium being the predominant
one).  This good mineral rich water is used to complete the washing
process and to return the mineral balance of the paper.  There are other
stabilizing post treatment regimes but you get the picture.

I am not suggesting that you should follow this procedure.  However, I
am suggesting that long bath or wash immersion times can in some cases
lead to reduced longevity.

Regards

Mark MacKenzie
Alcalde, New Mexico