FB emulsion sticky

[nealjpage]

I acquired a small packet of Ilford multigrade fiber based paper with glossy finish. I noticed that when I took the sheets out of the packet that they were slightly sticky. Is that normal? They printed fine. I also washed them for quite a while, hanged them to drip dry, then placed them in a blotter book. They dried flat, but still have a slight tackiness to them. I'm cornfused. I hope the paper's not toast--I really like how it looks and I hate to throw it away.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

From memory (about 20 years back), glossy paper always did seem a little sticky. It should just take a little time to dry thoroughly. How long since it went through the processing?

 

[nealjpage]

I processed it last night and it's been in the blotter book ever since. Should I take the prints out to air-dry?

 

[Chris of Arabia]

I'd say definitely yes. The blotter paper will hold some of the mositure in, so effectively your print will be sitting in a moist micro-climate. At one time, glossy prints would have gone through a set of heated rollers, which not only dried them, but also imparted the last bit of glossiness to them.

 

[doobs]

Mine have also, always been slightly tacky. The Ilford ones only, I think it could be their emulsion.

When I've dried fiber prints, I've squeegeed them and then placed them on a flat drying rack -- essentially a screen for a window -- and then to flatten them, I've put them in the heat thing for dry mounting then placed them under a Seal weight. I'm curious as to how your prints dried -- I'm guessing fine but I would think there might be water spots on them or they dried funny.

Also, @Chris of Arabia, it is not good to put fiber paper through a heated rollers, because fiber paper is more flexible -- if you will -- than RC paper. You risk a chance of getting the print stuck to the rollers and messing something up.