How to use Agfa Sistan?

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I would like to use Agfa's Sistan to make my RC prints more permanent, but I find the instructions on the bottle to be not much help. Neither is Agfa's web site. Can anyone give me some advice on how to use the stuff?

-- Dave Jenkins (djphoto@vol.com), September 10, 1999

Answers

After final wash - mix the Sistan at 25ml per liter - soak print for 1 min. and then gently wipe off the excess and dry.

-- jim megargee (jim@mvlabs.com), September 12, 1999.

Thanks , Jim. I was able to get that much off the bottle. But then what? Do I wash the print some more, or do I just squeegee it and hang it up to dry? Is Sistan toxic? Should I handle wet, treated prints with rubber gloves?

Thanks for any additional help you may be able to give.

-- Dave Jenkins (djphoto@vol.com), September 12, 1999.


Sistan is a silver stabilizer. As such, it will not prevent yellowing and cracking of the plastic coating of RC paper. RC paper is useful for proof sheets and work prints only. It was used in newspaper production before digital became as (relatively) inexpensive as it is today. If you want to make permanant (archival) prints, use fiber base paper and follow the fixing, toning, and washing proceedure outlined in Ansel Adams' The Print.

-- Michael D Fraser (mdfraser@earthlink.net), September 13, 1999.

Hi Dave,

I use Sistan for more permanent prints but wasn't sure about a post- rinse. I've confirmed from Agfa's website that you do not want to rinse the print after dunking in Sistan. Just squeegee or wipe off the drops.

I would bet that if the stuff were truly bad it would have all sorts of warnings and precautions on the bottle. I don't remember seeing any special warnings other than the general limitation of exposure. FWIW, I use tongs to handle the prints and just rinse off my hands if I touch the stuff.

Cheers,

-- Duane Kucheran (dkucheran@creo.com), September 13, 1999.


Dave;

Why don't you use FB paper if you are interested in longevieity of your prints? I've thrown out all of the RC paper I had left.

-- Gene Crumpler (nikonguy@worldnet.att.net), September 13, 1999.



Jeeze Gene, he said he wanted to make his RC prints more permanent. Is that so hard to understand? Are you gonna help, or use it as an opportunity to promote your narrow point of view? I took my Honda in for an oil change the other day and the service tech said, "If you are interested in longevity, why don't you buy a mercedes instead?"

-- steve vancosin (steve1chsn@aol.com), September 14, 1999.

Hi Dave,

Agfa has a brochure called the latest technology for a classic principle. There Agfa has collected the technical data for b/w films, papers and chemicals. There is written that a further wash should not be done afterwards. The reason is that if you would wash the print after using sistan, sistan would be washed out and there would not be a stabilzing effect.

Regards Wolfgang

-- Wolfgang Holz (wholz@gmx.de), March 28, 2000.


If you are interested in the health effects, contact Agfa and have them send you a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). By regulation they must supply this upon request.

-- Terry Carraway (TCarraway@compuserve.com), March 28, 2000.

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