Cyanotype problems

Hi everyone, <BR><BR>

I have been looking into mixing my own cyanotype materials and printing onto fabric. Before I did this, I thought it best to check if there is enough UV about here and to get an overview of how long it will take to produce a print (I am in the North of England).<BR><BR>

I have got some pre-coated cyanotype papers which came with a perspex sheet instead of a glass sheet to cover the paper and items as it exposes. The instructions say expose for 1-5 mins or until the paper turns almost white. After about 7 mins I washed my first print and although it hadn't gone fully white, it had gone lighter. This resulted in a very dark print with very little on it at all. I then tried again on another day to see if I should have left it out longer, with prints for 10 mins, 20mins and 30mins with the background changing to white on both the 20 and 30 min; prints before washing.<BR><BR>

After washing, all prints remained with the covered areas being blue until long after they dried. There is very little contrast with the lighter parts being light blue at very best or just a blue sheet of paper at the worst.<BR><BR>

The pack states to wash for 1 min before leaving to dry. I did this (I tried washing a bit longer for one) and left to dry in a darkened room. Any change that occurred from blue-white and vice versa took a minimum of 12 hours.<BR><BR>

If there is any advice on what I am doing wrong, it would be much appreciated. Pre-coated paper is supposed to be easy and I don't know if there is something obvious I am missing or I just need to invest in a uv light source?<BR><BR>

I have attached the best of a bad bunch as images. The first one is <BR><BR>

<BR><BR>just after washing (hence the blur as trying to keep light low) and the second is after it dried and I re-wet it slightly to flatten.<BR><BR>

Thank you in advance.

Hello, I'm new to this site and joined to find out more about B/W developers. However, I have, as I didn't have a practical darkroom until now, been playing around with cyanotypes for the last couple of years.

I highly recommend that you read Mike Ware's articles on this topic (MikeWare - Free Book Downloads). Personally, I have used Mike's "new cyanotype" formula which is much quicker than the traditional ones. I also use the sun (more shade than sun) and only require a maximum of 5 mins, usually 3, on a cloudy spring day.

I hope his site helps.

Chris