Troubleshooting cyanotypes

Hi everyone,

This weekend I made my first cyanotypes. I used the formula attributed
to Patricia Dreher (http://www.bostick-sullivan.com/c_cyano.htm --
scroll down to "other variations") The first few that I made came out
beautifully -- one photogram and one from an inkjet negative on
Pictorico OHP.

After that, though, I starting having problems. The exposed cyanotype,
before development, looked great -- nice contrast, etc. But on
clearing, almost all of the image density bled away into the wash
water, leaving practically nothing.

Does anyone know the possible causes of this or potential remedies?
The only thing I noticed was that the exposures made in direct sun
fared better (even though I compensated with much longer exposure
times when I printed in indirect sun or under a compact spiral
blacklight).

The paper used was Fabriano Artistico (mixed results) and Arches
Platine (uniformly bad). I coated with about 2 ml of freshly-mixed
sensitizer per 8x10" sheet and allowed the coated paper to air-dry in
the dark for 30-60 mins before printing.

Thanks for your advice

Jordan

-- 
Jordan Wosnick
jwosnick@fastmail.fm