It is difficult enough, for me anyway, to get the exposure correct on my polaroids so it is especially distressing when i mess up the coater. You name it ive done it, streaks, bubbles, dropped in dirt (face down of course) etc...in fact getting one right actually seems to be the exception. At least getting one right so that I would like to disply it. Are there alternatives? Does the coater work as a fixer and stop bath? would fixer and stop bath work? I think the finish on type 52 is fine uncoated.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Kim

First off I'd try taking along a small folder of some sort. Pull the Polaroids and keep the keepers in the folder (out of direct sunlight and air) till you get home to the kitchen table. Then coat them there. yes you will get streaks, and tiny bubbles and even some lint from the coater, that's "art" as Andy Warhol calls it.

Or you could use type 54, iso 100, no coater needed, (no neg though)

Also you HAVE to have at least one uncoated polaroid on your refrigerator and watch what happens as it degrades. Some of the effects are really cool!

No, stop and fix won't work. What you are doing is....ah.....er... coating the emulsion with laquer ( or is it collodion?). This seals it from air and moisture, which turns the shadows bronze and then slowly fades the picture. I suppose you could try Aqua Net hair spray. It's mostly laquer.

Aqua Net?????

I can see trying to explain that to the casual observer.

What about the commercial photo lacquers from McDonald's? I treat color inkjet prints with a UV inhibiting lustre spray, which not only blocks UV, but also protects against moisture. I expect it's a bit more durable than hair spray.

Well shure McDonalds and the other portrait laquers would work, but then I'd never get a reaction from readers

I used Aqua Net in school because it was cheap and my Dr. used it to seal slides with. It's mostly laquer but certainly not a refined as McDonalds.

My attitude is that all of my Polaroids were proofs, not fininshed art so if they weren't perfect it didn't matter. I still have most of them, put them in an old photo album with black (acid?) paper and stuck them in my attic (10°F-100°F) So far they've survived very well up there for 10 years.

From what I've read in Ansel Adams' Polaroid Land Photography:
1.) Swab fluid is an acidic alcohol-water solution of a basic polymer.
2.) Removes traces of reagent (developer) which will attack the print.
3.) Prints should be coated fully and evenly within a short time after processing.
4.) The coating protects the image silver.
5.) Prints can be recoated by softening the dry coating with a new swab by dabbing a new coater on the print and after a short time re-coating to smooth out previous attempts.
6.) You can use the paper envelope on a smooth hard surface as a place to coat the print. I use the cardboard back from a sketch book as a coating surface.

To me, every Polaroid is one of a kind and make fine finished art.